Thank you all for the great info! So far I have tried fresh scallops (living on the jersey shore has a FEW perks), and thawed frozen mysis shrimp. At this point there is not much of a feeding response...seems to freak the nem out a bit when the turkey baster comes close to it. I think I have to find a more precise and less threatening way to target feed. Any ideas? The nem seems to go through a regular cycle of expansion and contraction....can't tell whether it's just balancing its chemistry, or digesting food it pulls from the water when I feed the tank.
Anem abuse!
- Thread starter macperry
- Start date
RedSonja
Premium Member
I *love* my extra-long forceps (I got the "Premium Specimen Aquarium Forceps 10" from the Premium Aquatics booth at MACNA, they sell them on their website as well, $5 plus shipping). I pick up a piece of food with them and put it gently on the 'nem, no blasting them to freak them out. Mine learned pretty quickly they get fed the same time at night and when the food gets near them they grab it off the forceps and stuff it in their greedy little mouths!
-Sonja
sarahkucera
New member
I use some of those grabber things that they sell in the fish stores. They come with a grabber attachment and a scissors attachment. I think it cost me $15 or so.
Plus the grabber thing totally freaks the fish out, so I guard my nems while they eat. The fish don't bother the RBTA's but they do bother the H Crispa.
Plus the grabber thing totally freaks the fish out, so I guard my nems while they eat. The fish don't bother the RBTA's but they do bother the H Crispa.
sarahkucera: Could you describe the grabber thing a little better please. Plenty of fish stores around here...i'd love to go out and grab a grabber.
phender: Good thing I have some extra time on my hands....last thing I want to do on vacation is get on another airplane! I tried the scallops today....put it right next to the anems mouth. I watched it open it's mout and eat the piece of scallop, as I stood guard to keep the percs away. After about 15 minutes the anem spit the scallop out! It looked a little "eaten"...and then of course along came the female perc and grabbed the scallop. Now i'm getting stubborn...i'm going to find something this anem likes to eat...soon I hope.
phender: Good thing I have some extra time on my hands....last thing I want to do on vacation is get on another airplane! I tried the scallops today....put it right next to the anems mouth. I watched it open it's mout and eat the piece of scallop, as I stood guard to keep the percs away. After about 15 minutes the anem spit the scallop out! It looked a little "eaten"...and then of course along came the female perc and grabbed the scallop. Now i'm getting stubborn...i'm going to find something this anem likes to eat...soon I hope.
sarahkucera
New member
<a href="http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=ESU-AF9502&Category_Code=Fishnet" target="_blank">Coralife tongs come in 22 inch (click me!)</a> and <a href="http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=ESU-AF9501&Category_Code=Fishnet" target="_blank">28 inch (click me!)</a> and <a href="http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=ESU-AF9500&Category_Code=Fishnet" target="_blank">34 inch lengths (click me!).</a> I don't have the Coralife brand ones.
I have the <a href="http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=EH-3590050&Category_Code=Fishnet" target="_blank">Eheim tongs/trimmers (click me!).</a> I got them because they were what was available at the store I was in.
Feeding:
Sorry she spit out the scallop. Have you tried silversides yet? Get some and offer her a small piece. If she keeps it down, offer her a slightly larger piece next time.
Walkabout:
If your nem is on the move, keep a close eye on your tank. Your tank looks pretty well stocked and if she moves to the top of your rockwork she could kill everything in her path.
Bioload:
Your tank already looks like it was pretty well stocked without the addition of the nem, is your filtration system going to be able to handle the added bioload of a growing anemone?
Size:
When are you planning on getting a bigger tank? She'll outgrow your tank in a matter of months no matter which of the discussed species of nem she might be. As she grows larger and her tentacle reach gets bigger, she will start killing off your corals. Time to get a bigger tank up and cycling now so that it will be ready for her to move into as she outgrows your tank.
I have the <a href="http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=EH-3590050&Category_Code=Fishnet" target="_blank">Eheim tongs/trimmers (click me!).</a> I got them because they were what was available at the store I was in.
Feeding:
Sorry she spit out the scallop. Have you tried silversides yet? Get some and offer her a small piece. If she keeps it down, offer her a slightly larger piece next time.
Walkabout:
If your nem is on the move, keep a close eye on your tank. Your tank looks pretty well stocked and if she moves to the top of your rockwork she could kill everything in her path.
Bioload:
Your tank already looks like it was pretty well stocked without the addition of the nem, is your filtration system going to be able to handle the added bioload of a growing anemone?
