Today on BRSTV we are going to show you how to set up a bubble tip anemone propagation
system.
Hi I'm Ryan "RT" turner todays host of BRSTV how-to's where every Tuesday we release a
new reefing related how to. This week we are going to show you how to set up your own bubble
tip anemone fragging system and show you some tips on how to make this a profitable endeavor.
First thing you should know is propagating bubble tips is as easy as cutting them in
half and letting them grow out, chopping them in half again and so on. For you queasy folks
out there this may seem mean, but this is one of the natural ways they reproduce in
the wild. In fact a sharp knife is probably likely to be much more effective than literally
tearing itself in half like it would in the ocean. I am also sure they are happy that
your propagation efforts reduce the demand for the wild harvesting of their cousins from
the ocean.
Setting up a system for this can consist of basically any tank. Preferably with no overflow,
and pumps which are as anemone safe as possible. We are going to use these large hydroponic
trays. You don't really need the stand it is just nice because you can wheel it around
and comes with a bar where you can hang the lights. The cheapest place to get a set like
this would be a local hydroponics shop because shipping is a killer on something this large.
For convenience however, we do have them on our site.
One of the things that makes this tray nice is the high volume of working surface verses
volume of water. This will allow us to grow out a ton of bubble tips while making sure
water changes and other maintenance is really easy. The smooth surface also allows you to
remove the bubble tips pretty easily.
For filtration we are going to use these marine pure biospheres. I used give gallons of them
here. These spheres serve two purposes. First they provide a ridiculous amount of filtration
surface. One single sphere has over 240 square feet of available surface area for filtration.
The five gallons contains somewhere over 100,000 feet of surface area. That's close to two
football fields.
What makes this media different than most other products like this is the availability
of the internal pore network. I silicone this plumbing fitting to the top of a four inch
thick marine pure block. You can how the water just passes right through the entire thing.
It pretty amazing.
The second component the spheres serve, is for something the bubble tips can bury their
feet into which is also very easy to remove them from. You could use rubble or something
similar which is a lot less expensive, but they are much harder to remove from this irregular
shaped material and you can easily damage their foot trying.
I am a big fan of these low profile Neo-Therm heaters so I will throw in a couple of these
and for pumps I am going to use two the mj1200's with pre-filters and Hydor rotating heads.
I am also going to put some rubber bands around the filters to keep them on and prevent the
bubble tips from squeezing into the intake. While not one hundred percent foolproof this
is about as anemone safe as a pump can get. You can also use a wave maker or couple of
digital timers on these pumps get the flow randomized a bit.
Other than that all you need is some light. Really you can use just about anything but
I am going to go with a pair of Kessil LED's. These pendants are about as versatile as they
come and have amongst the lowest cost per LED out there which makes them perfect for
a project like this. In addition they are small so they stay out of the way when you
are working in the tank.
All that's left to do now is cycle the tank, add a couple fish and add your first batch
of bubble tips. You can start with as little as one but the more you start with the faster
you will get the system up to speed. Most bubble tips can be divided every four to six
weeks. So one turns into two, two into four , four into eight, to sixteen, thirty two,
sixty four and so on. Doing that math you could be producing a thousand a month inside
a year if you had the space and zero mortality. Ok, so you don't have that much space and
you will have some mortalities, but you get the point.
Slicing them is as pretty simple. Put them on your cutting surface. The guys at EcoTech
sent us one of their propagation kits to play with so I am using the bamboo cutting board
surface that doubles as the case. I am not going to lie and say this thing is cheep but
if you have some money burning a hole in your pocket it is pretty nice.
These things are pretty hardy and I have seen this done a hundred different ways but the
general consensus is the best way is to start by spreading the tentacles out then slice
it right down the middle. That means I want to go right through the center of the mouth
and divide both the top and foot evenly. I am going to use one of these paint scraping
razorblades because it has a long ultra sharp edge.
There are two things I want to try and avoid, first I don't want to crush the bubble tip
by pushing down because this will bruise the tissue and make it harder for it to heal.
Second, if possible, try and do it one smooth slicing motion which will prevent you from
creating multiple wounds. If you don't make it through the tissue with one pass, don't
just start over. Just reverse the motion and attempt to stay within the same cutting line.
Once its done put it in a storage bowl or the tank while you do the rest.
Once they are back in the tank give them a week or two to completely heal and start feeding
them. You can feed them anything from pellets to Mysis. I personally prefer the large Hakari
Jumbo Mysis but if you don't have access to frozen foods the freeze dried krill soaked
in Selcon make an excellent option. Don't go crazy with the food they only need one
or two each. More than that and they often spit it out a few hours later.
A handful of weeks later they should be the same size as they were when you cut divided
them the first time and ready to start the process again. Ok so how do you sell them?
The easiest most consistent way is to supply the local stores.
Getting into a store can be some work. This is a business designed to make money and support
family's incomes so they need to have reliable suppliers. First step is to go to all the
stores with some of your product, tell them how many you are capable of producing a month
and show them some of what you have for sale. Hopefully they will be in right away but if
they aren't, be polite. Thank them for their time and come back again next month like this
never happened.
If they shoot you down again do the same thing and come back in another month, this time
if they say no be prepared to give them an offer they cannot refuse, like here is a bunch
for free. This is all about good will and building long term relationships.
Also make sure to point out all the elements which make your product better than their
other suppliers. Like free delivery, almost zero mortality at their store because they
were all grown in captivity and only been in transport for an hour rather than flown
around the world, country and even stored in five different tanks along the way before
they reach the end user. Some may also appreciate the sustainable approach you are offering.
Lastly you might have noticed I did add some fish to this system. While it isn't critical,
it doesn't hurt and many people think tanks like this stay more stable long term with
fish. If you have any questions about this or tips for other reefers checkout the comments
area down below. If this is your first time with is hit that subscribe button because
we do new how to projects like this every Tuesday. See ya all next week with another
episode of BRSTV.