When to feed BTA

[rachelcb80]

Saturday afternoon I bought a BTA. Just an hour or so after being acclimated and put in my tank it "blew up" and got huge bubbles on all it's tentacles. (They are called tentacles, right?) It stayed like that the rest of Saturday and all day Sunday. This morning I noticed it starting to "deflate" and it's mouth sort of opened for awhile and it did a little waste elimination (that one of my damsels ate all of, the nasty critter!). Within a few hours it was getting all it's bubbles back and the mouth was tightly closed. My question is, when do I purposely feed it? When it's blown up or when it's "deflated"? Or does it matter? Also, I have read so many conflicting views on what and how to feed an anemone, I really don't know what to do. I've read only to feed once every 7-14 days but have also read to feed every other day. Some say to feed big meaty portions like chopped shrimp while others say just to lightly spot feed with some frozen or flake food. What is the general concensus around here on how and when to feed?

Rachel

 

[redvipe2010]

I normally feed every 3 days, but I don't feed huge portions. I usually don't give them anything bigger than their mouth. It's been working for a year! I do have two that get feed every other day because I'm trying to get them to grow faster, they are super tiny.

 

[dc]

I feed about every other day.

 

[sarahkucera]

I feed silversides about once or twice a week.
Whole silversides for my monster H Crispa and little pieces for my recently split RBTA.

 

[rachelcb80]

Does it matter when I feed my BTA in regards to it being "inflated" or "deflated"? Since I've had it it's only spent a short time without all it's bubbles.

Rachel

 

[Chupacabras]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8632784#post8632784 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dc
I feed about every other day.

Yep.

Feed inflated (though the actual bubbling doesn't matter, just that it's fully extended).

 

[George Grogan]

I always feed when they are inflated. I think that inflated they are better able to move their tentacles... grasp, hold, etc...(BTW...I feed my LTA whole siversides every 2-3 days.)

 

[Amphiprion]

I also target every other day with a complete marine meat (all parts of fish, shrimp, krill, or whatever else is fed).

 

[RokleM]

I feed during the day when inflated, normally 2-3 times a week. I started with Silversides, but have changed to Mysis after hearing some opinions on feeding. It seems to be growing quicker with the Mysis and appears very happy.