well, first i must confess to big newbie mistake.......after my tank got going i bought a flower pot.....which has been doing quite well for the last 4 months, to my surprise & shock....i really try to keep this coral happy
anyways, out of the blue today, the clowns decided to start hosting this critter.....the flower pot does not seem too pleased by this.....is there something i can do to distract them from it?....maybe something that is more hardy for them to play in?
__________________ Wendy
___________________________ " Like the moon, come out from behind the clouds! Shine."...Buddha
dreams, if your clowns find a more attractive host, they will move. i've had exactly the same problem with my flowerpots. if the clowns continue to use it as a host, the flowerpot will cease to open. get a bta soon. also, the legend of the difficulty of keeping flowerpots is in my own opinion overstated. a lot of the bad reputation came when reefers did not feed their tank anything close to the amount today. everyone was terrified of poor water quality. i read an article about 10 years ago when one hobbyist kept nothing but flowerpots. i gave me an inspiration.... my oldest gonipora is now about 8 years old. the thing is they just need to be fed really well, and have enough pulsating water movement to keep them clean. if i remember correctly, the heavy mucus needs to washed away from the coral before it leads to bacteria infection which will lead to poylp loss. but course, i'm just a hobbyist.
best is to separate them, and get the clown to host in something else.
you can put in a divider until you get it hosting in something new, like another coral, or an anemone
check out the Goniopora podcast show for loads of info on caring for and keeping these corals
i personally wouldn't say they are doomed in captivity, but they are not "easy" corals. i had one that was about a year old and when my clown starting hosting in it, it died in about a month or so
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you know, that is what i thought, from my experience so far....the better i feed the tank, the happier it seems....and if it has good flow, not too strong, but decent
i was so hoping you would tell me about a different coral i could get......i may have to breakdown & just get them an anemone
if they don't lose interest by thursday, i'll decide then....that is when the new critters arrive at the stores
__________________ Wendy
___________________________ " Like the moon, come out from behind the clouds! Shine."...Buddha
Have u tried moving the flowerpot? I like that you aren't supportive of getting an anemone- many factors need to be considered before making that purchase.
I would move the flowerpot and put a hardier coral in its place. My clowns are hosting in a toadstool leather.
Wendy - my clowns host the Euphyllia in my tank and both the coral and the fish seem to be pretty happy with this.
When you refer to flowerpot coral, are you refering to Alveopora or Goniopora?
Before I had the Euphyllia, the clowns used to hang out in the alveopora. After awhile, the coral adjusted and didn't stay closed all the time and I didn't think that the coral was suffering due to the clowns. But, each situation is a different one!
thats a good idea...
try to reposition the goni...
some clown will loose track of there "homes" if they are quickly moved
50/50 chance here, individual temperment vary. some seem to display an uncanny inteligence in regards to us and their own tank boundries. in the meantime id take a trip to the hardware & pick up some plastic drain pipe guards that come in a roll. make a covering around your coral so light can still get though un-impeded, but the clown is kept out. if she does'nt find something new to claim & host within a few days, u could be up for a new coral or a ............plastic cup...lol
fantastic, i love happy endings, feel free to wipe my last schpeal off the thread!
& kick the king of overkill back to the orange lunch box! <<<<<<<is that it, im not sure? it was orange something
Then I would suggest trying to find something else less sensitive that they'll be happy to host in....maybe they'll get distracted from the goniopora then...
an update on this.....well, i flower pot in the 110g....then, the clowns were added, a few days later....it took clover all of about a day to find the flower pot (and she won't let crimson near it)
on the upside, the flower pot doesn't seem to be upset about it...maybe more flow in this tank?.....i dunno...anyways, it doesn't seem to be broke, so i am leaving it alone for the time being
__________________ Wendy
___________________________ " Like the moon, come out from behind the clouds! Shine."...Buddha
the guys at my LFS said that the clowns hosting any coral is really bad for the coral...that they are really rough on them....*sigh*
prolly true for many corals, but I have to say I got clowns living in my toadstool leather, which is a hardier coral, and I frag the hell outta it. Corals and clowns can work, but be cautious.
gwen, everything i have read has said not to take them out of the wild.....so, i have a hard time w/ that whole issue
I have read that too and I see so many n00bs get anemones and they don't make it and unfortunately the clown and anemone is what attracts so many into this hobby. Very sad indeed.
Maybe fragging anemones will become more popular and keep us from harvesting them out of the wild.
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