Anemone eating habits in the wild.

[SPC]

I still am confused about my misinterpretation of what Dr Ron said, it seems clear to me what he meant.

I was wondering about the many comments about anemone's in nature and how they are in full sun high up etc... Does anyone know how much actual food on avg an anemone consumes in the wild? I ask this question because I have a feeling that they have zoo because they can't catch enough food on a consistent basis to supply all of their dietary needs, is it possible that this is just a back up of sorts?
Steve

 

[jamesw]

Some people DO want to grow an anemone to that size...

Your points are still very well made J...er Bomber.

TTYL

 

[SPC]

Jerel, let me see if I understand what you are saying. If we are talking about anemones specificly (the common ones we try to keep in our tanks) and they are fed enough then there is no reason for them to use their zoo. Or do they also need this for building purposes etc...? Please bear with me on this as I can be a bit dense at times

.
Steve

 

[Anonymous]

Which gets back to my main question. How much food do anemones actually eat (i.e capture) by themselves in the wild. I'm sure there is a scientific paper somewhere that examines the gut contents of various species of anemones. If you "feed" your anemone with big meaty foods once or twice a week, is this an accurate replication of the anemones natural state? In other words your food additions would be making up for the lack of prey species in the tank. If the anemone does not consume or capture very much prey in the wild then lighting alone would be a more accurate representation of its "natural" conditions.

Looking in TRA vol2 pg 106

PREY ITEMS FOUND IN ANEMONES

Crustaceans (Amphipods, barnacle remains, carcinus appendages, copepods, crustacean fragments, cypris larvae, euphausids, gnathia, isopods, large and small decapods, mysid, nauplii, ostracods.)

Molluscs (mussels, bivalves, gastropods, chitons, lamellibranchs, opisthobranchs)

Odds and ends (algal detritus, fish, fish eggs, fish scales, insects, medusa, polychaetes and fragments, asteroid bipennariar, bryozon fragments, cyphonautes larvae, detritus, echinoderm larvae, echinoid spines, fecal pellets, flatworms, foraminiferans, hydroid fragments, nematodes, seagrass fragments, scyphozoans, sipunculids, sponge spicules.

Glenn

Glenn

[ October 09, 2001: Message edited by: Rover ]

 

[Bomber]

James,
You are such a show off.

Now aren't you glad you got that new tank? LOL

Did I just muddy the waters even more? I didn't mean too.

I think what's confusing you guys is that anemones are mobile. If they are in a situation that is not to their liking, they move. If they are happy they stay put. If all is well, they never move toward the dark.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote

Or do they also need this for building purposes etc...?

Steve,
They use both. More of one if not enough of the other and visa versa.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote

How much food do anemones actually eat

Glenn,
I think you're looking for 3.8g shrimp, 12.6g plankton, etc. just kidding you.

It all depends. Sitting on top of the reef, grass flats etc. they don't need much. However, if they hit pay dirt and get more solid food than they need. They will either partially digest it, refuse more, play with their food, etc. Don't forget they are highly feeding adaptive.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote

If you "feed" your anemone with big meaty foods once or twice a week, is this an accurate replication of the anemones natural state?

It could be.
You could also feed it small pieces once/several times a day. Not feed it for a few weeks. Feed it heavy only on full moons. Simulate cloudy days by not turning your lights on.
You know anything that nature can dish out. Don't worry, they are tuff.

We get the best growth by lighting heavy and feeding a small amount every few days. <shrug>

Jerel
aka Bomber, landescaper, land-es-caper, etc.

[ October 09, 2001: Message edited by: Bomber ]

 

[Anonymous]

heh heh heh.......Thanks Jerel, missed you around here lately......

[ October 09, 2001: Message edited by: Rover ]

 

[Green Lantern]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR> Jerel
aka Bomber, landescaper, land-es-caper, etc.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Jerel=Landescaper=Bomber I finally get it.

 

[Goldmoon]

Fishaholic you should re-read my post. I never said what you are trying to pretend I did.

(Sorry if I will seem to repeat myself but it looks like if I woke up just to argue, some are not awake at all.

)

So what I was trying to say if I was not clear was that from my understanding Ron Shimek meant that if you would have to choose between feeding or lights to keep your anemone alive, you should go for the feeding. And many people choose lights over feeding. They think that because they have the big MH that the anemone can survive just with those... Ron Shimek went to the extreme to make people understand that FEEDING was the key and not the lights. That does not mean I am advocating for the no lights on the anemones.
Another point here:
Lights.. if a new reefer reads some of the posts that anemone needs lights to survive, they might also forget that feeding is important, but why if people talk about big lights they are not argued, and someone points out feeding they are? How many times have I read people saying they feed their anemone once in awhile, where are the *flames* on those people?? Ohh ok..they have MH so they do not need to feed the anemone...
Is that better to spread this information instead?? Anyways, since Ron Shimek studied a lot more the marine life then most of us, I tend to believe what he says.. until someone that really knows and studied more then him can give me some proof that he is wrong...

[ October 09, 2001: Message edited by: Goldmoon ]

 

[Anonymous]

Goldmoon,

If thats what you meant to say then maybe you should have said it.

James

I do not know how you could call your first post to Steve anything but a flame, but hey its your board if you feel like jacking up Steve and not calling it what it is, more power to ya.

 

[Alice]

Goldmoon;

You might want to check Bomber's profile

 

[Bomber]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by jamesw:
<STRONG>I remember back in the good old days when you could get called a "Son of a motherless goat" for just disagreeing with someone...

Now THAT'S a flame.</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


ROTFLMAO

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote

consistent basis

This is the key.

