possible to overfeed anemone?

[jas_soh]

hello...... read that we can feed the anemone with a shrimp every few days.... can we possibly overfeed an anemone den???? currently i am feeding it with shrimp blended with mussels... any idea if this is okay??

[lima16_sg]

sorry to use your post as no answer to ur qs

how u feed ur anemone, lfs teach me just stuff it into the mouth, comment?

[jas_soh]

will share with you what i did...

i have some frozen seafood blended. will run it under water to thaw it and den throw small pieces, each about 0.5cm by 0.5cm right above the anemone. if my fish dun catch it den it would fall nicely onto the tenacles of the anemone...once it touches the tenacles would grab it with its sticky tips and gradually pass it to the mouth right in the centre....

[hongqixian]

gently place the food near the anemone's mouth. If it is hungry it will eat the food. If it is full or sick it will not eat or it may regurgitate the food l8r.

[spong3bob]

yes u can overfeed ur anemone... overfeeding will cause ur anemone to puke out the food and even cause death..

[Dispar_Anthias]

Actually most important of anemopne is good water condition and strong light

[Clownfish]

start with small quantities then gradually increase quantity by looking at whether it's hungry....

usually feeding once a week shld suffice..... with moderate~strong lightings...

[hongqixian]

i just realised you said every few days. Feeding anemones should be a treat once in a while, as they mostly depend on their symbiotic algae. You can put small bits of mussel on the anemone to feed it. Don't do it too often though, just once a week or once per two weeks.

P.S. Tube anemones (with stronger stings) depend more on meaty foods so you can feed them twice as often. Small pieces of fish also go down well with them.

[FuEl]

I agree with hongqixian..anemones with stronger stings generally eat larger prey items in the wild...Eg. carpet anemones, tube anemones..

Anemones with weaker stings are slightly more picky over their food choices in the wild...some studies have shown that bubble tipped anemones actually selectively prefer planktonic prey.

Even the most healthy of anemones will take DAYS to fully digest food. It is always best to underfeed than to overfeed. Underfeeding will cause your anemone to grow slower...but overfeeding will cause it to die.

Digestion needs energy. Feeding a newly purchased anemone frequently and with large food items will greatly lead to their demise. The energy needed to replace nematocysts lost during transport coupled with the energy needed to digest food will stress the animal out.

My advice for newly acquired anemones (photosynthetic ones)..would be to give them strong light...and starve them for 7-10 days before you commence feeding. Give them time to recuperate in your tank before subjecting them to the energy demands needed to digest food. Even food as small as a mysis....will take days to be fully digested.

Sometimes...a little starvation is good.

[hongqixian]

I agree with hongqixian..anemones with stronger stings generally eat larger prey items in the wild...Eg. carpet anemones, tube anemones..

Anemones with weaker stings are slightly more picky over their food choices in the wild...some studies have shown that bubble tipped anemones actually selectively prefer planktonic prey.

Even the most healthy of anemones will take DAYS to fully digest food. It is always best to underfeed than to overfeed. Underfeeding will cause your anemone to grow slower...but overfeeding will cause it to die.

Digestion needs energy. Feeding a newly purchased anemone frequently and with large food items will greatly lead to their demise. The energy needed to replace nematocysts lost during transport coupled with the energy needed to digest food will stress the animal out.

My advice for newly acquired anemones (photosynthetic ones)..would be to give them strong light...and starve them for 7-10 days before you commence feeding. Give them time to recuperate in your tank before subjecting them to the energy demands needed to digest food. Even food as small as a mysis....will take days to be fully digested.

Sometimes...a little starvation is good.

very detailed

P.S. The D. azureus in your signature is nice.

[FuEl]

Wow..you know the scientific name huh...

I had a pair of those..but not around anymore..introduced a diseased individual..affected the rest....darn....

[jas_soh]

woo...www.... really good and detailed info..thanks thanks