anenome lighting

[bunk97]

has anyone here had an anenome with only a full spectrum day lighting and actinic low wattage flourencent or just one of the two. I am just wondering if I need power compacts or vho to have my anenome. I have one now with 2 15 watt power glos and 2 15 actinic and they are doing fine and a few people have the same or similar and had no problems but some say you have to have stronger lighting is this true or what?

 

[buzz]

What kind of anemone? They don't all require the same lighting.

 

[heavenly damsel]

Lighting is not the most important thing for anemones. They need to be fed meaty foods. I feed mine pieces of cacktail shrimp 3-4 times a week and they are very healthy. I believed some when they told me anemones only need lighting to produce their own food...that is crap...feed them.

 

[buzz]

No question about it...feeding meaty foods is very important. I feed mine squid chunks, and supplement with an invertebrate formula.
My point was that a lot of people will say all anemone's need very strong lighting, which just isn't true. My BTA attached near the bottom of my tank, on my live rock with only indirect light. When it needs some more light, it stretches up. When it's had enough, it settles back down. Of course, my BTA is probably about a foot in diameter if it ever was laid flat, and when stretched, it is about 6-7 inches from the bottom of it's foot to the end of it's tips. So, it can pretty much stretch anywhere it wants without moving it's foot.
But, there are some anemones that do need more light than others.

 

[mbuckley]

I've have luck NOT feeding my Sebae, it's almost doubled in size since I got it. When I first got it I'd try and feed it frozen silversides. This worked for the first couplke of days. Unfortunately once my clown took to the Sabae it would pick the pieces of silverside out before the sebae could get the to it's mouth. I guess the clown liked to keep a tidy house...
One thing I noticed however is that the sebae has turned from white with pink tips to a much darker shade (grey almost) with pink tips.
Now correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that's the "bacteria" (not sure of the scientific name) that lives in the sebae taking off. I've read that sebae's have a symbiotic relationship with this "bacteria", in that, it uses the "bacteria" as a food source.
I probably haven't specifically feed my anemone in 3 months and it's doing fine... as the saying goes, if it ain't broke....
Mike

 

[heavenly damsel]

Most sebaes will turn white in shipping due to the lack of light. The zooanthellae will return once it is put back under lighting and it will change color. Mine is tan with purple colored tips.
Your sebae will live for a period of time with no meaty foods then will die. You really should be feeding it if you want it to continue to thrive. In addition to the cocktail shrimp, I feed the tank Eric Borneman's coral and fish food recipe. I make sure to squirt some of this onto the sebae while the clown is occupied with eating.
Please feed your sebae.

 

[itchy]

I have found that if you dont feed your anemones they will start to feed on other things....say your fish. I feed mine krill and squid 2 to 3 times a week. I have 2 sebaes, 2 florida anemones, and a yellow carpet. They are all healthy and happy and so far no mishaps with my fish. When I first started this hobby years ago no one told me to feed them and I started noticing that my starfish were missing and some of my dottom dwellers and a damsel or two. All this in a couple of weeks, I thought it was my trigger, but he was eating well. It wasn't until I found part of my starfish in its mouth that someone told me to feed them.

 

[shadow678]

Anemones will feed on foreign organisms, regardless of previous feedings. This occurance will be reduced by having a clownfish hosting in the anemone, as any fish that wanders too close to the anemone will be shooed away by the clownfish defending it's territory. As far as nutrition is concerned, I will submit an excerpt from Gerald R. Allen and Daphne G. Fautin's book, titled: Anemone Fishes and their Host Sea Anemones.
Chapter 3, Section 1:Nutrition
"Sea anemones that are host to clownfishes, like many tropical actinians and some temperate ones, harbour unicellular algae within the cells of their tentacles and oral disc. A portion of the sugars produced by these plants through photosynthesis are 'leaked' to their host. This may be the anemone's major source of energy. The widely flared oral disc of many host actinians serves not only to accomodate fish, but its large surface area is well adapted for intercepting sunlight. However, actinians, like all coelenterates, capture and digest animal prey with their nematocysts. We have found small fish, sea urchins, and a variety of crustaceans (shrimps and crabs) in the coelenteronof host anemones. They also appear to feed on planktonic items conveyed by the currents. Although the energy they derive from photosynthesis may be sufficient to live, the anemones need sulfur, nitrogen, and other elements in order to grow and reproduce. These animals are not voracious predators: their prey probably consists of animals that bump into them (e.g. a fish fleeing a more active predator) or stumble over them (e.g. a sea urchin, which has no eyes). Therefor, the supply is probably small and irregular. In hundreds of hours we have spent observing them we have never witnessed a host anemone feeding on fishes. A more predictable source of nutrients may be from wastes of their symbiotic fish. This issue deserves to be studied scientifically. Anemones of some species are capable of absorbing nutrients directly from seawater through their thin tissues, and that may be a source of nutrition for these animals as well."
I'll let you deduct what you wish from this article. HTH