onefang Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 I just wanted to run this by somebody before I jump to conclusions.. I was getting ready to feed my clown today and was watching it swim around, when suddenly it spit out a tentacle tip from my frogspawn.. So I immediately go into wtf mode, as it clearly had to be my frogspawn since it's green with purple tips, and the only other thing in the tank is a pink hammer. Anybody else ever see this behavior? I have read some reports of clownfish mouthing their hosted anemone/coral.. but is it normal to take a bite? Link to comment
Dark_ice Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 i have heard of this before. keep a close eye on him Link to comment
onefang Posted April 13, 2015 Author Share Posted April 13, 2015 i have heard of this before. keep a close eye on him aww crap.. Link to comment
Dark_ice Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 aww crap.. what type of clown is this? Link to comment
onefang Posted April 13, 2015 Author Share Posted April 13, 2015 Sorry, should have given that up front. It's an ocellaris. It was previously hosting an anemone at my LFS, and frankly has been pretty rough on the frogspawn since I introduced it. I figured the frogspawn would eventually adjust to it's presence, but after seeing the bitten off tentacle tip pop out of its mouth.. I am worried. Link to comment
VW_TDI_02 Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 Any chance you can snag the anemone from the LFS? Link to comment
Thomas898 Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 It happens, I've got two captive bred oscellaris, the female always bites my acanths tentacles when they extend, like a good solid chomp to the point the acanth recoils and retracts that particular section, but it opens back up within a minute or so. It hasn't actually caused any damage, it's done it for months. I honestly think she just mistakes the tips for a piece of food. Keep an eye on it to make sure the frog doesn't decline, both frogs and hammer of mine have lost heaps of tips before and recovered with no problems. Do you have any pictures of what the frog currently looks like? Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 My black clown pulls on the tentacles of my Vivid Rainbow, guess he likes watching it pull 2". I was also like WTF. Link to comment
Dark_ice Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 Sorry, should have given that up front. It's an ocellaris. It was previously hosting an anemone at my LFS, and frankly has been pretty rough on the frogspawn since I introduced it. I figured the frogspawn would eventually adjust to it's presence, but after seeing the bitten off tentacle tip pop out of its mouth.. I am worried. have you tried moving the frog around to a different locaion? Link to comment
Sancho Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 Mine have also done this. To the nem and frogspawn. My nem is Gigantic so I am not to bothered by it although it spent 3 days going to town on my frogspawn. The frogspawn has not recovered and I lost one head. I since moved the frogspawn and the clown has left it alone. My clowns seem to get picky with my aquascape plans. If they dont like where I place something they let me know. Link to comment
onefang Posted April 13, 2015 Author Share Posted April 13, 2015 Any chance you can snag the anemone from the LFS? The nem was probably like 6" in diameter, and I have a 10g tank.. I would love to have it, but I don't really have room for it. It happens, I've got two captive bred oscellaris, the female always bites my acanths tentacles when they extend, like a good solid chomp to the point the acanth recoils and retracts that particular section, but it opens back up within a minute or so. It hasn't actually caused any damage, it's done it for months. I honestly think she just mistakes the tips for a piece of food. Keep an eye on it to make sure the frog doesn't decline, both frogs and hammer of mine have lost heaps of tips before and recovered with no problems. Do you have any pictures of what the frog currently looks like? I do. I assume this is to be able to track if it starts looking unhealthy? have you tried moving the frog around to a different locaion? I have moved it. I moved it once to see if maybe I could get it into an area of flow that would discourage him from hosting.. but he seems particularly persistent in going back to it. Link to comment
gulfsurfer101 Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 I've seen my clowns do this as well before. It's normal. Why no anemone in a ten gallon though. I've got three in here. Link to comment
Thomas898 Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 I do. I assume this is to be able to track if it starts looking unhealthy? Spot on. Just keep track of it and if it starts to decline, try moving it to a different area, some people have had success with getting clowns to stop bothering corals that way, but hopefully it won't be a problem once the clown realises it can't actually eat it Link to comment
onefang Posted April 13, 2015 Author Share Posted April 13, 2015 Thanks for all the input! I will keep an eye on him and maybe try moving the frogspawn again. Link to comment
tennis20 Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 probably not very helpful but I've had this happen to my torch once. The clown sucked on the tentacles and eventually ripped a few off. I only lasted a few weeks and the torch was totally fine afterwards. Link to comment
