2 black perc won't host with anything!

chathomas

New member
about to take my 2 black percs out. I even went as far as to buy a gorgeous BTA and put in my reef tank. the only things they have hosted with are the glass. any ideas before I kick them out and get some reg percs?
 
It won't matter if you swap the clowns for regular percs. It's hit or miss if they will use the BTA as the host. Your black percs may take to the BTA given time. (or not)
 
This is one of those times where you need to be patient. Clowns are weird, they will host almost anything from powerheads to a piece of rock. No clown is 100% guaranteed to accept any anemone. They may in time. This could be a couple of days or longer or even possibly never.
 
Percs are not natural hosts for BTA's. You should just wait it out and see.
 
It took my clowns 6 months to be hosted by a BTA. Now they will pair up with anything. Give them time. When I got my clowns the were juvenile TR fish, I am not sure how much of a role that plays in it either.
 
Patient .
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My occys have 3 nice anemones in my 25g and still don't host any of them. THey anemones have been there for 3-4 months. You may try taping a picture of fish hosting a BTA on the side of your tank
 
I have heard of the picture thing and honestly. do we really think that they will c a picture and have it click in their heads? They stay on the glass and have never even ventured towards any of the 150 pounds of rock and corals and BTA I have in the tank. I will give them a couple more months. OH and I'm not taping a picture to the glass.
 
How do you know unless you try?

Fish learn to accept prepared foods...no one fed my fish cyclopeeze with a turkey baster in the wild, but somehow they figured out that turkey baster means food...

I have to say I'm kinda put off that you'd be willing to just get rid of your fish without giving your best effort...and whether they host or not black occellaris are still great looking fish. I guess the hobby is different for everyone.
 
Dude don't get me wrong. I got the black because I wanted something different this time around. My wife already thinks I have lost my mind with the things I do. for example "well that coral just doesn't look happy lets move him here for a few days and see what he thinks". I take good care of my corals and my anenome about jumps out of the tank when I feed because he knows he is getting a giant shrimp. My little clowns however, I think they might need the short bus to get to school. I will tape pictures all over the tank to make you happy and see what happens. If it works it will be my mission in life to let everyone know that hey clownfish can read and hey they love to look at pictures. Putting 3 more LPS and a clam in today so maybe they will get interested in them. You know what, it would probably help if they would at least swim to the actual reef part of the tank and investigate. Maybe they need to get scared? I don't know but the glass is not a very secure spot for them. I am adding one tang in 2 weeks. maybe that will make them go to the reef. But, like I said I will put up pics today
 
I'm going to post a photo of a hot dude to my window to see if chicks host to it. If so, I believe.

Of course fish accept food from turkey basters it a Pavlov response. It's a little different than them reading comic books and browsing photos. If I put up a photo of a hawkfish having sex with a shrimp, could it happen? Could they fall in love?

IDK I guess the hobby is different for everyone.
 
I don't know if it helped or not, but about a week after I put pictures of clowns being hosted by anemones on the tank (they were very small pics cause the big ones scared them), they finally found our BTA. Granted, it might have just been that after a few months of having the anemone in the tank they figured it out, but I felt the pictures didn't hurt. Why not give it a shot? If it doesn't work, what have you really lost?
 
How many people have potty trained a puppy with a photo of a dog pooping outside? Nuff said.

Give it time or trade them in if your not happy. Someone else will take care of them.
 
Hahah...you all make good points, I agree it sounds silly. All I'm saying is it doesn't hurt to try.
 
Some may consider this extreme, but the way I introduced my ocellaris clowns to their BTA was to do it in a very small tank 10g. Even with that, they stayed away, so I put eggcrate in there and made them get closer and closer to it but not forcing them to touch it or anything. I can't remember how long it took - maybe several days - but eventually they suddenly decided it seemed like a great idea. When introducing to the display tank, I was careful to release them right onto the anemone.

I circulated the water with my main system, btw.
 
My small clown fish coached the the big female into anemone .In my other tank i put small acrylic box with anemone and clown they took after two weeks.Also the anemone from pic is from Atlantic actually Fort Lauderdale I got 2 of them one for me and one for son. My son did not want it ,went to LFS that i Know, went a week later for credit and found small clown in anemone took clown home and is the small one in pic.My point LFS has small tanks with divider he keeps anemone with clowns and they all take.I guess that is a good way to sell.Try that method it may work for you.
 
could work accept at this point I would need to rip the perfectly happy anenome who is situated between some very expensive LPSs and take a chance on putting him back in only to reek havic. I think all I have left is to show them pictures of dogs taking dumps and clowns in BTAs. Hilarious btw skeeters. No you know what. I have nothing to lose. Pictures on the tank it is---its all I have left.
 
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