1 month and clowns still haven't hosted BTA

[ryanpal]

hey guys,

i've had my anemone for over a month. it hasn't moved around much (maybe 2 inches or so). the percs i have still haven't hosted it. i was told by the vender i purchased them from, that all clowns would host the BTA. at most they swim by and take a glance it it..then swim away...there doesn't seem to be much attraction to the BTA. any reason for this?

 

[Subliminal]

The lfs guy didn't necessarily lie to you, but he didn't necessarily tell you the truth either. Not all clowns will necessarily be interested in an anemone. Wild caught ones will almost always want to host, but tank bred may not have had an anemone in their family in generations.

If you want, you could try and 'guide' them in, by using your hand as kind of a wall and see if you can get them to go in it, but even that isn't a sure thing.

I had to actually remove a little chunk of frogspawn from my tank to get my clowns to stay in my anemone. They'd go in at night, but as soon as the lights came on they'd look for some food and go right back to the frogspawn.

 

[2frosty4u]

I have a friend who's 2 Clowns took two years before they called the BTA home.

 

[ryanpal]

thanks for the replies guys..yes these are tank bread percs.

according to the previous owner..they hosted an anemone that was in the tank prior.

use my hand to guide them in eh? hmm that could be interesting

 

[Aaarrrggg]

My female B&W perc just started hosting in my RBTA a couple of days ago. It was so strange... she ignored it for about 3-4 weeks and then I looked up and she was wiggling about in there! The male hasn't figured it out yet, but I expect he'll get it in time.

For the record: I tried gently chasing them in with my hand a few times before but they always swam round it. I've heard placing one of those clownfish shaped feeding clips next to the nem can help, but I never got the chance to find out if theres any truth in it. Hang on in there... it'll happen. Good luck!

 

[Slakker]

I'm getting tired of this CB vs. WC debate.

If your percs were WC they would be just as unlikely to host a BTA, it's not a natural host for them.

Odds are pretty good that they'll find it and host in in eventually.

 

[TylerMoore]

I was pretty surprised/impressed that my tomato clown hosted in the BTA i got tonight after it was in the tank for about an hour.

I don't think it hurt that I think it was the same anemone that the clown was hosting in when i bought it from the fish store a month ago. haha

 

[Slakker]

It also doesn't hurt that it's a natural host for the tomato clown.

 

[Vitaly]

ryanpal...the secret is to stop watching/hoping/caring. I spent a few months staring at the tank...waiting for my clown pair to begin hosting a GBTA (they seemed to prefer my PVC return). Then after about 3 months...I stopped thinking about it...and then it happened.

I have the same observations as you. My clowns spent several weeks swimming near it, hovering above, resting below it near the foot...but rarely entered the tentacles.

Be patient...focus on keeping your livestock healthy and happy. In time they will settle in.

 

[Poorcollegereef]

Clowns can be fickle and like most things in this obsession, it never happens when you want it to happen. In my experiences, there really is no difference in WC and TB/TR clowns, some think that sometimes the WC will take to it faster, and I think it may be true in the case that that clowns have to build up a tolerance and this can be slow for TR/TB clowns. But most oftenly, I see that it is the female who will take and then the male will take a bit afterwards.

Well, my clowns host in my torch coral which is a "better" alternative that an anemone for me. It took about two weeks for the female and a month for the male but they didnt "dive right in" either, they would just slightly graze the tenticles at first. Now they host as if it was the best anemone in the world.

On a side note, I have always wondered if you feed the anemone/anemone subsititute first, and feed the fish around the anemone, then they might assoicate the anemone with food and gravitate towards it faster, but thats just a thought.

I guess after all things, clowns will host in anything, clams, pvc, lps, powerheads and occasionally in anemones.

 

[jeeperrs]

Mine took about 6 weeks before it hosted. I didn't do anything to make them host. One day my clown decided that it looked like a comfy spot and then he, now she, never left lol.

