Clowns and Anemones

[orcowboy]

I got an iPod for Christmas and last month I found TalkingReef in the podcasting library in iTunes. I listened to a lot of the previous shows, and I think its absolutely terrific on what your doing! I have enjoyed all the shows and even learned quite a few things!

My tank (65 gal tub) has been going for about a year, and its doing very well. My first fish I bought were a mated pair of perculia clowns who were using a bubble anemone as a host. After watching them for nearly 4 hours, I finally bought them. After I got them home and went thru the usual in acclimating them to the tank, etc etc, the clowns showed no interest in the bubble anemone. I thought maybe it was from the stress of a new tank and all, so I watched and waited for 4 weeks, but they still showed no interest in the anemone.

Really wanting a clown who used an anemone as a host, I went back and bought a Clarke clown and its anemone host. After getting them home, I went thru the usual process before actually introducing them to the main tank. Once they were in the main tank, the new Clarke showed no interest in its host bubble anemone either. I watched and waited for several weeks to see if interest would spark, but nothing.

I was told that its possible that the clowns (being different species) might fight with each other... but they haven't. The Clarke is much bigger than the percula clowns, and none of them have shown aggression towards each other at all. They are terrific in that they swim and play together like they've been pals all their lives. I gave up on this issue for a long while because no one could answer this situation.

Since then, I have added many other corals (mushrooms, star and button polyps, gorgonians, bubble corals, clams, scallops, galaxiae, flower-pot and clove corals and a few others). I let the reed run as it was for 6 months with good results (mushrooms grew and spawned, star and button polyps grew and expanded all over the place). A couple of months ago, I added a few more fish to finish rounding out my reef tank... a yellow tang, coral beauty, lemon peel angel, bi-colored blennie and a copper band butterfly. For the last 2 months, I have had no problems, everyone is getting along, there hasn't been any fighting and I haven't lost anyone (coral or fish).

Now that everything is going well and I'm happy with what's in my tank, I'd like to re-address this issue with the clowns and the anemones that used to be their hosts and why won't they touch them or show interest in them?

Got any ideas as to what I'm doing wrong, or what might be wrong with my tank that could be making the clowns not be interested in their ex-hosts anemones?

As for water quality, amm 0, nitrate 0, nitrite 0-1, salt den 1.24 and phos 0. I have the normal sump, a refuguim set up with LS and algae on a 24-hour light, protein skimmer and a uv sterilizer.

Speaking of, it would be great if you could cover refuguims. I think its a highly neglected piece of equipment that really helps. I did a lot of research on it before I put one together for my self, but it seems there are so many different opposing opinions... that they work, or they don't. My personal experience is that it has worked very effectively. But some folks I have talked to that have marine tanks as well, have never heard of it... so maybe there are others out there who don't know about it either and who would benefit your wisdom on this topic too.

Thanks and keep the good job up!
David

[Rob]

well, thats a whole lot of a fish for a 65 gallon tank, that and the angels and butterflies, are known for eating coral polyps, so keep an eye on the... if they are behaving for you cool, just keep an eye on them

but now for your real question, regarding the clowns...
clowns are a bit funny like this. there is nothing that says they have to host in an anemone. some will pick coral, some with pick a spot under a rock, some will pick a powerhead or something. and all of this is fine, there is no reason to worry about it.

now, if its personal desire, that you want them to host, i do know of a trick that has worked for me. it might be hard with all them fish in there, but you can try it.

so here is what you can do...
get some frozen brine shrimp and some garlic extract, like the stuff from Kent.
put the cube in a small cup, with a bit of tank water and about 2 drops of garlic.
use a small dropper to suck up the brine, and squirt it into the tank.

to this every few days.. you will see that the clowns will LOVE this stuff.
after a week or so, they clowns will realize what comes out of the dropper, and when they see if, they will come right to it.
once you get to this point, instead of squirting it right into the tank, use it to lure them to the anemone. and squirting it into the anemone. this will get them into the anemone, and if they dont already have a "home" they will usually start to host in the anemone.

how as i said, if they already have a "home" they may not take the anemone at all, but this has worked for me with tomato, percula, and ocellaris clowns. but i did this within a week or two of getting them all in the tank.

good luck to ya

[gwen_o_lyn]

Welcome to TR!!

[Kassun]

I have had 4 tanks, 3 of which had clowns (percs). The best anemone that I have had sucess with is a carpet. I have had 100% sucess. Maybe I am just lucky :). I have had sebeas, rose bulb anemones but with no luck. The con's of having a carpet anemone is that they will get 1 to 1 1/2 feet fully grown. They are also very agressive, once they latch onto some food it is next to impossible to free it. They are also posiness and will sting you, it causes some sever reactions to some people. They grow rather fast and if you look at my 45gal thread in the member aquariums you can see a pic of my old carpet with the clowns all tucked in.

-Kassun

[Rob]

yeah, Kassun, i would be inclined to say that you were lucky..
generally speaking with clown hosting anemones, the BTA's are the easiest. they dont get as big, and dont require much light
the Sebea's are not specifically easy, but this is usually because they bleach easy. they are almost always bleached after shipping. As Sebaes are NOT white, they should be a dark grey/tan color.
So when most people go to the LFS, and see a bright white Sebae with nice purple tips, they say,
"i want that one"
When in fact "that one" is the least healthy. you want to look for the one that is darkest..

in closing i want to say anemones are not easy. some are easier than others, but its all relative. there are hard anemones, and really hard anemones.
they need good lighting, good water, full reef tank conditions, and need to be fed on a regular basis. i do not recommend them for new comers or new tanks