Feeding your Nem? Stop and read this first.

[OrionN]

A lot of the anemone would have problem with pH spike. My Magnifica and Gigantea got deflated when my Kalk pump malfunction and pump Kalk in too fast. Almost kill them but I detected and correct the problem on time.

 

[KrisReef]

Anemone’s have a symbiotic relationship..
So at this point you’re probably asking yourself

Source: A Biology of Sea Anemones by J. Malcom Shick

Who the heck believes J. Malcom Shick?

@Amoo
Nice, Right-up (sic). I have had a nem for many years that I never target feed but I do feed it's symbiotic clown-pair. It has been doing just fine with "only" LED light for the primary energy source. I used to feed more heavily 3 years prior with occasional (1-2X/mo) target feeding and it would split frequently back then.

Thanks for taking the time and effort to put this information out for reef folks to uptake and nurture the hobbyists who may not have access to the grey literature.

 

[KillerKlownFish]

Wow!
I had an inferno Nem. I fed him half a cube of mysis once a week. He eventually got about 5-6” wide and then he’d split. I always got 3-5 out of him a year.
I gave them all to my LFS a year ago. Just went to my LFS today figured maybe I’ll get back into nems. Apparently South East Asia has banned shipments. LFS is selling them for $200 inch. Gonna see if I can get one for a deal and start growing them again. I’ll post a write up once I get one.

 

[AB Corals]

I feed mine every few days some mysis, hoping that he will split soon. Would eventually like to sell some to help pay for the hobby. My nem is a black widow.

 

[John R]

do the nems benefit from phytoplankton at all?

 

[Pmauro55]

I'm trying to feed my new bubble tip anemone a quarter cube of food daily to try to get it to not move from its current spot . . . no idea if it's helping or not, but it makes me feel better!

I doubt the amount or type of food will keep your nem where young it, they move to areas of suitable flow and light. That is what makes them happy. The key is to know your nem, how much flow and light is required for the species

 

[jreefier]

Interesting thread. About two or three years ago I bought 4 rose tip BTA's from a guy who had over 30 from numerous splits. They were some of the largest nicest ones I'd ever seen. Having had nems before and being used to feeding them once a month, I was surprised when he told me he didn't feed his at all. Though at times I had wondered if such large chunks didn't cause them problems. Anyhow I stopped feeding mine as well and they have both grown and split and I now have at least 7. Maybe my maroon clown is taking care of them with food bits, but with nothing but strong light mine have done fantastic. Knock on wood.

 

[Keen4]

That's fantastic news @Robin Haselden . My only goal in helping is to try to help people enjoy as many of them as I can. They are the reason I got into this hobby.

What can I use to dose phosphates? Mine are pretty much a zero @ .01ppm. I’ve tried over feeding. Po4 won’t raise.

 

[Reef Recked]

What can I use to dose phosphates? Mine are pretty much a zero @ .01ppm. I’ve tried over feeding. Po4 won’t raise.

Brightwell aquatics makes a product called neophos that essentially doses p04 (fyi im no expert). I believe its about $15 for 500 ML and they also make neonitro for nitrate. hope that helps !

 

[Keen4]

Brightwell aquatics makes a product called neophos that essentially doses p04 (fyi im no expert). I believe its about $15 for 500 ML and they also make neonitro for nitrate. hope that helps !

Thank you so much! Yes I did find that one- I ended up ordering a food grade disodium phosphate recommended by Randy Holmes

 

[OrionN]

When I want an anemone to grow I feed it. I feed anemone when I first get them so they have the energy to heal.
My Gigantea grew from 3 inches to 18 inches diameter in ?10 months or so with feeding. Without feeding they grow very little. I have a lot of fish so nutrients in my tank is not a problem, and I have ultra high light for my tank.

It is just common sense that feeding equate growth. If Mother Nature/God does not mean for my Gigantea to eat, my Gigantea would not have mouth nor strong stings to kill and eat fish. A Gigantea can kill and eat large fish. Strip the fish down to the bone and regurgitate the clean bone out too.

