Question on my RBT

[jonto]

Hi folks,
Have had my RBT for 2 mos now. She is doing great and is growing to about 3 inches now.
My question is how do I get her to look like the 2nd photo hosting a clown? Is it a matter of size and time or something else?
It is in a relatively low flow area. I read that a higher flow will get them to extend.

[jonto]

I have 2 larger Condi's but don't know if they will be good hosts. I want to get 2 Snowflakes, Picasso, Ice or what ever is available at the time. Just want to make sure the Anemone is ready.

[aznflyfisherman]

IMO your rbta is still small n if it’s acclimated, try feeding it twice a week with mysis to help it grow faster n can be a good size to host two. In time the bubble tips usually go away and tentacles become long, most people who buy btas want the bubble tips to stay, but i guess your an exception. I would wait before getting the clowns.

My 110g:

[jonto]

I feed it twice a week with silverside. Going to get some shrimp from the store to give her a change. Just have to let her keep growing and see what happens. I also want to try to move her further away from the Condi. That will be a task because its really imbedded into the crevasse.

[OrionN]

Keep the water clean and keep on feeding him. Don't try to move him unless you can just move the rock. They will move to where ever they like.
Regarding food for anemone, I would feed him seafood for human consumption, make sure no preservative or additive added to it.
Smelly food are spoiled food. Silverside are very smelly almost all the time. This is because they are frozen with gut, small fish, and most of the time handling of fish food are just not very careful, like control temperature shipping and others. Feeding your anemone spoiled food and you will have a dead anemone. All of this, plus the price of silverside is about the same as a cut of highest grade sushi, it is a wonder that they sell any at all.
Human seafood is much better for anemone (or fish tank) and often food for human are much cheaper, from dry seaweed (nori) to seafood. Think outside the box that LFS condition to think in.

[Cancun]

Hi! I totally agree with everyone! I have had my RBT for over 3 years....when I got it it had bubble tips....but as it grew it lost the bubble tips....it split 3 times....now I have 4 including the "mother nem". Two are about 10 inches across and the other two are about 6 inches. I have never moved them nor would I. I don't recommend moving a nem unless you have too. I feed mine eaither PE Mysis or Hykari Mysis once a week.

[Urchinhead]

Feed her 1/4” pieces of silversides every few minutes after the previous piece is gone until she spits it out. Do this every other day to every third day.

[D-Nak]

Originally Posted by Urchinhead

Feed her 1/4” pieces of silversides every few minutes after the previous piece is gone until she spits it out. Do this every other day to every third day.

I'm guessing you skipped over OrionN's post:

Originally Posted by OrionN

Smelly food are spoiled food. Silverside are very smelly almost all the time. This is because they are frozen with gut, small fish, and most of the time handling of fish food are just not very careful, like control temperature shipping and others. Feeding your anemone spoiled food and you will have a dead anemone. All of this, plus the price of silverside is about the same as a cut of highest grade sushi, it is a wonder that they sell any at all.
Human seafood is much better for anemone (or fish tank) and often food for human are much cheaper, from dry seaweed (nori) to seafood. Think outside the box that LFS condition to think in.

[Urchinhead]

Originally Posted by D-Nak

I'm guessing you skipped over OrionN's post:

No, I saw it. I also disagree with it. Frozen silversides are not the same price as high quality seafood for humans. Ideally just taken from the ocean fresh restaurant grade seafood would be used. Unfortunately it isn't always practical or affordable. 4oz Sashimi grade fish $10. 4oz clean silversides from Dr. Fosters and Smith or local LFS $2.49.

As I said of course ocean fresh restaurant seafood is theoretically better but I do not see any evidence that for domestic US consumption fish food like Silversides are uniformly bad. Remember the FDA regulates pet food within the US:

https://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary...od/default.htm

Please provide evidence of the inferred (you) and direct (Orion) claims that vendors are systemically and regularly selling spoiled improperly transported (thawed then refrozen), etc silversides for domestic US pet consumption.

I do agree that Nori, *IF* it is plain with no added flavoring etc is more cost effective than LFS sold seaweed. I used supermarket bought Nori for all of my feeding needs for this reason.

[D-Nak]

Originally Posted by Urchinhead

No, I saw it. I also disagree with it. Frozen silversides are not the same price as high quality seafood for humans. Ideally just taken from the ocean fresh restaurant grade seafood would be used. Unfortunately it isn't always practical or affordable. 4oz Sashimi grade fish $10. 4oz clean silversides from Dr. Fosters and Smith or local LFS $2.49.

As I said of course ocean fresh restaurant seafood is theoretically better but I do not see any evidence that for domestic US consumption fish food like Silversides are uniformly bad. Remember the FDA regulates pet food within the US:

https://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary...od/default.htm

Please provide evidence of the inferred (you) and direct (Orion) claims that vendors are systemically and regularly selling spoiled improperly transported (thawed then refrozen), etc silversides for domestic US pet consumption.

