Best wat to feed my anemone

[rtstrat01]

i have a sebea i think, and have had him for a few months and was wondering the best way to feed him, he seems to be doing fine, has a clown hosting, opens up, is about 6 to 8 inches agroos, do i need to feed him, or is my light enough, 2 96 watt athintics and a 150 mh in a 29.

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[rtstrat01]

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[GSMguy]

have you been feeding it?

 

[rtstrat01]

i try to but my clown wont let me get the food to it

 

[rtstrat01]

heres another pic

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[GSMguy]

weird did you feed them first?
how and what are you feeding?

the anemone looks healthy but many like to feed their anemones anyway.

 

[rtstrat01]

cubes of frozen brine, i was not sure what to feed them and thats what i have, i feed a little to the clowns they swim away for a minute then come back, when i am feeding the anemon do i put the food by the mouth, not even sure how i am supposed to feed him

 

[IslandCrow]

I've always had issues with my clown taking food from the anemone as well. Sometimes I'm able to feed the clown on one side of the tank while sneaking food to the anemone on the other. If that doesn't work, I either keep the clown distracted by just wiggling my hands in the aquarium while the anemone gets the food into its mouth, or I physically guard the anemone from the clown with my hand. I've also heard of people putting something like a strawberry basket over the anemone until it's done eating, but it looks like yours may be a bit big for that. As for how to feed the anemone, I do try to put the food fairly close to the mouth so the anemone can get it in its mouth quicker, but anywhere on the tentacles is just fine. Just never try to actually force the food into the anemone's mouth.

 

[rtstrat01]

maybe thats my problem then i just put it around the outside of the tenticles, did not want to get to close to the mouth, but i will try closer, what do u usually feed yours, and since mine is big what size pieces should i be feeding it

 

[IslandCrow]

I usually use silversides, but just about any seafood should be fine. When I buy fish for myself, I usually give the anemone a piece. I've also fed it shrimp, clam, crab, krill (doesn't always like the krill), and my homemade fish recipe. The fresher the food, the better. I ge the best feeding response if what I'm feeding the anemone hasn't been frozen (not a necessity, though). You shouldn't have to put the food close to the mouth, but if the clown is getting to it before the anemone can get it in its mouth, it may be something to try. As far as size, I try not to feed mine anything much bigger than half the size of its mouth. I'm sure they can take bigger pieces, but I figure that's pretty safe.

 

[Amphiprion]

My preference is to feed at night when the lights are off. Be sure the ambient light is very low, as well. I have noticed that the clownfish take no interest in it, then.

 

[Nanemene]

I feed my anemone small pieces of krill. When I first tried by hand, the clowns both attacked me to the point that I couldn't even get the krill to the tentacles without losing it. I bought a long prong device from my LFS. I stick it through the krill, then use that to get to the anemone. The clowns are afraid of it and hide. I put the krill right up to some of the anemone's tentacles, and he takes it away. Minutes later, he's all balled up as he moves the food to his mouth and prevents the clowns from stealing it.

 

[rtstrat01]

well last night i got about 3/4 of a cube of brine to him, had to have my wife stick her hand into the tank and keep the clowns away but the anemone took to it and closed in around it and seemed to eat it with no problem maybe i will have to do that once a week or so to see if i can't get him bigger, how big do sebeas usually get in a tank

 

[Amphiprion]

18" is more common, but up to 24" IME.

 

[rtstrat01]

nice so i still have like ten inches to go

 

[StormFX]

I have 2 Clarkii clowns, one of which will feed the anenome for me!

All I have to do is drop a small piece of prawn in to the tank, and the larger clown will swim over, grab the prawn in it's mouth and feed it to the anenome.

One of the most fascinating things I've ever seen...

I wonder if the secret is finding a food that the clowns recognise as something the anenome will eat, but not something they're interested in themselves...?

 

[IslandCrow]

Brine shrimp is probably the one thing I wouldn't make a habit of feeding to an anemone (or anything else in the tank). It's not that it will do anything bad, but it's just not very nutritious. If it's some sort of enriched brine shrimp, it's probably not too bad, but adult brine shrimp is mostly just water.

 

[Nanemene]

My sebae eats krill like it's candy. Good?

 

[Dack77]

I always fed my BTA small silversides. My Maroon Clown would take the pieces from the tongs and would feed the anenome. Just as it was said before, it really is fascinating to see the relationship between the two.

 

[GuOD]

I just squirt some mysis into mine when the fish are eating.

But now I've started to cut off pieces of shrimp from the grocery store and feed it by hand. My sebae has browned a bunch and is doing great. It wouldnt eat shrimp at first so mysis was like a stepping stone