Any animals with symbiotic, may get some nutrients from it's symbiotic organism, but these animals do have mechanism to synthesize complex molecules and structures they needed to growth (making more cell, more membrane, muscles ...). Anemones may get some simple sugar and minor compounds from zooxanthellae but they do synthesize most everything they need themselves. The thinking that food feed to anemones have no direct benefit to the anemones, only direct benefit to the zooxanthellae is a fallacy. There are plenty of anemones that do not have zooxanthellae, and live solely on the food they catch (cold water anemones).

Even anemones that are completely, or mostly bleached will eat and grow. They will eventually recovered their complement of zooxanthellae, but many live and grow for prolong periord of them without, or without adequate zooxanthellae.

We are experienced in our tank Aptasia (the anemone in this article) living completely in the dark with minimal or light growing and multiplying strictly on the food they catch. We all know that to eliminate Aptasia, we got to eliminate the ones that grow in the overflow tubes and sump. Without eliminating these Aptasia, they will multiply and will return to our DT. These Aptasia live solely on food they catch, not light.

Food directly benefit anemones and zooxznthellae. Feeding will result in healthier anemones and faster growing anemones. You many or may not want this to happen, but these should be no category far reaching conclusion that the article/and OP seem to come up with.

 

[laverda]

The OP never said not to feed anemones. My a anemones grow and split like crazy. I do not directly feed them. That does not mean they do not get fed. I feed my fish fairly heavily and I am sure some of the anemones capture some of that. However I have an anemone in an area that gets very little, if any food and it has grown as fast as the others. Anemones feed off the nitrate in our water columns. If fact that is what anemone farmers feed them. So direct feeding of meaty food it not needed for healthy anemones in an established tank. I think lack of phosphates and nitrates is one reason anemones do poorly in new tanks.

 

[thought]

I feed my Rainbow Rose BTA once a month, going to try to feed more for increasing nutrients. It split once already a few months ago, never had that happen before, was awesome. Split after about a year in the tank.

 

[Subnautica]

I've noticed the more often I feed my nem the more they get "bubbled/inflated" (they were always stringy). May just be coincidence I dont know.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I've noticed the more often I feed my nem the more they get "bubbled/inflated" (they were always stringy). May just be coincidence I dont know.

It cant keep up with digestion. If you feed it every day, it will swell a little after feeding. After a few hours, it will shrink back down to normal size. When you do feed it, offer small bits of food and only offer a few bits to it. Basically the anemone should get the same amount of food the clownfish does, and it should be in small pieces so it's easier for the anemone to digest. If you put large pieces of food ( such as a whole prawn or shrimp) on the anemone, it will engulf the food and spend a few hours trying to digest it, then regurgitate the remaining pieces which will float off in the tank and cause water quality issues.
Also, provide good light on the tank as the anemone will be able to use that lighting forsymbiotic algae in their cells of the disc and tentacles, and which gives them their color. Corals endure the same energy. If there is good lighting, the algae will photosynthesize and produce food for the anemone. If there is not enough light, the anemone will fade and lose color.
If the water temperature gets too high (above 30C), the anemone can expel the symbiotic algae within and turn white. Corals do the same thing which leads to bleaching. If this happens, the anemone can gather more algae when the water cools down and it has rebounded from high temperatures.

 

[olonmv]

I feed my rock flowers and my mini carpets frozen mysis twice a week. They seem happy. Like, real happy.

 

[ClownWrangler]

Good information here but kind of an incomplete picture. The study mentions phosphate uptake as a measure of metabolism and growth, but there are many other nutrients required, particularly nitrates (the terms Ammonium and nitrates are used loosely and people are usually referring to Ammonium nitrate). So in a special situation where there are no waste producers in the tank, you do have to feed your anemone. Usually the residual from what you feed your corals may be enough, but if its a nem only tank, feed it for sure. I keep multiple nem only tanks. I forgot to feed one for a month and it started to bleach. Mysis and brine shrimp work best for BTAs. Not sure what others prefer but chunks of food probably are not natural for some unless they eat whole fish in the wild.

Also this study is fairly narrow and only covers a few odd ball species. Not all nems are the same. Especially Aiptasia. They obviously have lower nutrient requirements than most to thrive. That's a given. For example I know for a fact that my BTAs benefit from it, but my LTAs not so much.

 

[ClownWrangler]

I've noticed the more often I feed my nem the more they get "bubbled/inflated" (they were always stringy). May just be coincidence I dont know.

