Anemone reluctant to feed
- Thread starter madweazl
- Start date
sjwitt
New member
How big a piece did you give it and how big is the anemone? I don't know as I would feed silversides... some have reported anemone decline with them. What types of food have you tried? Mine likes scallop and krill... a lot! Piece should be the size of a half to a quarter of a pea depending on how big the anemone is.
madweazl
Member
Anemone it about 3.5-4" when fully open. I cut a slice about of silverside that was 1/4-1/3" wide so it was roughly 2 peas I guess. I have krill on hand as well so I'll try a smaller piece of that later I guess (LFS had recommended krill and silverside). I've tried to feed it mysis shrimp a couple times but the anemone never holds onto them.
sjwitt
New member
yeah, my RBTA isn't too fond of mysis either. Try a different type of food like the krill, if that doesn't work, try raw shrimp or scallop or mussel. Very small piece should be smaller than the size of the mouth opening. Smaller meals more often are much better, so a little piece every day or every other day will be good. It may also be catching food from other sources. Tell us about your tank. How long running, what type (reef I assume), what are your parameters? Oh, and pictures are always a good thing. Post a pict of the nemmie and let's take a look to rule out any other issues.
jimmy_beaner
New member
my RBTAs eat anything I feed... including pellets... I tend to feed larger pieces than pea sized as well. Probably closer to 1/2" cuts of shrimp or scallop. Never see them spit it back out. One of the RBTAs is larger (likely 8" easily) the other is smaller, probably 4"-5"
sjwitt
New member
Yeah, 8" is a good size so you could feed bigger. I assume you've had them for a while and that they're doing well. I'm not saying feeding larger will kill it, but if it's regurgitating (like the OP wrote) then I'd go much smaller. It's still acclimating to the tank and regurgitating drains valuable energy.
jimmy_beaner
New member
Yeah, I agree. The only thing it's ever thrown up was part of a silverside. I quit feeding those a couple weeks in. Shrimp and scallops are cheaper and more safe, IMO. I bought the RBTA in March? and it was about 4". It split a little while back. But yes, doing well.
matt_wahoo
New member
my RBTA will eat anything and everything you feed it. Usually it eats a silverside or 2. It will not eat it when I cut them. When I feed it a whole one it wraps around it and inhales it
madweazl
Member
Tank is pretty new at just under 2 months (save the lecture, I've read the other posts now lol). Havent tested nitrates but do weekly water changes (freshwater may be suspect though; RO/DI should be here soon but I'll be out of country for about 3 weeks 
). pH is 8.2, salinity 1.023, water temp 77 (goes to 79 on extremely hot days outside but generally stays 77-78). Tank was setup using well seasoned live rock from another tank with a few new pieces of cured rock added. Only other inhabitants (besides fish) are a frogspawn that looks great, some shrooms, and the green star polyps that were added yesterday. No hair algae or cyano issues (new pieces of rock have some diatoms but that is just about done now and the snails are making short work of what is left).
Sorry about image quality, I'll be investing in a dSLR shortly.
). pH is 8.2, salinity 1.023, water temp 77 (goes to 79 on extremely hot days outside but generally stays 77-78). Tank was setup using well seasoned live rock from another tank with a few new pieces of cured rock added. Only other inhabitants (besides fish) are a frogspawn that looks great, some shrooms, and the green star polyps that were added yesterday. No hair algae or cyano issues (new pieces of rock have some diatoms but that is just about done now and the snails are making short work of what is left).Sorry about image quality, I'll be investing in a dSLR shortly.
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