Proper Technique?

[TonyV]

Ok so some people say target feeding Yumas will help them develop and make new ones. My questions are...

Do Yumas really differ that much from Rics? My Rics thrive on just the lighting and Phyto.

I have tried target feeding my Yuma with Hikari Frozen Mysis but is just seems to blow away. Or at best it sits on top of it just to be taken away by my shrimp or crabs. Is there a finer portion of Mysis or Brine shrimp from another company that would possibly stick better to the surface of the Yuma and or Rics? My Dendros love Mysis and Brine and it's obvious they are getting food because they close up on the shrimp and have grown 2 new heads.

How fast/oftern do they reproduce and how do they reproduce? Eggs, larvae, split?

 

[Tallinu]

In answer to your question, yes target feeding will help them develop, repair themselves and grow as well as make new ones. But Yumas are tempermental and do not always feed for various reasons including when they are making new ones. There is no food that sticks better. It isn't the food that is sticky it's the Yuma. If the Yuma is not grabbing the food its not hungry. If it's not hungry it could just be not hungry, move on to the next one. It might be sick or upset. It might be feeding on its own at night. They can capture some prey including large stomatellas. Yumas do go through a period of time for reasons unknown to me where they stop eating anything offered and then continue a month or two down the road. Sometimes switching the food makes a difference. If you like try cutting a piece of silversides or krill and offer a bite sized piece of that. Unless it's to much bother. If you have a very healthy Yuma frequent feedings are not that important unless your looking to make them reproduce.

Yes Yumas are very much different from Floridas as far as keeping them. Tank raised Yumas fare alot better than wild caught. Floridas are nearly indestructible, eat anything and thrive under bright light. Yumas are very tempermental.

Reproduction depends on the Yuma. For example I have two brilliant orange Yumas. One goes on eating binges, gorges on food then stops eating period as it suddenly sends runners like melted wax all over the place and grows up new polyps. The other, it's twin, eats periodically and doesn't do any reproduction at all. I have a true rainbow yuma, pink, orange, green, violet on a teal background that eats anything, anytime, all the time including killing prey. Never reproduces at all, just slowly gets bigger and prettier. I've had another one of my Yumas for a year and a half that ate constantly, grew a little and then suddenly one day there were purple eggs coming out of it's mouth. I never did get any babies growing anywhere from that event that I saw.

You will have to wait and see what yours is going to decide to do.