An experiment in gavage feeding an unhealthy H. magnifica
- Thread starter WrinkleFreeZone
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WrinkleFreeZone
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Here's the update: The mouth remains tight. The anemone has moved higher within the rockwork. This morning, my paired percs have definitely become interested in it and now move freely between it and my other mags. In terms of coloration, I would say that there has been some mild improvement, but at this point it is still fairly bleached. Here is an updated photo:
I'm planning to feed mysis again today and silverside on Sunday. If it continues to do well, I'll probably switch over to only twice per week feeding next week.
-B
I'm planning to feed mysis again today and silverside on Sunday. If it continues to do well, I'll probably switch over to only twice per week feeding next week.
-B
Reef obcession
New member
what an awesume thread,
This is my favorite anem. I tryed a few and never had luck. I did the feeding technique but not consistant like that. I can see that this is a daily issue to keep good health . I am currently looking for a ritteri and will follow this great advice.
Bill
This is my favorite anem. I tryed a few and never had luck. I did the feeding technique but not consistant like that. I can see that this is a daily issue to keep good health . I am currently looking for a ritteri and will follow this great advice.
Bill
OrionN
Moved on
I think that as long as the H. magnifca does not deflates, feeding it is good. However, if it deflates, feeding it does more harm than good.
I think deflating is a way for these anemones purges infection inside of it's body. When there is infection in there, adding food just add more fuel for the pathogen and does harm to the anemone. Bleached anemone is OK to buy as long as it is "healthy", (meaning no infection). I know that bleached healthy anemone is an oxymoron, but not in the sense that I use it as above.
I think deflating is a way for these anemones purges infection inside of it's body. When there is infection in there, adding food just add more fuel for the pathogen and does harm to the anemone. Bleached anemone is OK to buy as long as it is "healthy", (meaning no infection). I know that bleached healthy anemone is an oxymoron, but not in the sense that I use it as above.
WrinkleFreeZone
New member
Today's update: the anemone is now at the very top of my rockwork and continues to appear in good health. It is feeding readily. I'm curious to see how long it will take to recover from bleaching. It's ultimate coloration will be somewhat of a surprise for me.
To all of you who have expressed gratitude for the documentation that I've done, you're very welcome. I wanted to share my experiences so that maybe a few more of these animals will survive long term in our tanks. If anyone takes away even a small amount of information that helps them get a mag through the acclimation period, then I've accomplished my goals.
I understand that forcing nutrition on them may not be the cure all for every mag that comes in. However, I do believe that it has helped me succeed with two and now possibly three of these anemones. I will continue to use this technique with new arrivals to my system.
Now, if I could only figure out how to keep more than one pair of clowns in my system long term...
-B
To all of you who have expressed gratitude for the documentation that I've done, you're very welcome. I wanted to share my experiences so that maybe a few more of these animals will survive long term in our tanks. If anyone takes away even a small amount of information that helps them get a mag through the acclimation period, then I've accomplished my goals.
I understand that forcing nutrition on them may not be the cure all for every mag that comes in. However, I do believe that it has helped me succeed with two and now possibly three of these anemones. I will continue to use this technique with new arrivals to my system.
Now, if I could only figure out how to keep more than one pair of clowns in my system long term...
-B
Reef obcession
New member
well Now that you have three would you be willing to sell me one? I would follow your advice along with my own and keep you posted on the health from day one.
Bill
Bill
WrinkleFreeZone
New member
Minh - I will respectfully disagree with you. When I bought this anemone it was deflated. In terms of the usual signs that we use to assess health, it was in deep trouble. I bought this anemone on purpose to help dispel the exact myth you are referring to.
I do not believe that feeding does more harm than good. I believe that feeding is exactly what they require to help get them through acclimation, especially when they are deflated or their mouth is gaping.
It has to do with my ideas about the spectrum of their health. In my mind, the inability to maintain appropriate tissue turgor (inflated vs. deflated) is very late in this spectrum and near death. If an animal is so depleted that it doesn't have the energy necessary to basically keep itself together, and you do nothing, it is very likely to die. If an animal is in this condition, and you feed it, it still may die, but it is not due to feeding it. It's because the animal was not salvageable. This is where there are anecdotal reports about how "feeding killed my anemone" and the myth that feeding harms them comes from.
My point is that for every H. magnifica that comes in, you can put it into three categories: robust vs. salvageable vs. unsalvageable. The unsalvageable ones will all go on to die despite any effort that you make. The robust ones are so incredibly healthy that in an appropriate set up you would have to try hard to kill them. The salvageable ones however, are on a continuum that slides towards one end or the other. It is these that you can save by feeding. If you feed one that is near unsalvageable, in my mind you can reverse the slide and take them towards the robust end. If you don't feed one that is sliding down, you can on the other hand, convert one that was salvageable to unsalvageable.
-B
I do not believe that feeding does more harm than good. I believe that feeding is exactly what they require to help get them through acclimation, especially when they are deflated or their mouth is gaping.
