Question about Anenome Feeding

[limemittens]

Hi, just got a bubble tip anemone and a gold-stripped maroon clown this weekend for our 90 gal tank. We are slowing in the process of building a reef tank and also have some mushrooms currently. Both of our new additions have taken to the tank really well and the clownfish was hosting with the anemone within a few hours of being in the tank together. We were surprised, but delighted.

Anyway, I have been trying to find some information about how to feed anemones and keep the little guy healthy. I know that clownfish will bring food back to the anemone, but I assume that this probably not enough to sustain it. Does anyone have any suggestions for feeding procedure and how often to feed?

Another question, we normally feed our fish and chocolate chip star frozen brine and marine cuisine about every other day (star once or twice a week). Would frozen brine or marine combinations be appropriate as well for an anemone?

Thanks. Add some pictures below. The clown is bit camera shy so we could not get a good shot of him laying in his anenome.

 

[MarineFlake]

Get some frozen silver sides and feed, when its ready, a whole silver side, thawed and cut small enough for it to handle. It most likely won't be ready for food day 1, but when it settles and sticks its tenticles straight out (loses its 'bubbles'), give it a try. NEVER try to force food into the anemones mouth. If its hungry and wants the food it will take only dropping the food into any of its tenticles and it will 'stick'. If the anemone is not hungry or not in the 'mood' then it will simply let the food drop to the bottom. You can't rush mother nature. Get a feeding device (Ex http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3728+12755&pcatid=12755) as putting your hand near the anemone will most likely cause it to shrink away as the oil, etc on our skin bothers them. The most important thing to remember is never to force anything into it. Frozen krill or shrimp can work too, but I have seen the best results, hands down, with the silver sides. I feed mine once a week provided its tenticles are straight (deflated).

GL!

 

[Devilishturtles]

Silver sides are great, so are mysis shrimp. Remember to not feed an entire silverside, but cut it up small like PC said.

Also, chocolate chip starfish are not reef safe, so if you do want corals in the future you'll need to return the star.

HTH

 

[Lance M.]

I was going to also say to get rid of you chocolate chip star. I have heard of them killing nem's and they will eat corals.

Also your bta is bleached. What lighting do you have?

It is common for the anemone to not take food for the first week it is in the tank as it is adapting to the enviroment. Depending on the size of the anemone you can feed it whole silversides, my gbta takes whole ones. Mysis shrimp are great but are more like a treat and shouldn't be the staple. You can also feed cocktail shrimp, scallops, squid, krill, other meaty foods. It is best to soak them in something like Vita-Chem to give the anemone a little extra. With the appropriate lighting and a good, healthy anemone and depending on whether or not it is fed by it's host (some clowns feed their anemone, some don't, and some will steal food), you should be feeding it about once every two weeks, or once a month. Since yours is bleached I would go with 2-3 times a week, with at least 24 hours between each feeding so it can digest it's food. I would maybe start out with squid and/or scallops soaked in Vita-Chem as those are easier to digest then silversides.

 

[melosu58]

I agree that your CC star will kill your anenome. You need to get rid of it for your anenome`s sake and any corals.

 

[Ziggy953]

I guess I will be the voice of opposition here. I have had 3 different anemones in my system at various times. A green carpet, a green LTA and a condy. All three did very well in my tank but got too large for me to keep and I ended up selling or taking them back. My LTA was about 4" across and I kept it the longest and when I took it back to the LFS it was over 12" across. I did not feed it at any point while in my tank. It got what it needed from the lighting and from the normal feedings for the fish in the tank. I have read that feeding an anemone can cause more problems the good. The energy that it takes the anemone to digest the food typically is not replaced by the food its self. Most anemones do better with stong lighting and excellent water quality and not regular feedings. If you do decide to feed your anemone I would suggest only once a week.

The lighting on your tank is more important to your BTAs health then the feedings IMO.

 

[Lance M.]

I agree with Ziggy, that is when we are talking about healthy anemones, but when you get unhealthy ones (like this one) that are bleached they benefit from feeding until they get back up to full health and then they can use the light to feed themselves and draw nutrients out of the water column.

IMO and IME feeding doesn't do any harm, unless you are feeding too much, too often.

 

[Jarred Darque]

I feed my BTA about 2-3 shrimp a week (kinda small shrimp, maybe 2 inches tip to tip....whole shrimp btw...mysis shrimp maybe? If he is wanting food, **** take it right away, if not, he just lets it go past

 

[ccCapt]

Back when I got my 1st anemone about 15 yrs ago, it was unheard of to feed them. I never fed it then and I don't feed the one I have now. But, I always had MH lighting and mated clowns which fed it.

 

[lando]

I currently have five anemones (BTA and LTA) in my tanks. I have never feed any of them directly. They are all very healthy and my BTA have split several times. The anemone in your pic looks a bit bleached. Has the color changed since you got it? This is usually a sign of light depletion. As mentioned, light is really what these animals need. Offering feedings can actually be counter-productive in stressed animals as they can use up more energy digesting the food then they will actually receive from it. What is your lighting situation?

 

[Lance M.]

But when they are bleached, how can they get their energy from the light?

Bleaching is the expulsion of zooxanthellae...

Just saying healthy anemones don't need to be fed directly, but bleached ones are better off being fed until they are healthy again.