Anemone Question
Printed From: Utah Reefs
Category: Specialized Discussion
Forum Name: Invertebrates
Forum Description: This is the place to ask questions about invertebrates.
URL: http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4928
Printed Date: April 28 2024 at 8:43am
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Topic: Anemone Question
Posted By: HHHdxSMH
Subject: Anemone Question
Date Posted: January 08 2005 at 4:31pm
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I was going to get a Bubble Anemone for my Clownfish. I was wondering if you have to place it in the tank or let it drop and find a place? Also, how and what do you feed them? Thanks for your time and hope to hear from you soon.
Eric |
Replies:
Posted By: pmpt
Date Posted: January 08 2005 at 4:41pm
| Hold it gently against a rock until it attaches itself. Then you can feed it just about anything, brine shrimp, mysis shrimp, krill, etc. |
Posted By: HHHdxSMH
Date Posted: January 08 2005 at 4:47pm
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Do you hold it with your bare hands or do you use some kind of gloves? Also, how do you feed it? Eric |
Posted By: pmpt
Date Posted: January 08 2005 at 4:51pm
| You can use gloves. But a bubble tip aren't that aggresive so I use my bare hands. Up to you. I use a medicine dropper to target feed them. I take a medicine dropper remove the rubber sucker and then get a long piece of hard plastic tube (any LFS) and then glue the tip of the dropper on one side and the rubber sucker on the other. So it makes a long medicine dropper. Understand? |
Posted By: HHHdxSMH
Date Posted: January 08 2005 at 5:00pm
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Kind of, so it is like you are making an extension on the medicine dropper? Also, on what to feed it again. I can feed it mysis shrimp smashed up into almost a thick juice and suck it up in the dropper and then shoot it into the middle of the anemone?
Eric |
Posted By: pmpt
Date Posted: January 08 2005 at 5:01pm
| I guess, I just usually feed them the whole mysis shrimp. Less work on my part and them like it either way. But whatever floats your boat. |
Posted By: HHHdxSMH
Date Posted: January 08 2005 at 5:08pm
| ok, thanks |
Posted By: Simple
Date Posted: January 08 2005 at 5:37pm
Hello everyone,
Personally I don't think it matters how you put it in. The anemone will likely wander no matter what you do. Either way, I do recommend acclimating the animal first.
How: Larger anemones can typically take pieces of food 1" and larger. It's easy enough just to toss a couple piece of krill in it. For smaller aneomones, I recommend using a turkey baster. They come in a variety of sizes and are obviously cheap. To feed: Just pop off the top, put the food in, put the top back on, suck up some tank water, shake to thaw, squirt the anemone. Piece of cake. What: My BTAs have always responded well to shrimp (krill, mysid, brine). I feed 1" krill/mysid to anemones larger than 4" and mysid/brine to the smaller ones. Some people swear by silversides, but I've never had any luck with them.
IMO, there is no need to pulverize the food and it could be counterproductive. As long as the food fits in it's mouth, the anemone can take care of the smashing. Furthermore, you don't need to aim for the mouth. The tentacles should be able to grab pieces and get them to the mouth. Hope that helps, Chris ------------- Ascult� tot, dar nu crede tot. Believe nothing of what you hear, and only half of what you see. |
I was wondering if you have to place it in the tank or let it drop and find a place?Posted By: pmpt
Date Posted: January 08 2005 at 6:06pm
| Well said Chris |
Posted By: SSpargur
Date Posted: January 08 2005 at 6:12pm
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I feed mine with a turkey baster or just put a chunk of shrimp in it's tenticles. ------------- Sean Spargur West Valley, UT |
Posted By: j's55
Date Posted: January 08 2005 at 7:20pm
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I thaught if you jammed the food into the center it can choke well sort of choke then it cant take in water to fill in its flesh that is how it expands just put it on the tenticles then it can do the rest ------------- Josh Zorn 45G reef lots of tropical plants Cell it 910 3924 |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: January 08 2005 at 8:01pm
That's not quite a throat, it's just a place where they take in food and expel waste. But force feeding an anemone is an interesting idea... ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member 
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Posted By: Simple
Date Posted: January 08 2005 at 8:49pm
Hello everyone,
I sincerely doubt this would happen. While we're at it, here are a few more BTA and feeding things to think about: Make sure the BTA is happy, intact and ready/able to eat before buying it. Find one that is colored, attached, inflated and has a tight mouth. Don't expect it to eat for the first few days/week. Give it the chance, but it seems like they always need a little time to settle in. Expect it to deflate and look dead every now and then. It's how they get rid of waste and take in new water (filter feed). When BTAs split the pieces can stay deflated for several days/week. Otherwise the process shouldn't take more than ~24hrs. IMO a hosted clown will help the deflation/inflation process and likely make for a happier anemone. I'm not sure if this qualifies as feeding.. But if you haven't already, do some reading about xooanthellae. A happy BTA will have color. Red, green or brown are typical. A pale, white or colorless BTA is not happy. Finally, back when I kept shrimp(cleaner and peps) with my anemones there was usually competition for the food. The shrimp had no problem dancing across the anemones and stealing food right from their mouths. Honestly, it was really cool to watch. But unfortunately, the anemones would get annoyed and shrivel up without eating. Hope that helps, Chris ------------- Ascult� tot, dar nu crede tot. Believe nothing of what you hear, and only half of what you see. |
Posted By: HHHdxSMH
Date Posted: January 09 2005 at 12:41am
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What is xooanthellae?
