Feeding my Rose Anemones

[Pianotips@hotmail.com]

So I went to Costco and bought some frozen shrimp, and was ready to thaw them out. I looked at the ingredients and noticed it said Shimrp and Salt. Well I plan to rinse them off or soak them in water after they thaw.. Will it be ok?

 

[Dyngoe]

I can't speak to your particular shrimp but I'll bet, by salt, they really mean a brine solution. Saltwater is used in a lot of frozen meets because it helps maintain the tissue structure. That said, I wouldn't feed it to my anemone. Either go buy some fresh fish and cut/freeze yourself. Or, easier yet, spend a few bucks and get some silversides at a LFS. Why risk it? NOW...that all said, I stopped feeding my RBTA all together. Your lighting may be different, but I found I simply don't need it. If they get enough light a RBTA doesn't need direct feeding, especially if it has a clown (or 5 in my case) dropping scraps. So, perhaps you should just get a clown instead?

 

[GreshamH]

Most companies pump the shrimp full of phosphates (salt) to make them heavier AND for the tissue structure

FWIW roses and almost all anemones do not like large items like silversides and shrimp. They are actually a net loss in their energy budget..meaning it takes more energy to digest/regurgitate them then what they gain from it. In the wild nearly all anemones feed on small particulates and small animals like copepods and such.

 

[Dyngoe]

Really Gresham?
Thanks for the info. I never did give mine a whole silverside (I'd usually break it in three) but I do recall it labored with sucking the piece down. So then, would AcrctiPods be a good food for them? I assume mine is picking up some when I feed my corals.

 

[GreshamH]

Both Artci-Pods and Roti-Feast. Likewise, Rod's food, Cyclop-Eeze, Reef Plankton, etc are all good as well.

 

[Elite]

I used to feed mine flake and pellet ;D .. It grew so big so fast, I had to stop feeding it.

 

[GreshamH]

Some flake have PDP in them making them even easier to digest then small zooplankton

BTW, PDP = Pre Digested Protein

 

[A_Lee]

[quote author=GreshamH link=topic=5540.msg69285#msg69285 date=1229280028]
Both Artci-Pods and Roti-Feast. Likewise, Rod's food, Cyclop-Eeze, Reef Plankton, etc are all good as well.
[/quote]

Wow Gresham, I had no idea feeding anemones silversides led to a net loss in energy; though now that I think about it, it makes sense. I feed my BTA about 1/2-1/3 of a medium sized silverside once a week or so ... is even this too big?
Would you recommend target feeding Artic-pods and/or roti-feast? I'm sure my clownfish will love it as well.

 

[sfsuphysics]

[quote author=GreshamH link=topic=5540.msg69281#msg69281 date=1229279297]
They are actually a net loss in their energy budget..meaning it takes more energy to digest/regurgitate them then what they gain from it.
[/quote]
Happen to have a study/paper where this is noted? Not that I question you... well ok I guess I am... but I've noticed that when I'd feed silversides my anemone would get larger over a period of time, eventually splitting. Unless you're specifically saying if they barf it out intact.

 

[70Cuda]

I feed my anemonies shaved squid purchased at the asian store fresh. Think I missed wether we were talking about growing one bigger or just maintaining one.

 

[GreshamH]

[quote author=sfsuphysics link=topic=5540.msg69315#msg69315 date=1229286868]
[quote author=GreshamH link=topic=5540.msg69281#msg69281 date=1229279297]
They are actually a net loss in their energy budget..meaning it takes more energy to digest/regurgitate them then what they gain from it.
[/quote]
Happen to have a study/paper where this is noted? Not that I question you... well ok I guess I am... but I've noticed that when I'd feed silversides my anemone would get larger over a period of time, eventually splitting. Unless you're specifically saying if they barf it out intact.


[/quote]

I do have some papers on it on my old machine. I'll see if it still fires up after not being used for a year now

Only if it's barfed back up. If they end up accepting it then it's fine. It's the act of regurgitating that leads to the net loss. Most the time people don't get to witness the act though leading to them believing the animal was eaten.

 

[sfsuphysics]

Gotcha, that makes much more sense. What I was more curious about is if regurgitation was more common that we believed, because as you said we don't (or at least I don't) wait to see that the entire fish is gone and digested. I do however typically rip the fish into smaller pieces depending upon anemone size.

 

[Pianotips@hotmail.com]

Thank you!