I do agree that Nori, *IF* it is plain with no added flavoring etc is more cost effective than LFS sold seaweed. I used supermarket bought Nori for all of my feeding needs for this reason.

OK, I was just making sure that you read it.

I don't think anyone has ever said that vendors are systemically selling spoiled silversides. But it only takes one time for this to occur -- anywhere along the supply chain (including the end user) -- to potentially kill an anemone.

Granted, and I hate to say this, but ALL of the cases of an anemone's death attributed to silversides are based on conjecture and anecdotal evidence. The unfortunate truth though is that many times this is all we have to go on in this hobby. We simply can't point to a scientific study or peer reviewed article, especially when it comes to anemones.

However, I do think it's worth mentioning that feeding silversides comes with inherent risks. Any fish fed with guts intact can lead to potential problems. Furthermore, the bones and whatnot will be expelled by the nem as waste. Feeding shrimp or fish doesn't require the nem to "work" as hard.

I think the short story is that there are better, less risky food options than silversides.

Finally, since I've been particularly lazy lately, I just feed my nems LRS Fish Frenzy.

[Urchinhead]

Originally Posted by D-Nak

OK, I was just making sure that you read it.

I don't think anyone has ever said that vendors are systemically selling spoiled silversides. But it only takes one time for this to occur -- anywhere along the supply chain (including the end user) -- to potentially kill an anemone.

Granted, and I hate to say this, but ALL of the cases of an anemone's death attributed to silversides are based on conjecture and anecdotal evidence. The unfortunate truth though is that many times this is all we have to go on in this hobby. We simply can't point to a scientific study or peer reviewed article, especially when it comes to anemones.

However, I do think it's worth mentioning that feeding silversides comes with inherent risks. Any fish fed with guts intact can lead to potential problems. Furthermore, the bones and whatnot will be expelled by the nem as waste. Feeding shrimp or fish doesn't require the nem to "work" as hard.

I think the short story is that there are better, less risky food options than silversides.

Finally, since I've been particularly lazy lately, I just feed my nems LRS Fish Frenzy.

Cheers mate. I apologize if I came off a bit harsh.

I agree. It has its risks. I see first hand what large public aquariums feed their sea life and it is always restaurant grade. The running joke is the fish eat better than the minders.

If it is possible then store bought very fresh sashimi like tuna would be ideal for the anemone as long as there is nothing added to it. Same with brain coral as well as other large LPS. If not then silversides, to me, were the best of the bad choices.

A "trick" I would use with nem's who like to wander was to get them to a spot where they and I agreed was a good one then I would feed them regularly so they associated that spot with being a good food source and decided to stay.

I have my own bugaboo's about food. For example I don't do Krill and hate the idea of potato chips aka Mysis. Krill because of the hard shell and mysid because I am too lazy to hatch and gut load my own and the frozen variety come with such filthy water that it is too much of a PITA to defrost them then rinse them.

Yes I know the Krill shell is like a silverside bone.

For years I fed Salifert colour enhancing pellets for both my "smaller" LPS, inverts, and fish with the use of silversides for anemone recovery and growth as well as the occasional treat for shrimp and stars. Sadly Salifert no longer makes the pellets to my knowledge. I could get great growth from my Acan's by feeding a few times a week. Like bloody weeds. 2-4 heads a month.

It's like my dislike of hermits, large snails, and nassierus as a CUC. I found tuxedo urchin(s) and abalone do a bang up job and are worth several multiples of snails. I used Staghorn crabs in place of hermits because I wasn't worried about predation. And I used conches in place of nassierus because I just don't like the zombie hoard that nassierus' tended to be.

[OrionN]

"The price of silverside is about the same as a cut of highest grade sushi" is a hyperbole statement, but not by much. 8 oz silver side is about 11.00 (Petsmart). To buy fish for 22.00 per pound at the grocery, you will indeed get a nice cut of fish. Well you get my meaning.
Regarding the condition of the silverside, have you ever pick up a package of silverside that is not smelly? I am a Vietnamese and we eat a lot of fish. Fresh fish do not smell. In the wild anemones eating fish that is still wiggling, not the smelly trash many reefers feed them.
No one intentionally spoil fish food before selling them to customer, but 9 out of 10 LFS owners will refreeze $200.00 worth of silverside and sell them instead of throw it away. You see evidence of this all the time when the frozen food bag deformed and refreeze in the shape of the surface where it is on, or the bags that store vertical is thicker on the bottom than on top.

BTW, I got a back stage tour at the Aquarium of the America, and all the food they feed the animals are restaurant quality sea food. This is true. Silverside is not on the menu, and neither is frozen fish food.

[Indymann99]

+1 on NO Silverside EVER... I killed TWO GBTAs and I believe that feeding silversides was the cause. No I cant prove it but without feeding silversides (or anything directly for that matter) my nems have been thriving for 5+ yrs.

my 0.02

[hottuna]

squid..period...cheap and they love it..