I picked up my second true Perc today as wall as a green BTA. Both Percs where hosting BTA when I purchesd them, but they have yet to even check out the BTA I put in today. The BTA is attached to a rock and has not moved since I put him in 5 hours ago, but he is fully extended and attached. Either I found the sweet spot for him or he is still a li'l shook up from the move.

Does it take a while for the hosting to begin? They don't even seem interested in him. They are very interested in each other and the new one has taken a dominant role. My original seems much happier now as well, he is all over the place with the new one.

they can take a while to host.

i am going to get this into a show, but here is the method i have used to get them to host.

get soem brine shrimp, garlic soak, and a dropper (like the ones that come in hagens test kits)

thaw a cube and soak it in garlic.
use the dropper and suck up some brine.
shoot a bit out so the fish get the idea that good stuff comes out of that...

then use it to lurer them to the anemone.
it may take a few days of this, but i have used this method multiple times with success (no failures)

Great Rob I appreciate the good info. I have all of the items you mentioned and I will start tomorrow!

Thanks for the suggestion Rob. I am waiting for my favorite lfs to get in a BTA for my maroon clown. (Hopefully it will come in this week.) He is tank raised and I know that he may not host but maybe this will do the trick if he doesn't cozy up to the BTA. I have noticed him brushing against my zoanthids and "cuddling" in cleft in my rock so I think (I hope) he WANTS to host...

i have read that if you shine a flashlight on them for a few hrs, after the lights are out, that that helps to get them to host where you want them to

i have read that if you shine a flashlight on them for a few hrs, after the lights are out, that that helps to get them to host where you want them to
it is total shock and awe. after the bright light has been shining on them for a few hours, they'll run into anything to avoid alien abduction.

LMAO!...hey, i also read that putting a laminated pic of a clown by the critter you want hosted works:-)

Oh yeah go ahead and laugh! Last night I did the flashlight thing...

In the middle of the night I heard something so I ran downstairs to find one of the clowns standing in the light on the anemone with a small microphone in his fin. He said " So this flounder strolls into a bar..." :-)

lmao.....

you didn't know they did that??
there clown fish, there suppose to be funny... lol

You guys are nuts! My anemone is in! As long as it stays healthy I can pick it up Thursday. Yeah.

On a more "on topic" note, I did try the process Rob mentioned (as well as the flashlight). Last night the food test didn't go too well, they just didn't want anything to do with the dropper, but tonight they actually tried to come up to the dropper. The problem is, Joe, my cleaner shrimp, is about as shy as a sailor on shore leave. He wouldn't leave the dropper alone and kept blocking the clowns. But it looked promising. One went as far as swimming real close to the anemone, but didn't do anything at all to it.

Oddly enough both clowns were in BTA when they were pulled from the LFS tank, so I know they know how to host.

i peg a sign at the entrance of the anem, "half price car wash"

that gets them lineing up in no time!:cool:

to be honest, if its near the others in the tank that they already host, its a snap to get them greedy to claim all of them

LMAO...too funny!

i think they will go to the BTA in their own time....my clown was in the same tank w/ the flower pot for months and never gave it a second look....then, one day, there she was playing in it, to my horror.....give them time.....the tank is still new to them, imho

the process i mentioned is not usually completed in one sitting.
the quickest for me was three days.

you have to get them used to the dropper, and then the food that's in it and work them into the anemone.

keep trying, you will get it.. :)

im even thinking of trying robs method to see if it works next time, it might prove sound!
let us know how how it ll goes! im interested on how it works

its a good healthy method. and if it doesn't work... well no harm other than your fish getting extra food.. :)

Oh yeah go ahead and laugh! Last night I did the flashlight thing...

In the middle of the night I heard something so I ran downstairs to find one of the clowns standing in the light on the anemone with a small microphone in his fin. He said " So this flounder strolls into a bar..." :-)


very funny....looks like Veriann's rubbing off on you wildeone! :-)