Amoo
Professional Thread Derailer
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Anemone’s have a symbiotic relationship with something they host and it’s not Clownfish. Just like many of our tank inhabitants, Anemone’s play host to an algae called Zooxanthellae (Zoos from here forward). The Anemone provides a safe place for the algae to grow and survive, in exchange the anemone benefits from the oxygen and sugars
Ok that’s great but what does that have to do with feeding our anemones? Essentially the Zoos inside our nems are not limited by the amount of food we feed the host anemone. Now don’t get me wrong, that doesn’t mean our nems don’t “need” to eat. We all know something has to feed that Algae, usually some type of phosphate. Where many make the mistake is it has been observed and theorized that the Zoos get enough organics from the natural sea water environment that they don’t need to be fed to keep the Zoos at a stable level.
Ok, but surely feeding your Anemone can have some benefit correct? The answer to that is yes. Essentially you can help speed up the growth of your Anemone with feeding, but there is a limit.
Ok so does it hurt to feed too much? The answer is nobody honestly knows, but essentially all you are doing is adding more ammonia to the tank which needs to be processed and the anemone and it’s hosted Zoos are gaining nothing from your feeding.
So at this point you’re probably asking yourself
“How often should you feed?”
I’ve personally not found the scientific or anecdotal evidence to give EXACT 100% accurate numbers, but here are the recommendations I would make:
If your only interest is to ensure your Anemone has enough N & P that the parameters of your tank are not inhibiting it’s growth, feed once a month.
If your intent is to grow the anemone and try to accelerate or at least fuel your anemone to the max to achieve best possible growth rates, feed once a week.
I’ll cover what to feed and how much in another post at a later time, but both science and testimonials of hobbyists tells us you don’t have to feed at all if you don’t want to AND you can definitely feed too much.
Source: A Biology of Sea Anemones by J. Malcom Shick
Ok that’s great but what does that have to do with feeding our anemones? Essentially the Zoos inside our nems are not limited by the amount of food we feed the host anemone. Now don’t get me wrong, that doesn’t mean our nems don’t “need” to eat. We all know something has to feed that Algae, usually some type of phosphate. Where many make the mistake is it has been observed and theorized that the Zoos get enough organics from the natural sea water environment that they don’t need to be fed to keep the Zoos at a stable level.
Ok, but surely feeding your Anemone can have some benefit correct? The answer to that is yes. Essentially you can help speed up the growth of your Anemone with feeding, but there is a limit.
Ok so does it hurt to feed too much? The answer is nobody honestly knows, but essentially all you are doing is adding more ammonia to the tank which needs to be processed and the anemone and it’s hosted Zoos are gaining nothing from your feeding.
So at this point you’re probably asking yourself
“How often should you feed?”
I’ve personally not found the scientific or anecdotal evidence to give EXACT 100% accurate numbers, but here are the recommendations I would make:
If your only interest is to ensure your Anemone has enough N & P that the parameters of your tank are not inhibiting it’s growth, feed once a month.
If your intent is to grow the anemone and try to accelerate or at least fuel your anemone to the max to achieve best possible growth rates, feed once a week.
I’ll cover what to feed and how much in another post at a later time, but both science and testimonials of hobbyists tells us you don’t have to feed at all if you don’t want to AND you can definitely feed too much.
Source: A Biology of Sea Anemones by J. Malcom Shick