Eric |
Posted By: j's55
Date Posted: January 09 2005 at 4:05pm
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It is the algae within the corals tissue and it is "zooxanthellae" It is where they get the nutrients to survive that is why they need light. It is also what makes them colorful usually the brighter the color the more light it need. But animals like most gorgonian where the polyps are white that means that the tissue has no zooxanthellae and that it eats planktonic foods like brine shrimp, Rotifers, cyclop-eeze, so on. If they are a filter feeder they eat smaller things like phytoplankton or fish waste for filter feeders you can mix around your sand and they eat the bacteria and other things that float up. Most anemones have zooxanthelae and eat meaty foods and some just eat meaty foods. A bubble tip is photosynthetic and carnivorous they like strong light and strong water flow. Photosynthetic means they have zooxanthelae and require light. Carnivorous means they eat meaty foods like squid, shrimp, krill, any thing that was ------------- Josh Zorn 45G reef lots of tropical plants Cell it 910 3924 |
Posted By: SSpargur
Date Posted: January 09 2005 at 4:35pm
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I never said shove it down it's throat! ------------- Sean Spargur West Valley, UT |
Posted By: j's55
Date Posted: January 09 2005 at 4:40pm
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I was not refering to you sean. I just read some where that if you force fed anemones with to large of food that it could hert the ------------- Josh Zorn 45G reef lots of tropical plants Cell it 910 3924 |
Posted By: jacob_poly
Date Posted: January 09 2005 at 10:18pm
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the first week is usually the most critical. I would release teh anemone in an area of medium water flow and close to where you want it to finally reside. Placing it in the proximity of a rock will help. Also if it does not float away you can place it in a crevice on the rock. BTAs usually attach pretty good and are easy to keep. Initially if it shies away from light and goes under some rock work let it be. Dont keep flipping rocks to have the BTA in view. Eventually it will move higher and try to bask in full light. Sometimes, unforunately for us, it decides to attach to the rear of a rock or the back glass....:(. Also important is observing the color of the anemone. If its loses its zoo, it will be in the first couple of days. Watch the mouth, it should not start to look tired or gaping. The first couple of days might be stressful. However, if the anemone remains shrivelled for too long (a day or more) it could be because your water conditions are not up to the mark, lighting is not adequate, etc. When trying to explain problems with anemones its best to use a check list - Specifically I found BTAs to be low maintenance. They are quick feeders and generally more tolerant of not so pristine water conditions. Plus being rock dwellers tehy can climb higher to get more light. I know this is more than you asked for but thought I'd share it anyways. |
Posted By: HHHdxSMH
Date Posted: January 09 2005 at 11:50pm
Thats ok, thank you for all the helpful information. Eric |
Posted By: Simple
Date Posted: January 10 2005 at 2:11am
Hello everyone,
I don't have a clue. Sorry, I really should have checked my spelling on that one. Try looking for zooxanthellae. As previously described it's basically a symbiotic algae.
First of all, it's borderline impossible to force an anemone to eat. Second, the mouth of the anemone is kinda like a snakes jaw. They can open a lot farther than you think they would. Finally, while i supposed it is possible that an anemone could choke, i suspect the anemone would just spit it out first. FWIW, I've watched polyps try to choke down krill of equal size. I bet they could do it too, if the worms would give them enough time. Thanks for the list Jacob, it's all good info to share. Generally I agree with what you've stated. Here are a few of my opinions to add:
I agree 100%. Let it do what it wants to do. Also realize that they like to mount their foot upside down and protected. From this position they'll turn their oral disk over facing the light. Even if it starts out somwhere you can't see it, evenutally it will grown and show up.