Size:
When are you planning on getting a bigger tank? She'll outgrow your tank in a matter of months no matter which of the discussed species of nem she might be. As she grows larger and her tentacle reach gets bigger, she will start killing off your corals. Time to get a bigger tank up and cycling now so that it will be ready for her to move into as she outgrows your tank.
sarahkucera: You have been a big help....thank you for all the info. I am trying to decide what my next tank will be. I am leaning towards the 29g Aqualife, or the 24g AquaPod. I think I have the filtration on my 12g pretty well figured out by now through trial and error. Ended up throwing out all the stuff it came with, upgraded the filter pupm to a 230gph from a 160gph, and just run a Polly filter in the second chamber with a little filter floss on top. I let the live rock in the tank due the bulk of the bio filtering. That and a couple of small water changes per week keeps my params right on the money.
Ladies and gentlemen....for those who care...operation feed the anemone was officially a success tonight. Brought out the trusty turkey baster....stuck a piece of shrimp in the end...and placed the shrimp in the anems mouth. Stood guard over the percs, anem closed her mouth, and 15 min later....shrimp gone, and mouth back open for more. No more tonight though...don't want to over feed her.
) My girlfriend thinks i'm starting to grow gills.I've been curious about this before as well, and I'll share the answers that I got. Basically, something touches the tentacles and they sting, I think it's more of a reaction than a thought process.
I asked this question after my watchman goby was resting under the loving caress of a handful of my crispa's tentacles! We had moved the tank from one house to another and no one was happy about it!! All the fish took refuge in the same corner and the nem just happened to be there too. We thought the goby would move if it were uncomfortable, but we ended up shoo-ing it away and it was fine.
I remember reading too, that crispa's have a pretty mild sting, so that's helpful for the fish too.
I also wanted to comment on your ideas for tank size. We got a little white ball of goo almost two years ago and housed it in a 30 gal tank. It's done great, but about half the tank is dedicated to the nem because it's grown so much, and from what I've seen, there's still plenty more it can grow! If you want a tank specifically for your nem 30 gal or so will probably be okay, but if you want to put other things in there, like corals, you may want to think bigger
Just some food for thought, and so glad your nem finally ate!! Isn't it a great feeling?
raoul: Thank you for all your previous words of encouragement. It really was a cool feeling when I got the nem to eat her first meal last night! Your thoughts about the 30g are pretty much the way I was headed. It would be a dedicated perc and nem tank...was even thinking bare bottom this time, with a bunch of nice live rock.
With a crispa, I would stay with a sand bed. Even though yours is on the rocks right now, it may appreciate the sand. Mine moves between the sand and an inch or so above the sand on a rock. It usually moves up a little when my lights go bad and it's trying to maximize the lighting.
That's just my experience and opinion though, others may have different ones. But crispa's are considered sand dwelling in the oceans, and I feel better providing something as close as possible to their natural environment.
Ours is all the way on one side of our 30, but if it was a dedicated tank like you're talking about, I would definately place it in the center so it's the focal point of your tank - they really are very amazing animals!
That's just my experience and opinion though, others may have different ones. But crispa's are considered sand dwelling in the oceans, and I feel better providing something as close as possible to their natural environment.
Ours is all the way on one side of our 30, but if it was a dedicated tank like you're talking about, I would definately place it in the center so it's the focal point of your tank - they really are very amazing animals!
sarahkucera
New member
I also recommend keeping a sandbed for a crispa.
OK guys.....sand bed it is! Now I need to start doing some research on which tank I want. The "nano" style tanks appeal to me....especially when you have a little experience with their peculiarities, and how to work around them. I am certainly willing to listen to and consider all other opiniond though.
sarahkucera
New member
The larger the tank the easier it is to keep.
So my opinion is to max out what you can do and go as big as you possibly can so that you have the most options.
Having extra room in a tank is a problem that I've never seen a saltie cry over.
I started out with a 125 and damn I wish I had double that, but that probably won't happen in this house I live in now.
So my opinion is to max out what you can do and go as big as you possibly can so that you have the most options.
Having extra room in a tank is a problem that I've never seen a saltie cry over.
I started out with a 125 and damn I wish I had double that, but that probably won't happen in this house I live in now.
I would say 30 gals would be the minimum. Like I mentioned before, ours takes up almost half of our tank depending on how relaxed it is, and ours isn't nearly anywhere near as large as some of the ones I've seen on here!
I think if you start smaller (nano) you'll just have to upgrade to bigger later to accomodate the size, or start all over with a new nem to fit your tank. If you go bigger now, it's more cash up front, but in the long run you'll save money because you won't have bought the nano and a new tank to put it in. I agree too that the more water volume you have, the better your stability.
Which is good for any nem.
Good luck and have fun shopping!
I think if you start smaller (nano) you'll just have to upgrade to bigger later to accomodate the size, or start all over with a new nem to fit your tank. If you go bigger now, it's more cash up front, but in the long run you'll save money because you won't have bought the nano and a new tank to put it in. I agree too that the more water volume you have, the better your stability.
Which is good for any nem.
Good luck and have fun shopping!
