Anemone foods

[Kizmar]

Is it bad to spot feed an anemone mysis that was soaked in garlic?

The tentacles on my Red Bubble Tip are shortening and I'm trying to figure out what the deal is. They look pinched off on the ends. Not sure if it's stress from something, or if it's starving because its spitting out the garlic soaked mysis.

It's always something with this tank. I have a lot to learn...

 

[Kizmar]

Side thought: would it help if I bought larger food to feed the anemone? Like jumbo mysis or silversides?

 

[Nicolas]

From my little experience, for what reason did you soaked the mysis in garlic? My anemone goes crazy for artemia. I think you better take that food out with a syringe, she's not happy for sure with that food!!!!!!!

 

[Kizmar]

From my little experience, for what reason did you soaked the mysis in garlic? My anemone goes crazy for artemia. I think you better take that food out with a syringe, she's not happy for sure with that food!!!!!!!

I sometimes soak mysis for the fish (helps their immune system), but I feed the anemone the same stuff when I feed the fish.

Also: I just saw the larger of the two clowns hosting in this anemone suck on one of the anemones small tentacles like a nipple. :-?

 

[ErinCahir]

I sometimes soak mysis for the fish (helps their immune system), but I feed the anemone the same stuff when I feed the fish.

Also: I just saw the larger of the two clowns hosting in this anemone suck on one of the anemones small tentacles like a nipple. :-?

She's just cleaning it. :)

I don't see a reason why garlic-soaked mysis would be an issue for the nem.

And you absolutely can feed it larger chunks of food, but I would avoid silversides. Krill, pieces of squid, clam, chunks of larger fish should all be okay.

 

[Kizmar]

She's just cleaning it. :)

That's cool. I didn't know they did that.

Observing symbiotic relationships like this is quite amusing. ;)

 

[Nicolas]

She's just cleaning it. :)

I don't see a reason why garlic-soaked mysis would be an issue for the nem.

And you absolutely can feed it larger chunks of food, but I would avoid silversides. Krill, pieces of squid, clam, chunks of larger fish should all be okay.

Yes truly sad, its not an issue soaking mysis in garlic. Amenomes likes chunky foods.

 

[ErinCahir]

Yes truly sad, its not an issue soaking mysis in garlic. Amenomes likes chunky foods.

Nems can eat smaller food, too.

Just clarifying that.

 

[Bifferwine]

You shouldn't have to feed the anemone very often, if it's getting good lighting. Overfeeding tends to be more of a problem than underfeeding with those guys. :) That said, mysis soaked in garlic is fine for them, but I think Erin is right, that they would probably take to larger foods like krill better.

 

[little_fish]

Actually my research on nems has suggested just the opposite, we should be feeding them smaller foods. In the wild, a big piece of food is never going to drift down to where a nem is sitting, there are just too many hungry eyes watching.

They also say that the corals and nems "pooping" which we all laugh at is actually a bad sign, it means you have feed the nem something larger than it can properly digest and the process of expelling that waste isnt something that a properly feed nem would do. Also feeding the larger food items can be very damaging to their gastric cavity.

 

[Cathic]

small medium and large are all relative terms. Care to explain what would be considered a "small" and "medium" piece of food? I feed mine chunks of krill, about 1/4 in in size sometimes larger.

 

[Kizmar]

small medium and large are all relative terms. Care to explain what would be considered a "small" and "medium" piece of food? I feed mine chunks of krill, about 1/4 in in size sometimes larger.

I second that question...

Also, considering I have two clowns hosting in mine, do I need to spot feed at all?

 

[ErinCahir]

Mine always had clown hosts and I spot fed anyway.

Krill (and those other things I mentioned) chopped up relatively small (like... 1/3" pieces). A pile about the size of a quarter. I fed once a week.

 

[little_fish]

I got the impression that anything larger than a mysid shrimp is too big

 

[Kizmar]

I got the impression that anything larger than a mysid shrimp is too big

Should smaller nems get smaller food? I've been feeding mine regular sized (1/4"-1/2") mysis and it's still doing the gut-dump-poop-thing every day or two.

 

[little_fish]

I would think so, they have a correspondingly smaller gastric cavity. If I cant stand to keep studying, ill try and pull up the articles I was reading. They primarily came from WWM.