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Fragging nems

Jeremy Brito

Jeremy Brito

In my mind the word fragging applies only to corals how ever I recently was listening to the ReefNewsNetwork Podcast and they spoke of fragging anemones.
They described the process of using a scalpel or razor blade and cutting the anemone in half directly center of its mouth creating two symmetrical halfs then dipping the halfs in iodine and allowing them to heal for about 2 weeks.

I have alot of rainbow nems that at one time were only 1 nem and then split naturally until the point which I count 13 roughly softball sized nems they cover most the tank. I was trying to trade a few off but i was having a hard time getting them safely off the rock work. Now that they slowed reproduction I'm still hoping they make a few more so I can have some stock to trade.
Have any of you fragged a nem befor if so would you share your experience 20190921_145237.jpg20190921_145237.jpg
 
Sponge

Sponge

I have not cut one. However you can induce them to split on there own. I had several I was trying to get off a rock. And my efforts caused some to split within 24 hours the advantage seemed they looked and acted 100 percent in just 1 or 2 days. The down side is there no guarantee they will split. Understand that I was not trying to make them split. But here is what happened. In one case the 2 nems were dug in real deep on a rock so I hung the rock upside down out of the water. In about 15 seconds they started to relax and stretch out in about 40 seconds they were long and thin with only the tip of there foot holding on so I lowered the rock until just the tentacles and mouth were in the water in about 1 to 2 minutes one of them let go and I scooped him into a container. I let the other hang for another minute or two but it didn’t let go so I put the rock back. Next day the one that didn’t let go was now two. I also put a nem holding onto a rock in a bowl of tank water and put small bags of ice in the bowl to lower the temp. He let go and I put it into a tank with no rock so I could collect it easier. Next day. Two nems. And lastly. I had to catch a fish and to make it easier I took rock out of tank. I put a rock in a bucket of fresh salt that had a nem on it. I would assume salinity and temp were no perfectly matching because he split the next day. The point of this long story is. My experience is that stress seems to make them split. And I am sure people will think it’s cruel to stress them. Well it’s not slicing them in half. And they don’t take weeks to heal.
 
Trio91

Trio91

Administrator
Staff member
Moderator
Use a fresh, sharp razor blade and cut straight through the middle, cutting through the mouth.

Try to do it in one slicing action and try not "saw" through it.
 
Sponge

Sponge

trio91 said:
Use a fresh, sharp razor blade and cut straight through the middle, cutting through the mouth.

Try to do it in one slicing action and try not "saw" through it.
Click to expand...
Perhaps in time. But right now. I don’t think I could do it
 
Trio91

Trio91

Administrator
Staff member
Moderator
Before dipping any invert into iodine, read the label on the dip 1st to make sure it's safe to use.
 
Jeremy Brito

Jeremy Brito

trio91 said:
Before dipping any invert into iodine, read the label on the dip 1st to make sure it's safe to use.
Click to expand...
ya im bringing the iodine because it was in every article I read about the fragging of the Nems, I should add to this forum for anyone reading this as a means of learning them selves that NOT ALL ANEMONES CAN BE FRAGGED and there are 3 Known types that have been known to succsessfuly survive this type of fragging the main one being a bubble tip. so please please read up and make sure your not cutting up your prized nem only to find its not one of the three and kill it.
 
B

Bricknick1127

Wow I'm completely floored by the fact that these guys can split from being cut or stress... I had no idea. I guess it's TRUE what they say...you learn something new every day. But my question on this entire thing is how do you know the iodine your going to use is safe for the invert... is there a reefing specific brand or a way to tell its safe?
 
Jeremy Brito

Jeremy Brito

Bricknick1127 said:
Wow I'm completely floored by the fact that these guys can split from being cut or stress... I had no idea. I guess it's TRUE what they say...you learn something new every day. But my question on this entire thing is how do you know the iodine your going to use is safe for the invert... is there a reefing specific brand or a way to tell its safe?
Click to expand...
Well iodine is actually important to inverts the issue is iodine oxidizes quickly in sea water which can make it easy to over dose a tank if you were using it as a supplement. One of the safer forums of iodine if your familiar with chemistry is iodide the reason is iodine in nature is rarely found in its pure elemental state an mostly found in its salt forum iodide or iodate. In it's pure elemental forum it doesnt last long and quickly breaks down or oxidizes becoming strongly acidic in water. Iodide on the other hand is stable because the iodine molecule is attached to another element such as potassium or magnesium which are both common and safe in our water at reasonable levels.
To explain and answer your question you must understand how iodine is beneficial and how it's dangerous.
Sea water has iodine in it the levels differ by depth in seawater the most common forum of iodine is iodide and Iodate as explained befor both are safer stable forums of iodine because they are attached to other elements.
Inverts use iodine to help with there exoskeleton growth and molting.
Fish use it to assist with their thyroid and metabolism.
We use it to supplement our tanks and also to treat wounds but yes we can not just use any iodine and we shouldn't just dose it straight into the tank. We must use a safer and stable forum of iodine known as provodine iodine or more commonly know as betadine.
Betadine releases its iodine slowly and is used as a antiseptic cleaning wounds and promoting healing. You would apply this directly to the wounds of the creature you are treating maki ng sure not to get it into the mouth eyes or gills when at all possible. And then dip in fresh sea water to wash away the excess before putting it back into the hospital tank.
Never dose directly into the tank water and when using iodine for treatment you should test the water for iodine like you would if treating with copper to make sure it's in safe levels in the water.
Iodine is organic and can be removed by the protien skimmer or absorbed by activated charcoal.
 
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