New Anemone Question

[Jeremy.XIII]

I purchased a new carpet anemone yesterday and it settled in pretty quick, grabbing hold of a rock very near the sandbed and my clowns have already taken an extreme liking to him. He seems to be doing fine, open with mouth closed, etc. but I tried feeding both small krill and mysis shrimp and the food didn't stick and the carpet didn't attempt to eat whatsoever. I tried to put it on the oral disk and it just dropped to the bed. The nem isn't bleached or anything that I see. How long until I should try feeding again and how long do most wait? I don't want to overload it with stimulation.. The clowns are already doing that for me.

[Jrsdaddy]

What type of carpet anemone is it? If you have adequate lighting you don't need to feed unless you want it to get larger.

[ffmedic]

Did you quarantine it? if not I'd do that they can go south really quick

[Dkuhlmann]

Anemone's don't have to be fed. They can live very well off of only light as they have a symbiotic relationship with zooxanthellae that live within them. Also as stated limiting feedings will keep the size down, if you feed they will get HUGE! There are some really good sticky's in this forum that will be very helpful to you and the health of your nem.

[ThRoewer]

Originally Posted by Dkuhlmann

Anemone's don't have to be fed. They can live very well off of only light as they have a symbiotic relationship with zooxanthellae that live within them.

This applies actually only to a fraction of anemones, among them the 7 Stichodactylidae (genus Heteractis and Stichodactyla) and the Actiniidae species Entacmaea quadricolor and Macrodactyla doreensis, and the single species from the Thalassianthidae, Cryptodendrum adhaesivum that host clownfish.

There are many anemones that have no Zooxanthellae at all and rely completely on capturing prey.

[Dkuhlmann]

Originally Posted by ThRoewer

This applies actually only to a fraction of anemones, among them the 7 Stichodactylidae (genus Heteractis and Stichodactyla) and the Actiniidae species Entacmaea quadricolor and Macrodactyla doreensis, and the single species from the Thalassianthidae, Cryptodendrum adhaesivum that host clownfish.

There are many anemones that have no Zooxanthellae at all and rely completely on capturing prey.

While you are actually correct, it has nothing to do with the OP's carpet, does it?

[joshbrookkate]

Originally Posted by ThRoewer

This applies actually only to a fraction of anemones, among them the 7 Stichodactylidae (genus Heteractis and Stichodactyla) and the Actiniidae species Entacmaea quadricolor and Macrodactyla doreensis, and the single species from the Thalassianthidae, Cryptodendrum adhaesivum that host clownfish.

There are many anemones that have no Zooxanthellae at all and rely completely on capturing prey.

Thanks for adding your information. I read and am learning from these posts every day!

[kwsjimmy]

give it a few days to get accustomed to the tank, you may also want to acclimate it a little to your lighting

[Daniel62]

Thanks for the extra Knowledge ThRoewer I always like learning something new from a thread

[ThRoewer]

Originally Posted by Dkuhlmann

While you are actually correct, it has nothing to do with the OP's carpet, does it?

No, but your answer was too general. It should have been "Host anemones don't have to be fed. ..."
Otherwise someone else may get the wrong idea and a poor non-photosynthetic anemone starves to death