bues0022
New member
I want this thread to progress more as a discussion about the topic rather than bashing one person or the next for their opinions or beliefs. I'll also preface this with the statement that I have no scientific data to support my conclusions, but rather a compilation of many observations I've seen over the past few years.
Feeding an anemone. First off, is it really needed? This point can likely be argued to death on either side of the argument. If one assumes a stable, healthy tank I would actually argue that feeding an anemone is not entirely necessary. I only have first-hand experience with BTA's, but it seems as though given sufficient lighting they are able to produce enough energy via symbiosis to maintain and grow. If I were to desire my anemone to grow faster or larger, feeding gives the extra energy to do just that. I have also seen anecdotal evidence to suggest that feeding may contribute to an unknown extent for BTA's to split. I am extrapolating (potentially incorrectly) that "carpets", LTA's, sebae's, and other lesser common anemones are similar in their ability to get much, if not most, energy from the high output lighting we provide.
However, as many of us have encountered, the anemone may not always be happy and healthy and able to get enough energy from the lights. Whether it has just gone through extreme stressors such as collection/shippment, propogation, surviving a tank crash, bleaching etc. the anemone in an extreme form can be nearly void of all symbiotic zooxanthellae. In this case supplementary feedings can be the difference between a surviving anemone and a tank crash. OR, despite having a healthy aquarium, many decide to feed their anemones anyway. This is not necessarily a bad thing. An anemone with energy stores from feedings may be even healthier and able to withstand greater swings and stress than what it might otherwise be able to.
Now on to the main topic: what to feed our anemones. It seems to be quite common (and in some times recommended) to feed a whole or partial silverside. To this day I am actually a bit confused on this practice, but I digress. I believe - perhaps incorrectly - that this stems from the ability to quickly and easily give a large creature a large amount of meaty food relatively easily. I question this practice from the standpoint of digestion and potential for spoiled food.
Addressing digestion - How do most (not all) animals eat? We chew our food into smaller pieces, swallow, and let our stomach(s) add digesting enzymes to further break down the bits of food. Some creatures (some birds, snakes, etc) swallow whole, but I am going to ignore them for a moment. Why do we chew food? It's all about the surface area/volume ratio. Having smaller pieces of food allows for a much higher surface area/volume ratio which then makes it much easier for digestive enzymes to efficiently break down the food particles into essential nutrients for our body to use. It's like melting butter in a pan. Put a whole stick in the pan and it takes a long time for it to melt. Cutting it up allows it to melt quicker with the same amount of heat input. An anemones stomach is like ours, adding digesting enzymes breaking down the food. One large piece of food will take a considerable amount of work, and thus energy, to completely digest. Just because an anemone can eat a whole fish, or silverside, doesn't necessarily make it the healthiest choice. Giving it smaller pieces of food aids to start the digestion process and allow it to get the most energy out of the food as possible. Cutting up meaty foods to smaller chunks (I've heard #2 pencil eraser sized as a "rule of thumb" tossed around) allows one to feed a considerable amount of meaty food easily, yet in a healthier form than large chunks. How many people have seen a healthy anemone expel a small bit of food? Now, how many have seen a healthy anemone expel a fish carcas or silverside after it caught or ate? The later is likely a much higher count. If it is too hard to digest, why invest the effort?
Discussing quality of food - Would you eat spoiled food? or knowingly eat something that has been frozen/thawed multiple times? Would you feed your dog expired food? Would you feed your fish old, stinky food? Mostly likely no to all questions. Arguably some of the best fish food available today is Rod's food. Why? Yes there are a huge variety of sizes and types of food. However, from what I know, all of the meaty foods in said recipe is human food-grade food. The same approach should be taken to our anemones. If making your own anemone food, purchase it at the grocery store, market, or equivalent making sure it is human food-grade. Bacterial infections from spolied food can affect animals also. For this reason I do not recommend silversides. While they are usually kept frozen, because they are not human-grade food products there lies a potential for several freeze-thaw cycles during shipment. While this could be said of any and all frozen food, I am more suspect with silversides because of the possibility for bacteria external to the fish to remain on it while frozen, and begin colonizing the rest of the tissue during each freeze thaw cycle. Most other frozen foods are either only the meaty part of the fish so it has been separated from the contaminated exterior and washed, or it is packaged in water reducing the exposure to air and ability for bacteria to actively colonize said food. There is even evidence from one of the most respected anemone experts that a bad silverside lead to the rapid demise of an otherwise healthy hadodni carpet anemone. This could happen to any anemone with any spoiled food, and goes to highlight that even creatures in our tanks can be susceptible to infections related to spoiled food.
I know this ended up being a long thread, and I hope it can generate some insight into what is 1)necessary, advisable, and what actually is needed or not, 2)if the choice is to feed, what to feed for proper health, and 3)help everyone keep an enjoy healthy anemones.
IN MY OPINION, this lengthy post can be summed up as follows: Assuming healthy water quality, adequate lights, and anemone, it is unnecessary to feed most anemones. IF the choice is to feed, feed fresh meaty foods of human-grade quality to ensure bacterial infections are not transmitted to target anemone. CUT UP THE FOOD into smaller-sized pieces allowing for ease of digestion for the anemone.
