Anthias / wrasse... Why feed so often?

[geckoejon]

Hello,

I have had numerous people state that you should feed anthias and wrasse multiple times a day.

I am just curious as to why? What makes them different then a lot of other reef fish that are fine being fed once a day or every other day?

Please give examples or facts, and not just "because they have a faster metabolism" or "because that is what I was told".

Anyone have experience feeding them once a day? I have only heard one person state that he has been feeding his anthias once a day for several years. Looking to see if others have as well.

Thanks!

 

[snorvich]

You are trying to emulate what the fish do in the wild. Every fish feeds constantly on the reef, some with high metabolism need to be fed frequently (small amounts) in our aquaria.

 

[Aqua_monkey]

What snorvich said.

Even if they are getting fed "enough", if they don't see food in the water regularly they start to think there is a lack of food and their response to this is generally to thin the school by picking off the smaller weaker fish.

 

[TravelinLight]

I have never had that problem but definitely an interesting outlook.

 

[woodnaquanut]

I have heard Anthias have small/no stomach. Thus they can not deal with large amounts of food at one time.

I don't know if this is true. If it's urban myth please re-educate me!

Auto feeders make multi feeds per day much less labor intensive.

 

[geckoejon]

Thanks for the feedback.

Snorvich, makes sense. How can you tell that they have a higher metabolism then other reef fish though that are fine being fed less often? Has anyone experimented? Just curious how they come up with the info in the first place?

Aqua monkey, hadn't thought about the schooling aspect. Don't numerous types of reef fish act the same with picking off the weaker ones? I had firefish do that and they were being fed several times a day. Reportedly chromus and some others will do the same. I only have a single sunburst anthias in my 75g. So, do you think it will be alright with a daily feeding since it is not in a school?

Travelinlight, do you have anthias or wrasse? Are you inferring that you don't feed them that often and haven't had an issue?

Woodaquanut, maybe??? I tried googling it and couldn't find anything on it though. Have any points of reference? I bought an auto feeder for my single anthias. I tried and tried to adjust it properly. When I crank it down, the 2 lowest settings are either dumping aprox 50 pellets which is way too much or not dumping any out at all. Besides, my anthias won't touch pellets. Lol I'm stuck feeding frozen a couple times a day. Wondering if it's necessary to keep them healthy though.

Any other thoughts or feedback?

I just like to know "why" sometimes. I'm curious and one of those guys :0) although, asking why has allowed me to distinguish facts from dogma on several occasions.

 

[snorvich]

Check their behavior. In the wild, they swim above the reef riding the current (which brings them planktonic food) which takes a lot of energy, when the current goes down, they go down into the reef and stay there until the current rises again. In our aquaria, they will tend to act in a similar fashion with the current being provided by powerheads. Now, if you have your powerheads programatically set to emulate reef currents, that rise and fall over time, they will act in a similar manner.

 

[snorvich]

I just like to know "why" sometimes. I'm curious and one of those guys :0) although, asking why has allowed me to distinguish facts from dogma on several occasions.

Actually, in this case, the "why" is that in the longer term, they will waste away and die.

 

[ca1ore]

I have to say that I think most fish benefit from multiple daily feedings (as do humans!); even ones that aren't dashing around the tank like anthias or constantly picking at the rocks like leopard wrasses. Whether it is metabolism, feeding habits, mouth/stomach size, or something else; I have not personally been able to keep anthias without feeding them 3 times per day.

 

[geckoejon]

Snorvich, very great info and satisfies my curiousity :0) thanks for sharing!

Ca1ore, interesting... Thanks for sharing

 

[MIKE NY]

agree with all the above posts, but also depends on the species especially anthias...many species only take smaller food items ex..Purple Queens and need those multiple feedings because they wont get enough nutriants in only one or two feedings, but some other species such as Lyretails and Bartletts can take larger foods like whole PE mysis etc...can be sustained with only a few feedings....but as mentioned all will do better with multiple feedings throughout the day.....

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

To me, the difference with anthias has always been that they are exclusively planktivores. Almost all other fish get get some snacks between feedings by picking at the rocks, if you watch a tang they are eating all day too. But anthias are one of the few fish that absolutely will not pick at rocks, so the only food they are getting is out of the water column. Thus you have to feed them more to make up for the fact that they can't find food in the tank on their own.

 

[davocean]

Really pretty much all fish feed constantly in the wild, we just get away w/ the bare minimum w/ some fish more than others.
Taking care of them properly is the difference between having something that "lives" in your tank compared to something that truly thrives, and displays good health and color.
Neglect your anthias and you'll see skinny colorless fish, who wants that?

 

[Ralph ATL]

When I first get a Tamarin or Leopard, I am feeding them 10-14 times a day in QT. They usually only take a bite or 2, plus I am introducing food that they are not used to. The foods consist of fortified with selcon nutramar ova, pe mysis, hakari mysis, hikari brine, Rods, cyclpeeze, live black worms, live brine, WHATEVER it takes....After a few weeks where I see some "real" eating I'm down to 5-6 and eventually down to 3...and I thank my family for their help when I'm at work...