It was this big... Now its this big...

[F i s h y]

OK, it was only last night, but several pages back in R2R time that there was some talk about RFA spawning and my name got called out. Unfortunately marine biologists don't seem to have a handle on RFA reproduction. They have done the disection and have seen the male and female from the inside out, but they don't seem to have much info about when and why it happens. Here is my take and I've had multiple spawns and births in my tanks.

Feel free to ask questions of me, if you have any. But here is what I think I know. You need at least 2 RFAs to breed, a male and female. There is no known external way to tell males from females. The males spawn seems to always happen in the early evening and seems totally independent from any related moon or season cycle. The gestation period is very difficult to call, but my best info is that it takes between 25 and 35 days from the male spawning to the female releasing babies. The number of young released can vary wildly from just a few to as many as 50 or more. The babies also seem to always be released in the early evening.

I hope that helps if anybody was interested.

Thank you for stopping by @Ron Reefman I appreciate it.
I def seem to have a male. What is typical female behavior during a spawn? I have 5 rfa, one was releasing what I assume is sperm the other 4 had little to no change in behavior. I did use a turkey baster to place spawn over the others mouths in the hopes of getting a reaction but I got none.

 

[TDiefRN]

I can't believe we didn't take a single pic!

 

[F i s h y]

I can't believe we didn't take a single pic!

Yup it happened... next time

 

[Nate Chalk]

ya i run blues in the shower too.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Thank you for stopping by @Ron Reefman I appreciate it.
I def seem to have a male. What is typical female behavior during a spawn? I have 5 rfa, one was releasing what I assume is sperm the other 4 had little to no change in behavior. I did use a turkey baster to place spawn over the others mouths in the hopes of getting a reaction but I got none.

I've never seen any reaction from the RFAs that aren't spawning. And I've done the turkey baster thing with the spawn a couple of times and it seems it really didn't have any affect at all. When the male spawn and when the female releases the young, they do rise up and expose the 'trunk' under the oral disk.

Here are few from one of my early spawns in my RFA breeding tank.

 

[Nate Chalk]

I've never seen any reaction from the RFAs that aren't spawning. And I've done the turkey baster thing with the spawn a couple of times and it seems it really didn't have any affect at all. When the male spawn and when the female releases the young, they do rise up and expose the 'trunk' under the oral disk.

Here are few from one of my early spawns in my RFA breeding tank.

This is cool. Do you get splits or new anemone that just show up?

also y’all seem very educated on anemones. I’ve seen you both in some order posts on nems. I have a bta from a local hobbiest. Wondering what disease i should look for. Currently it’s healthy accepts food and in a good spot where is not harming anyone else. A well behaved friendly type.

 

[Ron Reefman]

This is cool. Do you get splits or new anemone that just show up?

also y’all seem very educated on anemones. I’ve seen you both in some order posts on nems. I have a bta from a local hobbiest. Wondering what disease i should look for. Currently it’s healthy accepts food and in a good spot where is not harming anyone else. A well behaved friendly type.

Hi Nate,

I've been in the hobby for 20+ years and know a couple of serious marine biologists, but I'm pretty much just self taught and mostly about RFAs. Mostly because we can collect some when we do snorkel trips to the Florida Keys. It's about a 5 hour drive from home and we do 2 to 4 trips of 4 days most summers. And the ones we can get while snorkeling are much less colorful than the deeper water ones that get collected from 30 to 50 feet deep.

But when the colorful ones were discovered and came into the hobby, it started in South Florida and I got to know the LFS that was doing 95% of the collecting. He happened to be the 2nd biggest customer of the company I was doing online forum work for. And I happen to really like the things in my tank that fluoresce, and these nems fit the bill perfectly. Oh, and they are super easy to keep.

To your questions. The RFA female takes in the spawn and about a month later spits out crazy, tine babies. They are no bigger than 1/8" when born. I've never seen or heard of a RFA splitting or dividing like a BTA does. I've read that one online seller claims he has figured out how to split/cut a RFA in half, like you can with a BTA and was successful. But he is unwilling to share how he did it and to be honest, I don't think I believe him.

I'm unaware of any disease that affects RFAs. That isn't to say there aren't any, I've just never had any in the 15+ years I've been keeping them. And when I got my first colorful RFA, I actually got 15 of them all at once.