I'd like to hear some opinions from others on their experiences and what they deem necessary vs. unnecessary and other feeding suggestions.
Feeding an anemone. First off, is it really needed? This point can likely be argued to death on either side of the argument. If one assumes a stable, healthy tank I would actually argue that feeding an anemone is not entirely necessary. I only have first-hand experience with BTA's, but it seems as though given sufficient lighting they are able to produce enough energy via symbiosis to maintain and grow. If I were to desire my anemone to grow faster or larger, feeding gives the extra energy to do just that. I have also seen anecdotal evidence to suggest that feeding may contribute to an unknown extent for BTA's to split. I am extrapolating (potentially incorrectly) that "carpets", LTA's, sebae's, and other lesser common anemones are similar in their ability to get much, if not most, energy from the high output lighting we provide.
However, as many of us have encountered, the anemone may not always be happy and healthy and able to get enough energy from the lights. Whether it has just gone through extreme stressors such as collection/shippment, propogation, surviving a tank crash, bleaching etc. the anemone in an extreme form can be nearly void of all symbiotic zooxanthellae. In this case supplementary feedings can be the difference between a surviving anemone and a tank crash. OR, despite having a healthy aquarium, many decide to feed their anemones anyway. This is not necessarily a bad thing. An anemone with energy stores from feedings may be even healthier and able to withstand greater swings and stress than what it might otherwise be able to.
Now on to the main topic: what to feed our anemones. It seems to be quite common (and in some times recommended) to feed a whole or partial silverside. To this day I am actually a bit confused on this practice, but I digress. I believe - perhaps incorrectly - that this stems from the ability to quickly and easily give a large creature a large amount of meaty food relatively easily. I question this practice from the standpoint of digestion and potential for spoiled food.
Addressing digestion - How do most (not all) animals eat? We chew our food into smaller pieces, swallow, and let our stomach(s) add digesting enzymes to further break down the bits of food. Some creatures (some birds, snakes, etc) swallow whole, but I am going to ignore them for a moment. Why do we chew food? It's all about the surface area/volume ratio. Having smaller pieces of food allows for a much higher surface area/volume ratio which then makes it much easier for digestive enzymes to efficiently break down the food particles into essential nutrients for our body to use. It's like melting butter in a pan. Put a whole stick in the pan and it takes a long time for it to melt. Cutting it up allows it to melt quicker with the same amount of heat input. An anemones stomach is like ours, adding digesting enzymes breaking down the food. One large piece of food will take a considerable amount of work, and thus energy, to completely digest. Just because an anemone can eat a whole fish, or silverside, doesn't necessarily make it the healthiest choice. Giving it smaller pieces of food aids to start the digestion process and allow it to get the most energy out of the food as possible. Cutting up meaty foods to smaller chunks (I've heard #2 pencil eraser sized as a "rule of thumb" tossed around) allows one to feed a considerable amount of meaty food easily, yet in a healthier form than large chunks. How many people have seen a healthy anemone expel a small bit of food? Now, how many have seen a healthy anemone expel a fish carcas or silverside after it caught or ate? The later is likely a much higher count. If it is too hard to digest, why invest the effort?
Discussing quality of food - Would you eat spoiled food? or knowingly eat something that has been frozen/thawed multiple times? Would you feed your dog expired food? Would you feed your fish old, stinky food? Mostly likely no to all questions. Arguably some of the best fish food available today is Rod's food. Why? Yes there are a huge variety of sizes and types of food. However, from what I know, all of the meaty foods in said recipe is human food-grade food. The same approach should be taken to our anemones. If making your own anemone food, purchase it at the grocery store, market, or equivalent making sure it is human food-grade. Bacterial infections from spolied food can affect animals also. For this reason I do not recommend silversides. While they are usually kept frozen, because they are not human-grade food products there lies a potential for several freeze-thaw cycles during shipment. While this could be said of any and all frozen food, I am more suspect with silversides because of the possibility for bacteria external to the fish to remain on it while frozen, and begin colonizing the rest of the tissue during each freeze thaw cycle. Most other frozen foods are either only the meaty part of the fish so it has been separated from the contaminated exterior and washed, or it is packaged in water reducing the exposure to air and ability for bacteria to actively colonize said food. There is even evidence from one of the most respected anemone experts that a bad silverside lead to the rapid demise of an otherwise healthy hadodni carpet anemone. This could happen to any anemone with any spoiled food, and goes to highlight that even creatures in our tanks can be susceptible to infections related to spoiled food.
I know this ended up being a long thread, and I hope it can generate some insight into what is 1)necessary, advisable, and what actually is needed or not, 2)if the choice is to feed, what to feed for proper health, and 3)help everyone keep an enjoy healthy anemones.
IN MY OPINION, this lengthy post can be summed up as follows: Assuming healthy water quality, adequate lights, and anemone, it is unnecessary to feed most anemones. IF the choice is to feed, feed fresh meaty foods of human-grade quality to ensure bacterial infections are not transmitted to target anemone. CUT UP THE FOOD into smaller-sized pieces allowing for ease of digestion for the anemone.
I'd like to hear some opinions from others on their experiences and what they deem necessary vs. unnecessary and other feeding suggestions.
