Rotten food killing anemones?

[BonsaiNut]

I thought I'd start a thread on this topic since (1) I don't think one exists and (2) we might be able to save some anemones if this turns out to be the case.

Over the years there have been occasions when I have fed an anemone a piece of smelly fish (or shrimp, or scallops) and it has done poorly afterwards (or died). Some times this has happened with a very well-establshed anemone that was growing and completely healthy, and then immediately crashed after a feeding. I have no specific proof, and it didn't happen enough for me to know definitely that such a thing as "food poisoning" was impacting my anemones, but after reading a few other threads I begin to wonder...

Are there other people who have experienced the "bad food = sick anemone" syndrome?

 

[MarinaP]

Unwanted feeding response to a supposedly bad batch of F2

 

[OrionN]

I added a CBB to my 450 g reef with a very healthy and beautiful H. magnifica in it.I feed the CBB with one frozen steamer clam each morning. Almost all the time by the afternoon, after the CBB finish and the clam wide open, other fish would move in and finish off the clam. One day, the clam did not open all the way and other fish did not finish it. I took what 's lelf and feed it to my H. magnifica. He went down hill and died a week later. My Magnifica was heathy beautiful and growing up until this point. All I can think the cause of his demise is the spoiled clam that I feed him. I am sure I am right in this case. A steamer clam after being the tank for 1 day really spoiled and smell bad. It was a lapse in judgment in my case here.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

I scrutinize all foods being fed for freshness but I've heard of several cases where bad foods have (apparently) harmed certain long established anemones in captivity. It's kind of surprising this can happen considering what types of flotsam might get snagged and consumed by an anemone in the wild.

 

[shutiny]

I got a shipment of fairy wrass and one was DOA in the bag, so I fed it to one of my large S.gigantea. The anemone deflated the very next morning and died a few days later

 

[boyooso]

What about 'freezer burn' food?

Any report of problems there?

 

[IPowderBlueTang]

I also gave my carpet a fish that died in my other tank that looked healthy otherwise and in two weeks the carpet looked for the worse and died.
Lesson learned I will always feed my other anemones fresh food. Usually I smell the grocery store shrimp for freshness before I buy a few to feed my anemones.
I was an expensive lesson!

 

[IPowderBlueTang]

I also gave my carpet a fish that died in my other tank that looked healthy otherwise and in two weeks the carpet looked for the worse and died.
Lesson learned I will always feed my other anemones fresh food. Usually I smell the grocery store shrimp for freshness before I buy a few to feed my anemones.
It was an expensive lesson!

 

[OrionN]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8383849#post8383849 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Gary Majchrzak
.... It's kind of surprising this can happen considering what types of flotsam might get snagged and consumed by an anemone in the wild.

I thin on the reef, everything got consumed before it become rotten full of bacterial. A full loaded of bacterial into the gut of an anemone, IMO, can overwhelmed, infected and destroy an anemone.

 

[bencozzy]

on the reef the rotten food is only exposed to bacteria etc. that are common on a reef were as foods we feed are exposed to bacteria fungi viruses etc. that are not common to reefs and such they are terresterial.

you could always culture your own foods to feed to anemones, ive always loved the idea of making a food for anemones.(the perfect food)

 

[OrionN]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8384827#post8384827 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bencozzy
on the reef the rotten food is only exposed to bacteria etc. that are common on a reef were as foods we feed are exposed to bacteria fungi viruses etc. that are not common to reefs and such they are terresterial.

.......

I disagree with you here. The spoiled food is spoiled by bacterial, rarely fungi, and never virus. virus requires live cell to growth as they depend on the reproductive system of the cell to reproduce. The cell is killed when they are full of virus particle and bust open.
Fungi have slower rate of growth than bacterial, often only cause decay in some material that is lack of significant bacterial growth, moldy bread, decaying logs or yeast culture. Bacterial is the overwhelm majority, or certainly, is the cause in spoiled food, terrestrial, in our tank, or on the reef if foof last that long there.