Best way to feed an anemone?

[fish sense]

I have a long tentacle anemone. I was wondering if there is a best time to feed them. Lights on or off, morning, evening, opened fully or somewhat closed, while other fish are being fed, clownfish in, clownfish out. Also, what are the best foods to feed? How often? Thanks!!!

 

[josh]

Hi,
Well I have a sebae, but I feed mine when the lights are on, or atleast the actinics are on. I feed him frozen brine 3-4 times a week. This is very important to keep the anemone feed, this is the biggest thing people neglect, yes they filter feed but they are natural predators in the wild and must be feed regularly. I just take a piece of shrimp and gently place it into the tentacles, it grabs it no problem and then moves it to the mouth.
-Josh-

 

[tru conch]

i feed mine with the lights on, about two to three times a week. a nice treat for them is live brine shrimp. they get all nice and plump after a dose.

 

[fish sense]

Thanks for the input, my LTA doesn't seem to be taking silversides or a piece of raw shrimp. I will try some live brine shrimp. Any other suggestions? Also, his mouth seems to be somewhat open. Is this bad? THanks!

 

[jumpfrog]

I feed my rock/flower anemone at the most twice a week. I just put some Formula Reef in a turkey baster and gently blow some his way. He closes up on the smorgasboard

 

[ky]

I know that this is contrary to what most of you believe, but I feed mine only about once a month. I rely on the the micro algae and plankton that grow on and in them to do the feeding. I have never had one die, and some are over 5 years old. I wonder if that's why there are so many posts about people warning others not to get them because they are too hard to keep- overfeeding? Anyways, that's how I do it and it works very well for me.

 

[kelly]

ky,
I got a couple of questions for you. What kind of anenomes do you have? What kind of lighting on the tank with the anenomes? I have 2 condys, 1 flower, and a curlique. The only ones that I feed are the condys. The flower and the curlique get whatever floats by them. I do feed my fish live and frozen brine, and do add supplements. I have not had any problems, but then these are the easier anenomes to keep.
Fishsense,
I got a couple of questions for you also. How long have you had the anenome? What are your nitrates? The mouth should not be open unless it it releasing waste products. The best time to feed is more that likely during the day, when fully extended. I am sure in the wild, when food gets caught in their tenticles, they will eat regardless of time.
The frequency of feeding would depend on the amount of nutrition that the anenome gets from the symbiotic algae. I feed mine about once a week or so usually when I remember, and I feed them silversides. It really does not matter whether the clown is in or out. Try cutting the silversides into smaller pieces, and make sure they are completely thawed.

 

[ky]

Sadly enough, I don't know what the names are. We go our lfs, my wife and kids find what is "pretty" and we buy it. I have VHO lighting in each tank. Every now and then one of them will go for a walk to find a better place to live. They are like a clock hand. You can't see them move if you stare at them, but if you came back in 10 minutes, they have moved 12 inches. Some of mine are very easy to take care of and some are very fragile, but they all survive and thrive. Like I said, this method works very well for me. And it's because of this that I don't understand all of the posts about the difficulty of keeping anemone. I'm not at home right now, but if I had to guess on the number inmy htee tanks, I would say that I have 12-15 different ones

 

[fish sense]

Kelly,
My nitrates are typically 5 or less. Thanks for the advice. I will see what I can do. I have had him for about 2 weeks. I don't think he has found a spot he is happy with. I will keep a close eye on him.