Feeding your Nem? Stop and read this first.

[olonmv]

Nice little bali carpets.They split like crazy.

Thank you! Yes they do. I feed them 2-3 times a week so they grow really fast! I’m currently trying to fatten up my mandarin so they have been getting more food.

 

[ArtisticReef]

Mine get fed from the food I broadcast. I intentionally don’t feed the tank by them or they split too often Yet they still get particles in the water

 

[SHINYSuccubus]

I'm trying to feed my new bubble tip anemone a quarter cube of food daily to try to get it to not move from its current spot . . . no idea if it's helping or not, but it makes me feel better!

i had two RBTAs that were fed weekly, one didn’t move much - it kept within a 10” square. the *other* RBTA though… that sucker traveled all over my tank and was an instrument of destruction. it decided to “perch” in the middle of a gorgeous swath of GSPs and killed them all. then it sat on a gorgeous torch and mortally wounded it. i gave them both up, and now i have a sweet long tentacle that was hosting my maroon clown within 24hrs of tank placement. it scooted a couple of inches to find its happy place and never moved again, thank god! rn that nem and all my fish are being “boarded” at my LFS while my new tank is being assembled . i hope the nem come thru that ok - the LFS got hit w omicron so everything has been delayed. they’re all ok, thank goodness, so i’m hoping we can set up and begin to cycle the new tank next week!

tl;dr - if your nem wants to tear around your tank like a go cart on steroids, it will

 

[Mical]

I feed mine once a week

5 years later (and yes still feeding them shrimp & littleneck clams)

 

[Smokey101]

Anemone’s have a symbiotic relationship with something they host and it’s not Clownfish. Just like many of our tank inhabitants, Anemone’s play host to an algae called Zooxanthellae (Zoos from here forward). The Anemone provides a safe place for the algae to grow and survive, in exchange the anemone benefits from the oxygen and sugars

Ok that’s great but what does that have to do with feeding our anemones? Essentially the Zoos inside our nems are not limited by the amount of food we feed the host anemone. Now don’t get me wrong, that doesn’t mean our nems don’t “need” to eat. We all know something has to feed that Algae, usually some type of phosphate. Where many make the mistake is it has been observed and theorized that the Zoos get enough organics from the natural sea water environment that they don’t need to be fed to keep the Zoos at a stable level.

Ok, but surely feeding your Anemone can have some benefit correct? The answer to that is yes. Essentially you can help speed up the growth of your Anemone with feeding, but there is a limit.

Ok so does it hurt to feed too much? The answer is nobody honestly knows, but essentially all you are doing is adding more ammonia to the tank which needs to be processed and the anemone and it’s hosted Zoos are gaining nothing from your feeding.

So at this point you’re probably asking yourself

“How often should you feed?”

I’ve personally not found the scientific or anecdotal evidence to give EXACT 100% accurate numbers, but here are the recommendations I would make:

If your only interest is to ensure your Anemone has enough N & P that the parameters of your tank are not inhibiting it’s growth, feed once a month.

If your intent is to grow the anemone and try to accelerate or at least fuel your anemone to the max to achieve best possible growth rates, feed once a week.

I’ll cover what to feed and how much in another post at a later time, but both science and testimonials of hobbyists tells us you don’t have to feed at all if you don’t want to AND you can definitely feed too much.

Source: A Biology of Sea Anemones by J. Malcom Shick

I had a anemone for 9 years, actually back then I did not directly feed it. I just kinda made sure it could catch some food the fish ate every 3 days or so. I did this for maybe 2 years. When i started feeding Fresh chopped shrimp & fish I tried direct feeding a Nickel SIZE piece shrimp, he ate it fast! The anemone was still small a few inches or so, i bought it when i first started tank again, it was very tiny. Well about 7 to 8 years later direct feeding it every 8 tp 10 days the Anemone was half the size of my 60 gal. Show Tank. Then Trouble, I bought a Coral Beauty locally, little did I know it had Ich, time past before I realized what was brought into Tank, in treatment, which i was a novice at the Ich had already gotten severe, maybe the Medication I don't know but my Anemone was dying! Gradually it shrunk up of a few weeks till there was barely anything left of it. I guess it maybe had been dead for days! Any how that Ich and treatment cost me the Death of almost every living thing in tank, but the one that brought Ich with it and 2 fish I had from Starting tank! I was devastated, although I still have the 2 fish, I moved 20 miles up the road kept thoses 2 fish but never added any other marine life but Hermit crabs! The Coral Beauty died about 6 yrs ago. I cannot bring myself to maybe watch 10 or so fish die again. Sorry for long story. I do wish I had a photo of that Anemone! It was Huge and a beauty! Photos are on my crashed computer! By the way, the 2 fish remaining, are close to 18 to 20 years old! Thanks