ajmckay Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 I've seen my clowns do this as well before. It's normal. Why no anemone in a ten gallon though. I've got three in here. Certain types of anemones can be housed in a 10g no problem with proper care. But other kinds can't be expected to stay in a 10g long term... Even RBTA's get big eventually, then what do you do with it? I think an even more important reason you don't see too many anemones in 10g tanks long term though is that if some anemones die or get injured they can release toxins and crash the tank. There's just not enough water volume to buffer against that type of thing. So in general when talking about housing anemone's in nanos it's best IMO to speak about specific species. Link to comment
gulfsurfer101 Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 I've always kept bta's in my nano's. I find that mine normally split before outgrowing it's surrounding. Right now in my holding tank I have a mother anemone and three of its offspring. They are still very small, just over the size of mejano's. I'll grow them out in my 75g and offer them up for trade later on down the line. Link to comment
ajmckay Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 I've always kept bta's in my nano's. I find that mine normally split before outgrowing it's surrounding. Right now in my holding tank I have a mother anemone and three of its offspring. They are still very small, just over the size of mejano's. I'll grow them out in my 75g and offer them up for trade later on down the line. Haha okay well you've got a backup plan - the capacity of a much larger tank should something go wrong. And as it happens yours are focusing efforts on reproduction. I suppose I thought I should clarify since your previous post seemed to be asking the OP why he doesn't just buy the anemone for his tank. I'm not sure how to read your responses sometimes. It seems like you would have a lot of experience in reefing, but some of the posts you make are off base in some way or you don't take enough variables into consideration. IMO you should try to be a little more thorough. For example since the OP doesn't list what other things he has in the tank it's completely possible he has or wants to keep other corals, in which case adding an anemone could also be a disaster waiting to happen should it decide to pick up and move right next to another coral. So instead of posing the question "why no anemone in a 10g"? It would be better to help the OP figure out if that's really a good move or not. Oh, and those nano conchs look badass. Link to comment
gulfsurfer101 Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 Lol, I think the main focus the op should be concerned with is creating the right environment to make that anemone feel conformable in. The way to do this is to gather up as much info as possible and utilize it. I've got anemones that haven't moved from its home rock in over two years and a few tank transfers. The idea of keeping an anemone in a 10g tank is completely viable and a huge commitment keeping one indefinitely, but not impossible and shouldn't be discouraged. With proper care and techniques in place a bta will do well in a 10g but be ready to face the consequences as it does get larger and plan your stock well. Link to comment
ndrobey Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 I would consider taking the clown back to the LFS and trading him in for a different clown that probably won't be a juvenile delinquent. Another option would be to get something cheap that grows fast for him to host, like xenia on an island in the sand or GSP on the back wall to contain it. Link to comment
gulfsurfer101 Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 Large hairy mushrooms are really easy to keep and I've seen clowns host within them as well. The plus side is they have very little to no sting so they cab be kept with other coral. They get pretty big as well so give other coral room or they'll become shaded over time. Link to comment
jaynkeel Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 Funny you should post this. For the first time in 5 years my one clown ripped to shreds my euphyllia. Nothing but bare skeleton now, was fine 20 min before that. Wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. Link to comment
onefang Posted April 13, 2015 Author Share Posted April 13, 2015 Regarding the anemone, I have a few different Euphyllias in the tank currently, but will probably add some other corals - perhaps some Blastos, Ricordea. For the most part, the tank will be Euphyllia dominated. I've had maxi-mini nems before, and I've dealt with them moving around(I dealt with it because I had a larger tank, and they were kind of the showpiece of the tank). I understand that some people get them to stay in one spot for long periods of time, but sometimes they don't. In a 10g where I have plans for most of the free space.. adopting a 6" anemone just isn't in the cards. As far as the Clown goes.. I caught him this morning with tentacle in his mouth again, thrashing around with it. You know how dogs shake their heads from side to side when they've got something in their jaws?.. yeah.. like that. As much as it pains me, I think I might need to re-home the little guy. Link to comment
gulfsurfer101 Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 Probably for the best then. Link to comment
onefang Posted April 13, 2015 Author Share Posted April 13, 2015 Funny.. I decided to come home early from work today, To take the little guy into the LFS. I was still pretty undecided on the way home though. Got through the door and the little bastard had nearly destroyed one of the smaller polyps that just sprouted. No regrets now Plus my LFS is super good about fish care, so I know he's in good hands. He can eat terrorize their corals all he wants Link to comment
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