tenwhiteduke
New member
Can I buy fresh and frozen scallops/shrimps at the local grociery store to feed my BTA.
Anemone Diet
- Thread starter tenwhiteduke
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tenwhiteduke
New member
I was just told by my LFS that I should be feeding it Photoplankton rather than silversides. What do you think?
cschweitzer
New member
I believe both phyto and silver sides are not the best choices...and yes, I highly recommend the foods at a (quality) supermarket. I just wrote a long post and will copy and paste it here for you.
cschweitzer
New member
I used to not feed(I knew nothing when I first got mine...I thought it would get most of it's energy from the lighting and from regular fish feedings). It then split a couple times and never regrew. Stayed small and started bleaching. In Nov/Dec of last year, I decided to move a couple of them to different tanks and then started feeding. Once I saw progress from feeding, I started a regiment of every 1-2 days feeding it. When I say feed, I mean heavily overfeed. I have never seen it expell waste, so it is utilizing at least most of what it consumes.
I do not feed silversides, and although everyone seems to love them, I really don't understand why. There are problems that can arise due to silverside feedings and some other noteworthy side-effects. First problem is that anems are completely fleshy like a soft coral. They do not have teeth to aid in digestion. Most people that feed silversides feed it in chunks...this means that no pre digestion will expose many fleshy parts of the anem to a boney structure of a fish carcass. The bones have been known to cause tears in the anems flesh, "choking", excessive waste expulsion(sometimes of whole bone structures), and the possibility of thievary(shrimp/clowns/etc. diving into the anem and stealing whole pieces of food; upwards of four hours later). This means the food has obviously not been fully digested in four hours, which seems like a problem to me. Also, with my prepared meals, my shrimp eat well enough before my BTA gets its food so that it won't bother the anem. Even if it tried, my anems get more than they would require for sustainability.
I use only invertabrate animals, with at most a chitinous shell which is many time much more easily digestible by anems. I use table shrimp, squid(probably their favorite food!), clams, oysters, scallops(they love this too), and just about any other invert that can be bought there. I also use frozen mysis and brine. I use a simple preparing process:
1) remove shell if applicable(obviously N/A on mysis and brine) and remove any beaks(on squid if bought whole). Pretty much remove any pointy, sharp, or hard pieces)
2) Freeze
3) grate with a new(used only for this purpose...trust me, you don't want fishy cheese or cheesey fish) cheese grater
4) repeat steps 2-3 until desired size(I usually do those two steps twice)
5) add garlic and selcon and let soak for a bit
6) Freeze for the last time
7) break off proportional pieces and feed(usually add tank water and let it get up to water temp and spot feed with baster)
This is also a very great way to do it, because everything(all LPS, many softies, most inverts, and all of my fish) loves this and I just substitute their dinner 4 or more times a week with these foods instead of pellets that I normally feed for meals.
I do not feed silversides, and although everyone seems to love them, I really don't understand why. There are problems that can arise due to silverside feedings and some other noteworthy side-effects. First problem is that anems are completely fleshy like a soft coral. They do not have teeth to aid in digestion. Most people that feed silversides feed it in chunks...this means that no pre digestion will expose many fleshy parts of the anem to a boney structure of a fish carcass. The bones have been known to cause tears in the anems flesh, "choking", excessive waste expulsion(sometimes of whole bone structures), and the possibility of thievary(shrimp/clowns/etc. diving into the anem and stealing whole pieces of food; upwards of four hours later). This means the food has obviously not been fully digested in four hours, which seems like a problem to me. Also, with my prepared meals, my shrimp eat well enough before my BTA gets its food so that it won't bother the anem. Even if it tried, my anems get more than they would require for sustainability.
I use only invertabrate animals, with at most a chitinous shell which is many time much more easily digestible by anems. I use table shrimp, squid(probably their favorite food!), clams, oysters, scallops(they love this too), and just about any other invert that can be bought there. I also use frozen mysis and brine. I use a simple preparing process:
1) remove shell if applicable(obviously N/A on mysis and brine) and remove any beaks(on squid if bought whole). Pretty much remove any pointy, sharp, or hard pieces)
2) Freeze
3) grate with a new(used only for this purpose...trust me, you don't want fishy cheese or cheesey fish) cheese grater
4) repeat steps 2-3 until desired size(I usually do those two steps twice)
5) add garlic and selcon and let soak for a bit
6) Freeze for the last time
7) break off proportional pieces and feed(usually add tank water and let it get up to water temp and spot feed with baster)
This is also a very great way to do it, because everything(all LPS, many softies, most inverts, and all of my fish) loves this and I just substitute their dinner 4 or more times a week with these foods instead of pellets that I normally feed for meals.
Sway_A_Way
New member
good feeding method thx for sharing
tenwhiteduke
New member
Today I bought Mysis shrimp, but myBTA wouldnt touch it. She prefered Flakes instead, WHY??
tenwhiteduke
New member
Today I bought Mysis shrimp, but myBTA wouldnt touch it. She prefered Flakes instead, WHY??
tpdpercula
New member
Never thought about grading my squid. Great Idea Thanks.
davocean
Active member
To me buying scallops and shrimp for your nem is a bit like feeding your dog steak, you can do that but it's a bit more expensive.
I feed one silverside a week, and my nems pick up mysis/cyclopeez when I feed fish.
My maroon does a good job making sure her nem gets her fair share.
I've had pretty good success w/ this.
I feed one silverside a week, and my nems pick up mysis/cyclopeez when I feed fish.
My maroon does a good job making sure her nem gets her fair share.
I've had pretty good success w/ this.
tenwhiteduke
New member
When adding the garlic, how much do you put in, do you grate that too, or do you remove it, and just use the juices from it soaking? Secondly what is selcon, and where do I get it? How much of that are you adding.
Amphiprion
Premium Member
Never had issues with silversides. The side effects you describe are the result of overfeeding (or oversized food), not necessarily the food itself, IME. It is a good food, though I prefer lancefish even more.
tenwhiteduke
New member
OMG those are monsters
davocean
Active member
I've never seen bones from silvers, no need to remove IMO.
Now when a new naso swam into my nem, another story(much bigger fish).
But she spit those bones out no problem.
(Nothing worse than seeing one of your favorite and not cheap fish's bones spit out! But it's only happened twice in 5 yrs)
Now when a new naso swam into my nem, another story(much bigger fish).
But she spit those bones out no problem.
(Nothing worse than seeing one of your favorite and not cheap fish's bones spit out! But it's only happened twice in 5 yrs)
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