It has to do with my ideas about the spectrum of their health. In my mind, the inability to maintain appropriate tissue turgor (inflated vs. deflated) is very late in this spectrum and near death. If an animal is so depleted that it doesn't have the energy necessary to basically keep itself together, and you do nothing, it is very likely to die. If an animal is in this condition, and you feed it, it still may die, but it is not due to feeding it. It's because the animal was not salvageable. This is where there are anecdotal reports about how "feeding killed my anemone" and the myth that feeding harms them comes from.
My point is that for every H. magnifica that comes in, you can put it into three categories: robust vs. salvageable vs. unsalvageable. The unsalvageable ones will all go on to die despite any effort that you make. The robust ones are so incredibly healthy that in an appropriate set up you would have to try hard to kill them. The salvageable ones however, are on a continuum that slides towards one end or the other. It is these that you can save by feeding. If you feed one that is near unsalvageable, in my mind you can reverse the slide and take them towards the robust end. If you don't feed one that is sliding down, you can on the other hand, convert one that was salvageable to unsalvageable.
-B
WrinkleFreeZone
New member
Bill - I've actually got 4. One of them is a daughter from one that I had to feed as I've outlined when I first got it. They're not for sale.
My ultimate goal is to begin to propagate them by dividing them. Flighty and some of the other members on here have had success in this and I will look to them when I'm ready to start. My current setup is not the right one for this though. I would really like to see if it is possible to "farm" them so that they don't have to be taken off the reef.
If I can do this successfully, believe it or not, I'll give them away to experienced hobbyists with one condition: when the anemone is large enough, it must be split and one of the daughters must be given to another hobbyist with the same condition. Hopefully, that kind of good will won't burn out and less of them will be taken from the reefs. No sales, just karma :love2:
-B
My ultimate goal is to begin to propagate them by dividing them. Flighty and some of the other members on here have had success in this and I will look to them when I'm ready to start. My current setup is not the right one for this though. I would really like to see if it is possible to "farm" them so that they don't have to be taken off the reef.
If I can do this successfully, believe it or not, I'll give them away to experienced hobbyists with one condition: when the anemone is large enough, it must be split and one of the daughters must be given to another hobbyist with the same condition. Hopefully, that kind of good will won't burn out and less of them will be taken from the reefs. No sales, just karma :love2:
-B
Reef obcession
New member
how do they normally split?
WrinkleFreeZone
New member
Reef obcession - anemones reproduce through both sexual and asexual reproduction. I don't know if mine are male, female, or hermaphrodites. Maybe someone else can weigh in here, but I'm not sure that you can tell them apart without seeing their emission in attempted sexual reproduction, or by dissecting them to see what gonads they possess. I have not observed any of my specimens attempt to reproduce sexually. This sort of event would be ideal to attempt to propagate them.
The options for asexual reproduction include budding, pedal laceration, and binary fission (splitting). I have observed binary fission in my tank one time. The one that split was over 12" in diameter when it did so. It was also well fed before this occurred. Both of those daughters have grown and one is currently on the order of 12-14" in diameter. The other was the same size until recently when it engaged a covered Vortech and despite this still got a haircut. It is now growing again.
You can force them to reproduce using pedal laceration. To do this, take a very sharp knife and divide them in two. This technique is well described for anemones like Entacmaea quadricolor. There are a few reefers on this board that have done this successfully using H. magnifica. Like I noted above, it is my plan to do this with my stock in the future.
-B
The options for asexual reproduction include budding, pedal laceration, and binary fission (splitting). I have observed binary fission in my tank one time. The one that split was over 12" in diameter when it did so. It was also well fed before this occurred. Both of those daughters have grown and one is currently on the order of 12-14" in diameter. The other was the same size until recently when it engaged a covered Vortech and despite this still got a haircut. It is now growing again.
You can force them to reproduce using pedal laceration. To do this, take a very sharp knife and divide them in two. This technique is well described for anemones like Entacmaea quadricolor. There are a few reefers on this board that have done this successfully using H. magnifica. Like I noted above, it is my plan to do this with my stock in the future.
-B
Reef obcession
New member
Thanks Wrinkle free, I have learned a lot today from this thread and will continue to check it for updates. Great work with the Ritteri's for sure. Wish more people took the time to learn before just adding hard to keep live stock to dye.
elegance coral
They call me EC
Is it still with us?
WrinkleFreeZone
New member
I've just returned from being out of town for 3 days and it's still doing great. This is the two week mark today. It's got a little more pigmentation back since my last post. I'll try to put up a picture later tonight.
-B
-B
I bought a very bleached Sabae Anemone last year. I had read both sides as far as trying to force feed or not. I had very little experience, but it made sense to me to try to feed it. I thought it was going to die as it had zero feeding response for weeks and looked really bad. I kept squirting mysis towards it's mouth. Once in a while I could see it ingested a couple pieces. It took a lot of patience, but the Anemone finally started eating on it's own about 2 months after I bought it. Today, 17 months later, it's huge and beautiful and healthy.
Pam
Pam
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