I've had BTAs in the past and they have done OK. But sooner or later mine always seemed to go on a 'walk about' and ended up doing something stupid like attaching to a wavemaker or climbing into the overflow or under a rock that couldn't be moved. I can say that RFAs and Mini-maxi anemones seem to get along OK together

 

[najer]

Excuse the glass, I'm not going to try it in the display again as I think it was the flow that upset it, at least it is front and centre in the cube end.

 

[F i s h y]

Excuse the glass, I'm not going to try it in the display again as I think it was the flow that upset it, at least it is front and centre in the cube end.

It's amazing Simon

 

[Nate Chalk]

Hi Nate,

I've been in the hobby for 20+ years and know a couple of serious marine biologists, but I'm pretty much just self taught and mostly about RFAs. Mostly because we can collect some when we do snorkel trips to the Florida Keys. It's about a 5 hour drive from home and we do 2 to 4 trips of 4 days most summers. And the ones we can get while snorkeling are much less colorful than the deeper water ones that get collected from 30 to 50 feet deep.

But when the colorful ones were discovered and came into the hobby, it started in South Florida and I got to know the LFS that was doing 95% of the collecting. He happened to be the 2nd biggest customer of the company I was doing online forum work for. And I happen to really like the things in my tank that fluoresce, and these nems fit the bill perfectly. Oh, and they are super easy to keep.

To your questions. The RFA female takes in the spawn and about a month later spits out crazy, tine babies. They are no bigger than 1/8" when born. I've never seen or heard of a RFA splitting or dividing like a BTA does. I've read that one online seller claims he has figured out how to split/cut a RFA in half, like you can with a BTA and was successful. But he is unwilling to share how he did it and to be honest, I don't think I believe him.

I'm unaware of any disease that affects RFAs. That isn't to say there aren't any, I've just never had any in the 15+ years I've been keeping them. And when I got my first colorful RFA, I actually got 15 of them all at once.

I've had BTAs in the past and they have done OK. But sooner or later mine always seemed to go on a 'walk about' and ended up doing something stupid like attaching to a wavemaker or climbing into the overflow or under a rock that couldn't be moved. I can say that RFAs and Mini-maxi anemones seem to get along OK together

So definitely sooner or later this BTA is going to walk the plank o nooo....

I'll do my best to watch him.

RFA's are cool and i agree the colors are amazing. They sound "easier" to keep then. I've read mixed reports on keeping nems together but yall seem to have success. sometime I may go for it, but i think currently im going for mixed reef. I mean heck i just spent almost a whole day chatting about adding lights because my nub of slimer was dull in color. Which btw thanks to all for the texts, dms, and chat on lights. Pushed me to create a better environment for everything.

 

[Nate Chalk]

Just saw this article thought it was pretty cool. It looks like onky montipora cap. But thats alot of coral mass.

Scientists made a startling discovery deep in the ocean off Tahiti

Scientists have discovered an untouched coral reef over 70 meters before the ocean's surface, an inspiring discovery for conservationists.

bgr.com

 

[F i s h y]

Happy valentines day @Mrs.F i s h y I couldn't have a better fish to swim in this ocean with...thank you for being mine and keeping me...

 

[F i s h y]

It's amazing how much happens in 1 year.
Blessed to be a father again.

Became a grand father...
Everest John Michael Barbieri
2/14/2022
6 lbs 7 oz 19 inches long

Got married to the love of my life...

And my reef tank is really coming along.

1 year ago

And a few days ago...

Lots of stuff has happened in the last year. A lot of it my friends know that wasn't great.

But it was a fintastic year. And I couldn't be happier and I'm looking forward to this next one.

 

[TDiefRN]

It's amazing how much happens in 1 year.
Blessed to be a father again.

Became a grand father...
Everest John Michael Barbieri
2/14/2022
6 lbs 7 oz 19 inches long

Got married to the love of my life...

And my reef tank is really coming along.

1 year ago

And a few days ago...

Lots of stuff has happened in the last year. A lot of it my friends know that wasn't great.

But it was a fintastic year. And I couldn't be happier and I'm looking forward to this next one.

Congrats grandpa!

 

[danieyella]

Congrats!

 

[F i s h y]

Congrats grandpa!

Thank you

 

[F i s h y]

Congrats!

Thank you!

 

[fishguy242]

Grandpa J. CONGRATS,
no words...;Happy

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Congrats!!!!!!!

 

[Erin O]

Congratulations!