If you are talking about BTAs and referring to the tentacles, they stretch their tentacles for one of three reasons, adapting to high flow, reaching for light, or reaching for food. They are filter feeders, so stretching their tentacles increases surface area and the amount of particulate and nutrients they can absorb or in some cases more light. A bubbly BTA is a happy BTA, but some don't bubble even if they are happy. Also, balling up at night is perfectly normal. Stringy is not.

 

[ClownWrangler]

When I want an anemone to grow I feed it. I feed anemone when I first get them so they have the energy to heal.
My Gigantea grew from 3 inches to 18 inches diameter in ?10 months or so with feeding. Without feeding they grow very little. I have a lot of fish so nutrients in my tank is not a problem, and I have ultra high light for my tank.

It is just common sense that feeding equate growth. If Mother Nature/God does not mean for my Gigantea to eat, my Gigantea would not have mouth nor strong stings to kill and eat fish. A Gigantea can kill and eat large fish. Strip the fish down to the bone and regurgitate the clean bone out too.

Any animals with symbiotic, may get some nutrients from it's symbiotic organism, but these animals do have mechanism to synthesize complex molecules and structures they needed to growth (making more cell, more membrane, muscles ...). Anemones may get some simple sugar and minor compounds from zooxanthellae but they do synthesize most everything they need themselves. The thinking that food feed to anemones have no direct benefit to the anemones, only direct benefit to the zooxanthellae is a fallacy. There are plenty of anemones that do not have zooxanthellae, and live solely on the food they catch (cold water anemones).

Even anemones that are completely, or mostly bleached will eat and grow. They will eventually recovered their complement of zooxanthellae, but many live and grow for prolong periord of them without, or without adequate zooxanthellae.

We are experienced in our tank Aptasia (the anemone in this article) living completely in the dark with minimal or light growing and multiplying strictly on the food they catch. We all know that to eliminate Aptasia, we got to eliminate the ones that grow in the overflow tubes and sump. Without eliminating these Aptasia, they will multiply and will return to our DT. These Aptasia live solely on food they catch, not light.

Food directly benefit anemones and zooxznthellae. Feeding will result in healthier anemones and faster growing anemones. You many or may not want this to happen, but these should be no category far reaching conclusion that the article/and OP seem to come up with.

After going from a decade as a working professional in my field back to college for 4 years, then working along side industry professionals and college professors working on the same projects bickering with each other, I began to realize research in academia is often lacking in context due to the limitations of perspective from a lab environment vs the real world. Taking only a few snippets out of a study can take it out of context further. Academic lab studies like this one tend to ignore more variables than they consider. This should be outlined in the discussion section of the study which was not included here. Industry lab studies are often more detailed and more useful. They have to be or else the process would not be economically viable. I always take academic studies with a grain of salt for this reason.

Here is the context missing from this post in more detail:

In a nutrient rich environment, this study is on point in that anemones have adapted to surviving without much direct feeding, which most of us already know. What it does not talk about are the complete nutrient requirements. It only looks at phosphates, Ammonia and Ammonium. Keep in mind, Ammonia and Ammonium are not the same thing. As the article points out, Anemones do not utilize Ammonia, but do utilize Ammonium. This is also common knowledge for those who know the difference between the two.

Note:
Ammonia is the toxic compound produced when organic waste breaks down but is almost immediately converted by bacteria to Ammonium nitrite, even more toxic, then to Ammonium nitrate, referred to as Ammonium in the article. The terms Ammonium and nitrates are often used loosely and people are usually referring to Ammonium nitrate, the compound formed by these two polyatomic ions, which is a necessary nutrient for zooxanthellae growth along with phosphorus and many other micro nutrients.

That being said, our aquariums are rarely a replication of this natural nutrient rich environment, so one should not assume that just because phosphates and nitrates are present that feeding is not necessary as other necessary nutrients may be missing. I have several nem only tanks like this and I know for certain that if I didn't feed them, they would bleach, waste away and eventually die. Everyone's situation is different. Blanket assumptions should not be made. Additionally, if your nem species was not covered in this study, there may be stark differences as well.

 

[SNAKEMANVET]

I feed my rock flowers and my mini carpets frozen mysis twice a week. They seem happy. Like, real happy.

Nice little bali carpets.They split like crazy.