IMO this is of little consequence.
I agree. At that 30 gallon minimum I would likely keep only the anemones and it's splits. To keep a tank with more variety I would recommend a 55. From there plan for your anemone/s to take up atleast 1/3 of it.
IMO the terms "under control" and "good skimmer" are totally different from one person to the next. Beyond that, over skimming could be an issue for a filter feeding. FWIW, there are plenty of happy skimmerless anemones out there.
I believe watts/gallon is a meaningless standard. Intensity of light on the animal is all that matters. Indirect shaded light in 10000w/gal tank is still just indirect shaded light. Conversely, an anemone would be happy in a 10000 gallon tank at 1w/gal if it were right under the light. Ultimately, the BTA will likely find one of the highest/brightest spots in the tank and take up residence. Personally I recommend MH lights. From what I've seen BTAs do MUCH better with them.
IMO mixing corals and anemones can be, but doesn't need to be, a problem. You just have to remember that as they grow, they take up a lot of space. Put the anemone in before the corals. Let it get settled in for a month+. Then plan atleast 6"+ each direction for it. They can and do split when they're smaller, but you shouldn't count on it. Even if the anemone does split, the splits usually like to wander a couple few inches. As you add corals to the tank take care to keep a similar current on the anemones area. If you add large coral somewhere that blocks flow, the anemone may start wandering. Finally, if you plan ahead and give it plenty of room, there shouldn't be any problems.
I've seen this happen. But I've also seen clowns pull food out of the current and toss it in the anemone. Ultimately, I feel that a hosted clown will do far more good than harm.
This is an opinion about reefkeeping in general. Some believe it, some dont. Like my skimmer opinion, it's not hard to find happy old-water anemones.
IMO, this isn't on the high side. 25ish is just right. Hope that helps, Chris ------------- Ascult� tot, dar nu crede tot. Believe nothing of what you hear, and only half of what you see. |
Posted By: jglover
Date Posted: January 10 2005 at 8:33am
| To see an intersting sight search for reef fatalities on the invertebrate forum it's a two inch RBTA eating a 2" cleaner shrimp. They can open wide. Some clownfish will beat the anenome to death as the case with mine I've tried everything I can think of the help him out but removal of one of the two will have to happen. So I'm setting up a hospital tank for him but I think that this is a rare problem. |
Posted By: jacob_poly
Date Posted: January 22 2005 at 5:57pm
IMO this is of little consequence. - To some extent but I think you need to wait atleast 6 months to let you tank settle down before even thinking of an anemone. And then you need to double check all parameters before adding any.
IMO the terms "under control" and "good skimmer" are totally different from one person to the next. Beyond that, over skimming could be an issue for a filter feeding. FWIW, there are plenty of happy skimmerless anemones out there. - Probably, but I think its always better to err on the side of overskimming than underskimming or not skimming at all. Also this would depend on the tolerance of the anemone species. FOr example, my LTA freaks out a lot earlier than my BTAs when water quality declines. Maybe there are a few people who have nurtured anemones without a skimmer (and there surely are reasons for their success) but I prefer the skimmer route. Its made a world of difference to the health of my anemone.
- agreed with the MH option. Anemone happy with 1 w/g if it were the right kind?
I've seen this happen. But I've also seen clowns pull food out of the current and toss it in the anemone. Ultimately, I feel that a hosted clown will do far more good than harm. - Probably in 95% of the cases. In my situation it was doing more bad than good and I sold a clarkii off to save to my LTA. Now I have an ocellaris that is much better behaved. I guess you just have to observe how the partnership develops. Its usually good but just because I have experienced otherwise I thought I should mention it. Some people just go and buy a clown when they find their anemone looks not so good. IMO, there are root causes for poor anemone health and most likely not because of the absence of a clown.
This is an opinion about reefkeeping in general. Some believe it, some dont. Like my skimmer opinion, it's not hard to find happy old-water anemones. Agreed - but this would be a tank to tank thing. It all depends on the quality of the water and how well the ecosystem is balanced. When its not, then you have trouble. Thanks for the discussion Chris, I liked it and I think a lot of people will benifit from reading it as well. Ciao!! Jake. |
...Hmmmm...not totally sure about that. But I agree that its better to have more light and preferably MH and if the anemone needs shade it can always seek it.