 

[imsocool5609]

In my older tank I put the clowns favorite food around the BTA and then they seemed to take to it and just started going in the BTA

 

[joker577]

about 6 weeks ago before my clown had ich and had to go in QT I guided it to the anemone with a net...I tried netting it and letting it go ontop of the anemone but it didn't work lol

 

[FullPull]

I agree with most...You never know about some clowns. I have a Tomato and purchased a bta for her last week. Unfortunately the trip even for Fed Ex was too long due to the 90'ish weather we had and did not make it. I tried putting it in the tank in hopes that it would come around, but it was too far gone. My Tomato hosted it instantly...I mean instantly and was ready to fight to the death almost to protect it even in poor health when we removed it.

 

[joker577]

Sadly the clown that had ich moved so slowly I could easily guide it with the net 6 weeks ago and when I removed it to QT it was sitting on the anemone now it wont go near it

 

[55semireef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10311862#post10311862 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Subliminal
Wild caught ones will almost always want to host, but tank bred may not have had an anemone in their family in generations.

Really? Care to explain yourself?

 

[joker577]

My guess is because in the wild the anemone is the natural protection from predators and a home for everyday life. Tank raised clownfish are brought up in a different lifestyle, born in some random holding tank with nothing in it, of course you can see the differences in how the clownfish would react. The instincts of the clown are still there (once finding the anemone, realizing what it is and hosting it), but the chances are less of them hosting.

 

[ccorpse27]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10341845#post10341845 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by joker577
My guess is because in the wild the anemone is the natural protection from predators and a home for everyday life. Tank raised clownfish are brought up in a different lifestyle, born in some random holding tank with nothing in it, of course you can see the differences in how the clownfish would react. The instincts of the clown are still there (once finding the anemone, realizing what it is and hosting it), but the chances are less of them hosting.

Not to mention there's no real predators for these fish in your average reef tank to prompt them to find protection quickly.

 

[55semireef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10341845#post10341845 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by joker577
My guess is because in the wild the anemone is the natural protection from predators and a home for everyday life. Tank raised clownfish are brought up in a different lifestyle, born in some random holding tank with nothing in it, of course you can see the differences in how the clownfish would react. The instincts of the clown are still there (once finding the anemone, realizing what it is and hosting it), but the chances are less of them hosting.

You guessed wrong...

Ok, clownfish have gone through thousands of years of evolution to become what they are today. It is in their genetics to host specific anemones. Once baby clownfish reach a certain development stage in their life, the first thing they do is seek out the closest anemone that they naturally host. Certain species of clownfish host only certain anemones. A. Clarkii is the only pacific clownfish that hosts basically all the anemones that you see in aquariums.

Clownfish do not have the capabilities to reason like we humans do. They cannot think "hmmmm....will this anemone eat me or this is my home." Its all instinctual for them to host their host specific anemone. A captive bred clownfish has the same set of instincts as a WC clownfish. It would take thousands of years for humans to breed out or disrupt the instinct to host anemones.

Take a look at wolves vs. dogs. Through hundreds and hundreds of years of selective breeding humans have taken what was once a wolf and turned it into a plethora of species of dogs. However, dogs like wolves still have the instinct to show their teeth when threatened, go into packs, form a heiarchy amongst themselves, bark, growl, howl and etc. This concept is the same with clownfish. We are not going to disrupt or breed the instinct out of clownfish to host. A CB clownfish will be just as likely to host their host specific anemones as their wild counterparts. In fact I find it almost funny when people say WC clownfish are more prone to host anemones than CB clownfish. I can see the rationale why somone would think that but those who believe that probably have never taken a biology course in their life.

I agree with you slakker...I am starting to get tired of this "wild caught clownfish are more likely to host" idea.

 

[55semireef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10342122#post10342122 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ccorpse27
Not to mention there's no real predators for these fish in your average reef tank to prompt them to find protection quickly.

Again clownfish cannot reason like humans do. Clownfish do not realize they are in a specialized glass holding cell free of predators. They cannot think "well, looks like I am safe now that I am being quarantined from the ocean." Everytime I walk pass my tank my pair of Clarkii DART as fast as they can into their H. Crispa. Why? Because it is instinct for them to seek imediate refuge in their anemone if something "big" or "predatory" becomes within close range of them.