Tip of the Day – 2/7/2013

While most of the reproductive activities within our tank are generally accepted as a good thing, they’re not always indicative of a healthy aquarium environment. For example, many types of assexual reproduction occur when an animal is stressed by something in its environment, such as water quality. A good example of this is the splitting behavior of bubble tip anemones. While they will split into two identical clones during periods of good water quality, they will also do it when stressed. Corals are capable of doing this as well, and we often see a “polyp bailout” technique used in times of extreme stress.