 

[Rich Klein]

I don’t feed mine. Started with one RBT and now have 40 +.

 

[Mcc sour doh]

I give my nems a squirt each of frozen mysis when I feed my tank. Usually a treat for the fish once a month, but I give the left overs to the nems. I currently have a bristle worm problem so I only spot feed the fish once a day. I've had my nano tank for about three years and the nems probably split 20 times, nice growth and color. They seem to do fine without having to put too much thought into it. They seem to split more if I don't let my fresh mixed saltwater sit for more than two days. Red sea coral pro, mixed by instructions expect using it right away. I like to let it sit because i feel there are high spikes when it's fresh. But I also think that's what can trigger splits. I got about 12 right now between the sump and my seven gallon nano.

 

[Mcc sour doh]

I give my nems a squirt each of frozen mysis when I feed my tank. Usually a treat for the fish once a month, but I give the left overs to the nems. I currently have a bristle worm problem so I only spot feed the fish once a day. I've had my nano tank for about three years and the nems probably split 20 times, nice growth and color. They seem to do fine without having to put too much thought into it. They seem to split more if I don't let my fresh mixed saltwater sit for more than two days. Red sea coral pro, mixed by instructions expect using it right away. I like to let it sit because i feel there are high spikes when it's fresh. But I also think that's what can trigger splits. I got about 12 right now between the sump and my seven gallon nano.

 

[Superd513]

So what does it mean if my flower anemone keeps expelling poop-like substance? Two days in a row. Thanks

That’s the zooanthali sorry I can’t spell. It’s the algae they need. It’s not a good sign imo. I lost one after it did that. I’m no expert so don’t take my experience to heart.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Nem May be getting too much light and expelling excess energy source known as zooxanthellae which gives it color and energy
Feed chopped krill and mysis shrimp

 

[Neoma369]

Anemone’s have a symbiotic relationship with something they host and it’s not Clownfish. Just like many of our tank inhabitants, Anemone’s play host to an algae called Zooxanthellae (Zoos from here forward). The Anemone provides a safe place for the algae to grow and survive, in exchange the anemone benefits from the oxygen and sugars

Ok that’s great but what does that have to do with feeding our anemones? Essentially the Zoos inside our nems are not limited by the amount of food we feed the host anemone. Now don’t get me wrong, that doesn’t mean our nems don’t “need” to eat. We all know something has to feed that Algae, usually some type of phosphate. Where many make the mistake is it has been observed and theorized that the Zoos get enough organics from the natural sea water environment that they don’t need to be fed to keep the Zoos at a stable level.

Ok, but surely feeding your Anemone can have some benefit correct? The answer to that is yes. Essentially you can help speed up the growth of your Anemone with feeding, but there is a limit.

Ok so does it hurt to feed too much? The answer is nobody honestly knows, but essentially all you are doing is adding more ammonia to the tank which needs to be processed and the anemone and it’s hosted Zoos are gaining nothing from your feeding.

So at this point you’re probably asking yourself

“How often should you feed?”

I’ve personally not found the scientific or anecdotal evidence to give EXACT 100% accurate numbers, but here are the recommendations I would make:

If your only interest is to ensure your Anemone has enough N & P that the parameters of your tank are not inhibiting it’s growth, feed once a month.

If your intent is to grow the anemone and try to accelerate or at least fuel your anemone to the max to achieve best possible growth rates, feed once a week.

I’ll cover what to feed and how much in another post at a later time, but both science and testimonials of hobbyists tells us you don’t have to feed at all if you don’t want to AND you can definitely feed too much.

Source: A Biology of Sea Anemones by J. Malcom Shick

 

[Neoma369]

I thoughroly enjoyed this info!