feeding anenomes?

[guitarstryng]

hey all, whats up. new to the hobby. can anyone tell me how often and what to feed anenomes? one is a white neon tip anenome the other i honestly dont know what it is, it is very small about the size of a nickel or so around.... it has a pink foot and little neon green tentacles.... anyway how often should i feed them, and what? thanks for your help.

[Bang Guy]

Sounds like a Sebae and a Long-Tentacle but this is just a wild guess.

Since one is white it will be touch & go for a while so feeding is doubly important.

I only have experience with Bubble-Tip Anemone. I feed mine whole scallops, shrimp, and silversides. You might start with krill and try different foods to see what they prefer to eat.

[guitarstryng]

hey thanks, the really small one ate a pretty decent sized piece of the shrimp, i was thinking it was too big but he devoured it lol is that ok? should i feed it everyda like that? the sebae clown is always in the anenome, when i went to feed them the green chromis ate most of the food i dont think the sebae get any.. what should i do...? also the yellow clown goby seems scared, hes always sitting in the same spot, next to live rock, or in a corner... is that normal? thanks for any help you can give !

[Bang Guy]

If they eat it then it's not too big. I'd suggest feeding it 2 or 3 times a week but never two days in a row. You might want to feed it a lot at a time until it gets healthy again (light Brown vs White). Keep an eye on your water though. They need to eat a lot but they also need clean water. There's a delicate balance there. More smaller pieces of food are better than fewer larger pieces.

[lando]

The main food source for your anenomes is light. What size tank do you have and what type of lighting?

[guitarstryng]

hey thanks alot, 20 gallons what kind of lighting should i have, white neon tip anenome ? they will eat the shrimp?? what is good to feed them, best to feed them i should say
i dont want them dying on me....

[lando]

If you have enough light, feeding your anenomes will not be needed. They will get smal chucks of food at feeding time. What are you currently feeding? As for the light, it would be helpful to know the type and wattage you have. Are you using the single light strip that probablly came with the tank? If so it is most likely NO flouresent light. It is not enough to support an anenome long-term. If you do not upgrade your lighting, they will die. You will need at least 4-6 watts/gal of CF or even MH lighting to keep them going.

[Bang Guy]

Originally Posted by guitarstryng

i dont want them dying on me....

Don't be too disappointed if they die. 97% of Sebae die withing a year of being taken from the ocean.

Most often it's because the hobbiest is told that Anemone can just live on light. Typically Sebae are sold very bleached and they'll require a lot of food to thrive IMO.

Heteractis anemones in general do not require any direct feedings at all in the presence of general fish feedings. Only in the absence of general fish feedings will they require any additional intervention on the part of the hobbiest. They do require some additional proteins as do all marine animals, just not that much. Overfeeding is usually what kills them. In fact, with the exception of non photosynthetic or lower light anemoes (BTA's primarily) they will thrive in a properly lit tank and sparse feedings.

Cheers
Steve

[guitarstryng]

heythanks all, real helpful..... i had a seba clown fish in there, he loved the anenome i guess, but he died a few days after adding him... he wouldnt eat when i fed the fish and im really not sure why he died... the others seem to be doing well, but my yellow clown goby just likes to sit there in a couple various spots.. lol is that ok??

[lando]

Not sure why your clown died either. Can you post your water parameters and more info on the tank? Need to know temp, Ph, SG, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and size of tank, lighting, substrate, filtration method, anything else you can give us would be great. We are all here to help.

[flanque]

Do you have to purchase a different light fixture for lights other than NO CFs? I have 2 x 35w NO CF lights, want more wattage, but don't want to have to purchase entire new light fixtures.

Any suggestions, and retailers where I can get them?

[guitarstryng]

hey, sure well i have the readings from about 12 hrs from when he died, and here they are, ill test them right now, which is abou 2 days after he died too for you...

12/25- PH - 8.2
Am - 0.25
Nitrite - 0.25
Nitrate - 5.0
i keep the temp at 78- is that ok? the salinity level was at 1.024-25 when he died. Im using a h.o.t magnum filter that pumps 250 an hr on a 20g tank with an undergravel filter witha aquaclear powerhead that pumps about 120 an hour. like you said its just the lighting that comes with the tank, single strip. what kind should i get ? id love to do coral/anenomes/inverts if possible, when the time is right, when is that?
Here are the reading from now -
ph - 8.2
ammo - 0.25
nitrite - 0.25
nitrate - 0 - 5.0
sg - 1.022

ps the testing kit i got sucks, its the drops in the test tube, the freakin 7.8 looks hjust like 8.2 to me lol and the nitrate level is also hard to tell, it looks about 0 though... the hydrometer also stinks, it likes to give weird readings lol its always gettin bubbles on it..... anyway thanks for your help, let me know what you think thanks

[lando]

That is good info. Yu might want to think about ditching the UGF. It is outdated technology and can cause nitrate problems down the road. However, with regular maintanence it can work. Temp and SG are good and Ph are good. I am a bit worried about about your ammonia and nitrtie. Both of these should be at zero. They are toxic to fish and should not be kept at .25 for a long period of time. I would do 10-15% water changes every other day until the levels are down.

[Bang Guy]

Has your Ammonia test kit ever tested 0? There are a couple of test kits on the market that read a false positive of 0.25ppm. If that's what you're using then you really should get a different brand so you can get an accurate reading. Salifert is a good brand IME.

[gozetec02]

My ammonia kit reads .25 every time when my nitrates and nitrites are at 0. Its a kit made by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals. I also have the same problem with but I learned that if you let the test sit for like 45 minutes the colors will become more defined.

[guitarstryng]

right on y eah i have those too i think gozetec, the dr wellfish ones or something lol yup same one, its not the best, my work has these type with small paper strips that i gues su stick in a sample of water, i hear they are real good, ill have to try it.... so yuo really think the undergravel filter is a bad idea?? my boss said it was a great idea, and hes been working in wholesale pet industry for years so i wanted to trust him, he must know something right?? lol but anyway why do you think undergravel filters are bad, i have heard htta many times,b ut still he tells me they are great...... do u think the hot magnum filter is good

[guitarstryng]

hey again, i cant bring the anenome back for a couple days.... it seems to be okay, for now lol.... the little little one has stayed in the same spot since i had him,s tuck to a piece of live rock.... the big one actually stayed in the middle of the tank the entire time, it dug itself a little hole in the crushed coral.... but yesterday it moved, next thign i know i look over the thing is moving lol it was interesting, now its in the corner of the tank, and its foot dug 2-3 inches down in the crushed coral against the side of the tank, is that normal? do they move sometimes? why do you think its in the corner? thanks alot ill bring it back asap lol

[guitarstryng]

is there any warning signals that its going to die?

[flanque]

guitarstryng,

those ammonia and nitrite levels are dangerous. you should always have a 0 reading on these. try another test kit. i had one which always read 0.25 but when i tried the same with different kits it came up 0.