What happens when anemone over eats?

[unbreakable]

Do they get sick? I fed my large haddoni a silverside earlier in the week, and I believe it ended up eating my flame hawk some time after in the same week. I looked everywhere for this guy, he usually is seen jumping from rock to rock. Do they act strange when this happens (over eating)? Maybe not as expanded?

 

[WaffleWalffle22]

Well, when anemones are overfed, they tend to show signs like biting their tentacles off/chewing on themselves, and if overfeeding continues they will retract as small as possible. They will change color to a more dark looking color. If you stop feeding it when you realize that you are overfeeding, then it should recover in a week or so if you don't feed it and will just loose a bit or color... so don't feed it for maybe 2 weeks.

 

[clowns101]

Depending on how big the Flame Hawk was,I would say that hes might be trying to digest it.A Flame Hawk can be good sized and may take some time to digest.

Ive never heard of an anemone "eating" itself whe n its ooverfed.Ive only seen that happen when the anemone was in poor conditions and didnt get proper lighting and nutrition.

 

[tufacody]

Ive never heard of an anemone "eating" itself whe n its ooverfed.Ive only seen that happen when the anemone was in poor conditions and didnt get proper lighting and nutrition.[/QUOTE]

I've never heard of that either. I think the risk of over-feeding nems is that they will not be able to fully digest all the food and it will rot in them, causing all kinds of problems.

 

[unbreakable]

id say it was 3 1/2" and chubby. it doesnt seem to fully expand like he was prior to the silverside feeding and flamehawk missing

 

[clowns101]

I would say it was the Hawk.Is the mouth gaping?And what are the water params also?

 

[unbreakable]

pH 8.04
ORP 303
Temp is 84.5, i just installed some 250w lights with actinics
Calcium is about 440
Alk is about 8.5 to 9 dkh
Nitrates 0

mouth seems a little open, but not bad and its hosting two clowns now. how long does it take to digest what its eaten?

 

[clowns101]

Well when I feed my anemones,I see them "remove waste" about 2 to 3 days later.Keep a close eye on him.I once had a bubble tip eat a 2 1/2 inch Ocellaris and the anemone spit the clowns bones out about 4 days later.I think it just takes time to see what hapens.Remember anemones are basicly like 95% water.

 

[Toddrtrex]

pH 8.04
ORP 303
Temp is 84.5, i just installed some 250w lights with actinics
Calcium is about 440
Alk is about 8.5 to 9 dkh
Nitrates 0

mouth seems a little open, but not bad and its hosting two clowns now. how long does it take to digest what its eaten?

Those temps are getting a bit on the high side, IMO.

I would just keep an eye open for it to expel a "waste ball", and try to remove that waste ball before it starts to fall apart.

 

[unbreakable]

Well when I feed my anemones,I see them "remove waste" about 2 to 3 days later.Keep a close eye on him.I once had a bubble tip eat a 2 1/2 inch Ocellaris and the anemone spit the clowns bones out about 4 days later.I think it just takes time to see what hapens.Remember anemones are basicly like 95% water.

Those temps are getting a bit on the high side, IMO.

I would just keep an eye open for it to expel a "waste ball", and try to remove that waste ball before it starts to fall apart.

Hopefully i'll catch when this happens, that should be a weird thing to see. That waste ball sounds creepy :spin2:

 

[blownz281]

It will just reject the food from the start if not hungry or will spit it back out. can't overfeed it that I ever heard of. It knows when its hungry.

 

[Sullyman]

Todd is right the waste ball will freak you out. The first time I found one, I had no clue, it was a nice round ball. If they take in too big a piece of food, they digest what they can and hurl a nice ball of undigested food. This may take a day or so before it happens but from what I've seen just a normal act if the anemone takes in too much.

 

[Dragonlady]

Yes, anemones will excrete what they don't need. They generally expand to a greater size when they are hungry, and they might temporarily shrink a bit if they are full. Frozen fish/ invertebrate foods need an expiration date on them, seriously! Sorry you lost your flame hawk. They are so cool!