Clownfish and Anemone

[isaacharry]

Hi There!

 

I just got a RBTA and i have two Snowflake clowfish and i cannot get them to host the anemone

 

 

does anyone have some tips on getting this to work out ?

[gulfsurfer101]

Unfortunately clowns will do just what they like if they feel comfortable enough doing it, if that makes sense. I've seen then hosted by other coral, powerheads, the corner of your tank, ect...

 

I have read where posting up a pic with clownfish hosting an anemone facing near where the clowns normally hang out well sometimes kick in thier natural instinct. Hopefully this helps a bit. Any more questions, just shoot me a pm. I hardly respond to anything on here, ever. Just don't like to come on here and see that nobody had been able to offer up any kind of information.

[VW_TDI_02]

It's not something that usually happens instantly and can take a rather long time for the anemone to host the clownfish and sometimes it won't even host it. Either today or yesterday I did see that someone accidentally scared their clowns and they bolted into the anemone. Prior to that the anemone wasn't hosting any clowns. I wouldn't recommend intentionally scaring your fish though, haha.

[Neebles]

I had two davinci clownfish in my tank for a year with a BTA and they never took residence in the anemone. It was like it didn't even exist. A BTA is not a natural host to a lot of types of clowns

 

There are resources online where you can see which type of anemone plays host to which type of clown in the wild. The BTA doesn't host too many types of clowns naturally. However, the Clarkii is one that it does host in the wild, so that's what made me decide to try one out. I got one in yesterday, and within hours of being in the tank it was chilling in the BTA and already defending it when other fish got too close (that's another thing to be aware of).

 

If you want clownfish that will have a better chance, your best bet would be a Cinnamon, Maroon, or Clarkii who will live in a BTA in the wild. Unfortunately these three are on the more aggressive end of clowns and will not hesitate to bite your face off. Not really, but they will attack anything that comes near their anemone (or wherever else they live), including your hand.

 

The Heteractis magnifica, Stichodactyla gigantea, and S. mertensii are the natural hosts to the Ocellaris clownfish. I wouldn't go out and buy any of those unless you have a big enough tank and lots of experience keeping anemones.

 

Overall I'm not saying your BTA absolutely won't host your current clowns, but you can't be discouraged or upset if they ultimately don't. Clowns are goofballs, you never know where they will end up.

 

PS, clownfish don't host anemones, anemones host clownfish. ?

[flobees]

My clowns started hosting the Frogspawn yesterday.

 

 

[pgrVII]

There's also a theory that captive bred clowns may have less of an instinct to need the anemone. As they aren't typically in situations where they feel threatened or preyed on. Lots of things to consider. Mine on the other hand will swim between 3 different ones and share then with anemone crabs