Guys as someone who has worked with anemones and kept them for decades, may I put in my $.02?

First, you need to understand metabolic pathways:

Protein is not just for building, it can also be used as a energy source.

Carbs are not just for energy, they can also be used for building.

Do not assume that the carbs produced by zoox are used just for energy production. Under certain common conditions, they are fairly easy to convert to building materials. The converse is also true. Protein, while thought of as a building material, can easily be used as a energy source.

When faced with a situation where solid proteins are not available, they will simply use what's available in the water column/bacteria and rely on their Zoox.

These animals have adapted to take advantage of as many available resources as they can. In nature, size means everything. The biggest ones win.

It still baffles me, why would anyone want to grow an anemone to 24-36"? Which is what you will do if you keep it under consistently good conditions, light it, and keep it very well fed.

Shrug
Jerel

 

[MedicineMan1]

This has been some of the best discussion on this board in a LONG time. All great information.
Someone had mentioned here that anemones are tuff little buggers. Well, IMHO, ALL marine life is "tuff little buggers" provided we supply the necessary conditions. That may even be a quote from Ron.
Let's use our heads here. All life uses every possible advantage it can get. Life is hard, especially in the 'wild'. Nature doesn't waste a lot of effort producing something that is unnecessary. Since anemones have both nematocysts and tentacles to capture food AND zooxanthellae to derive energy from sunlight, wouldn't it stand to reason that BOTH methods of nutrient capture are important for the well-being of the animal?
Someone else (actually, a couple of other people here) has mentioned that the point Shimek was trying to make was do not discount feeding as an energy source for your anemone (at least that's how I read it). Perhaps part of the reason they have such a poor reputation for survival in captivity (generally, don't the host anemonies do well for 6 months or so then decline?) is that they aren't being fed enough.
Thanks to everyone for posting on this topic. It's been very enjoyable and thought provoking!

 

[Chucker]

Drop it guys. No need to have a perfectly good thread ruined by finger pointing. If you feel the need to argue, take it to email.

 

[Bomber]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>All life uses every possible advantage it can get. Life is hard, especially in the 'wild'. Nature doesn't waste a lot of effort producing something that is unnecessary. Since anemones have both nematocysts and tentacles to capture food AND zooxanthellae to derive energy from sunlight, wouldn't it stand to reason that BOTH methods of nutrient capture are important for the well-being of the animal?
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

You got it MM!

Not only does it stand to reason, but it's a fact.

Just food for thought. Anemones are mobile animals, right? They can also make mistakes, right? Like a wrong turn at Albuquerque. Maybe the ones that are found in deep water are just candidates for the "Darwin Awards". Think about it.

Hi Glenn!

 

[Mouse]

Hello peeps,

Just thought you might like to hear of my observations toward Anenomie/Host feeding. I used to have a Ritteri in a 29 gallon, yea i know boo hiss arn't i the ass hole. But when i bought him he was very small, and i was told by the guy in the LFS that if it ever got to be too big for the tank that i would be reef guru #1, (i guess he thought i would have died my then). But even though it was kept under flourecent bulbs he was allways on the rocks, never on the glass, allways open and constantly growing. After a while i added a yellow banded maroon clown to for the classic aquarium duo. When feeding the tank the clown (Krusty) was allways first to the food. He would litterally stuff himself untill he was sick, and then he would begin to feed the anenomie with whatever he could get his laughing gear round. Brine, shelld shrimp, algie strips, mysid, gamma and lance fish, anything he could pick up and move went straight into the anenomie. This led me to beleave that once anenomies had hosted a clown fish it was like having a remote tentacle which would hunt down food for it, therefore recieveing much more food than could have been origionally possible. I might also add that whilst it was reciving more food via the clown it never moved from the origional perch/highest rock point. The anenomie eventually reached about a foot and a half across and had to be moved. Another point i might make is that i much preferred the configuration of the head of the anenomie before i introduced a symbiant, it was far more symetrical like a flower. After adding the symbiant fish it just crumpled up to form a very boring gully, nothing of the magnificence of the flower pose. So in future i'm never going to add a symbiant fish should i get another anenomie, just because i think the shape of them without is unbeleaveable. It looked like a massive corrigated four leaf clover.

 

[SPC]

Ok, let me try this approach to see if my curiosity can be satisified. Forget about anemones in the wild for a minute and instead lets look at tank raised. Suppose I began to tank raise Bubble Tips, my lighting was considered inferior by most accounts but feeding was quite adequate. The conditions in my grow out tanks do not replicate the reef in both light or amount of feeding, light not being strong enough while food being high quality and of the right quanity. Will these anemones eventually evolve to not have any need for zoo?
Steve

 

[Mouse]

Dont know Steve, if only Darwin were here. Did you know BTW that Whales are Bears. So yes given umpteen billion years, perhaps. But you could probably teach one to whisle sooner.

 

[Goldmoon]

Fishaholic, or maybe you should have read that I was copy-pasting a message from Ron Shimek on my first message and just trying to explain it in the second, but it looks like it took 3 messages for you to *wake up*..

Cheer we are not here to fight with each others but to try to understand the beautiful life that is the marine one. If no one would have argued to begin with, we would still be with undergravel filter, decorative rock instead of live ones, empty sand beds.. and we might even still think that the earth is flat..

 

[Anonymous]

Alice does not speak often, but when she does..........

 

[Anonymous]

Goldmoon are you 12 years old?

Maybe you should do a little studying before giving out your advice. Just because Dr. Ron says something does not make it fact.

Hmmm I thought I said this before.

Hey if you want someone to do your thinking for you, thats your choice.

I fully understood your posts from the beginning, they were just not well thought out, thats all.