Musings on feeding anemones

[Marcq]

Hi, all,

I thought I'd share some experiences on feeding my H. crispa. I mentioned
about 6 months ago that I had had good luck simply by feeding my fish near
the anemone and it would get sufficient droppings to thrive. Marc L had
commented that in his experience, they could waste away with that feed
scheme Upon further observation I wanted to extend my comments that:

I think a H. crispa can do quite well taking what the fish don't get in a
large tank with a healthy fish load assuming you take care to feed near the
anemone. With enough food in the water, it seems to catch its fair share and
it benefits I think from a daily small feed rather than a less frequent
large feed. When I had my anemone in a 220G tank, it did quite well on this
diet, added many tentacles and was quite expanded.

About a year ago, I shut down the big tank and moved the anemone to a 55G
tank. I kept up the same feeding regimen and noticed that it was starting to
shrink, never a good sign. So I resumed directed feeding of the anemone and
it has since returned to its former glory. I think the difference was simply
the amount of fish in the tank and consequently the amount of food the
anemone could get with out a targetted feed. With sufficient fish, there is
enough left over. With a smaller load, there isn't.

My current scheme is to still feed near it where it grabs some flake, mysis,
etc. but also give it some Formula I or II every 2-4 days. Seems to be doing
quite well on that.

Anyway, just some thoughts on it. Hope they are useful.

Marc


--
http://www.four-hands.com/marcs_stuff.htm

[Marc Levenson]

Hi Marc!

I have noticed quite a bit of change in my BTA over time. The tear that I
brought to your attention in January has completely healed, although you can see
the scar of it from time to time.

I'm seriously thinking about setting up a camera in front of my BTA and taking a
picture of it every hour for 24 hours, just to show how much that creature will
change from hour to hour! I'm still doing the feeding system you've done in
your 220g, but occasionally I'll feed my BTA a piece of shrimp. I don't know if
you saw what happened a couple of months ago:
http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/tank/spawning.html

Anyway, unless a person feeds pretty heavily, I think it is incumbent on the
reefkeeper to feed their BTAs at least weekly to assure it gets some meaty foods
to consume.

Marc

Marcq wrote:

> Hi, all,
>
> I thought I'd share some experiences on feeding my H. crispa. I mentioned
> about 6 months ago that I had had good luck simply by feeding my fish near
> the anemone and it would get sufficient droppings to thrive. Marc L had
> commented that in his experience, they could waste away with that feed
> scheme Upon further observation I wanted to extend my comments that:
>
> I think a H. crispa can do quite well taking what the fish don't get in a
> large tank with a healthy fish load assuming you take care to feed near the
> anemone. With enough food in the water, it seems to catch its fair share and
> it benefits I think from a daily small feed rather than a less frequent
> large feed. When I had my anemone in a 220G tank, it did quite well on this
> diet, added many tentacles and was quite expanded.
>
> About a year ago, I shut down the big tank and moved the anemone to a 55G
> tank. I kept up the same feeding regimen and noticed that it was starting to
> shrink, never a good sign. So I resumed directed feeding of the anemone and
> it has since returned to its former glory. I think the difference was simply
> the amount of fish in the tank and consequently the amount of food the
> anemone could get with out a targetted feed. With sufficient fish, there is
> enough left over. With a smaller load, there isn't.
>
> My current scheme is to still feed near it where it grabs some flake, mysis,
> etc. but also give it some Formula I or II every 2-4 days. Seems to be doing
> quite well on that.
>
> Anyway, just some thoughts on it. Hope they are useful.
>
> Marc
>
> --
> http://www.four-hands.com/marcs_stuff.htm

--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

[Marcq]

"Marc Levenson" > wrote in message
...
> Hi Marc!
>
> I have noticed quite a bit of change in my BTA over time. The tear that I
> brought to your attention in January has completely healed, although you
can see
> the scar of it from time to time.
>
> I'm seriously thinking about setting up a camera in front of my BTA and
taking a
> picture of it every hour for 24 hours, just to show how much that creature
will
> change from hour to hour! I'm still doing the feeding system you've done
in
> your 220g, but occasionally I'll feed my BTA a piece of shrimp. I don't
know if
> you saw what happened a couple of months ago:
> http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/tank/spawning.html
>
> Anyway, unless a person feeds pretty heavily, I think it is incumbent on
the
> reefkeeper to feed their BTAs at least weekly to assure it gets some meaty
foods
> to consume.
>
> Marc
>

Hi, Marc,

Hadn't noticed the spawning picture- very cool!

On the feeding, I agree. Basically, I think they need a lot of food. I like
the small fish-food bits because it is more like the plankton they snare in
the wild but targetted feedings are needed as well unless the tank is
heavily feed (like my 220).

Marc

--
http://www.four-hands.com/marcs_stuff.htm