Acan feeding tube?

[jamesonwhiskey]

Today I saw 2 of the polyps extend feeding tubes I think?? Can someone confirm as I've had it since February but have never seen it before.

It was 2 out of about the 20 heads on it and now about 15 minutes later all the heads have shrunk like when the lights are off. I do see my Emerald crab wandering around the tank so it's possible he walked past it and they closed up.

 

[Cris007]

Looks like they where expelling waste.

 

[jamesonwhiskey]

Looks like they where expelling waste.

It went back into it's mouth though... is it a waste tube that only comes out when it needs to expell?

 

[KathyC]

Their mouth is also the same opening through which they expel waste. That looked like waste - are you sure it went back in and the crab or the shrimp didn't grab it?
It wasn't a feeding tube of any sort.

 

[jamesonwhiskey]

Their mouth is also the same opening through which they expel waste. That looked like waste - are you sure it went back in and the crab or the shrimp didn't grab it?
It wasn't a feeding tube of any sort.

I'm not 100% sure but am fairly certain it went back inside... I'll have to keep an out eye and watch it more closely next time.

 

[Cris007]

It went back into it's mouth though... is it a waste tube that only comes out when it needs to expell?

You must have made him uncomfortable and didn't let him finish by staring..lol

 

[basiab]

Why bother asking if you arn't going to listen. If Kathy says it is waste then that's what it is.

 

[jamesonwhiskey]

Why bother asking if you arn't going to listen. If Kathy says it is waste then that's what it is.

What part of the conversation did you miss where Kathy said that it "looked like" waste and asked if I was certain it went back inside. I said I'm 99% sure it went back inside. You can kinda see it retracting back into it's mouth in my pics... which is why I said I would keep an eye on it and see what happens next time

 

[rcharliesam]

I definitely agree that it looks like waste. My duncans spit out what looks exactly like that. I have not seen my acans expel waste yet but I can not see why it would be any different.

 

[basiab]

It doesn't matter if it went inside or not. There is no such thing as a feeding tube for Acans. They have openings in each head and they use it to ingest food and expell what is left. Your pictures are showing them expelling whatever they digested. It is not likely that they sucked that stuff back in but I guess it is possible. In any case they are not tubes. The Acans have small tentacle that come out when it is dark or sometimes even when light if they can tell there is food around. They catch the food with those tentacles and head closes up and ingests the food. The head will then reopen. I have no idea how long it takes till the expell the stuff. Same goes for many in the LPS family.

 

[jamesonwhiskey]

It doesn't matter if it went inside or not. There is no such thing as a feeding tube for Acans. They have openings in each head and they use it to ingest food and expell what is left. Your pictures are showing them expelling whatever they digested. It is not likely that they sucked that stuff back in but I guess it is possible. In any case they are not tubes. The Acans have small tentacle that come out when it is dark or sometimes even when light if they can tell there is food around. They catch the food with those tentacles and head closes up and ingests the food. The head will then reopen. I have no idea how long it takes till the expell the stuff. Same goes for many in the LPS family.

cool, good to know... i do see the tentacles out at night and also during the day if i feed phytofeast or another liquid food.

 

[basiab]

Sounds like they have a nice home. Enjoy them.

 

[jamesonwhiskey]

Sounds like they have a nice home. Enjoy them.

thanks! could be for sale soon as i'm thinking of getting a bigger tank and going FOWLR!