9 months.... clowns still won't associate!!

Still no luck, I hand put the female in one of the nems, It didn't sting her but she had no desire to stay there (probably cause I put her there with my hand). The next thing to do is put her in a small area with one of the nems, I now know they wont eat her so I guess I just have to remove other options for her, perhaps that will encourage her to associate.
 
Are you dead set on not trying a magnifica or gigantea? Your percs will go directly into a magnifica (I speak from personal experience). And though I don't have a gigantea, I expect the response would be similar with that species. Magnificas and giganteas are demanding and difficult to find in good shape, as I'm sure you know, but if a happy pair of percs in an anemone is as important to you as it seems to be based on all your efforts. I suggest you get a natural host-- research the anemone's requirements, and go from there.
 
garygb said:
Your percs will go directly into a magnifica (I speak from personal experience).
Click to expand...

One could also say that percs will go straight into a BTA. ;)

Every clown has a mind of it's own. My tank raised blacks were in tanks with BTA's for years, and never were interested. Even when I put them in a BTA only tank with a couple of rocks and GTBA's, they still stayed away. My tank raised orange on the other hand even left their hosting/egg area to head to a BTA on the opposite side of a 3' tank less than 60 seconds after I introduced a BTA.

The long of the short is, there is no clear reason why clowns will or won't host. The old "clown hosting picture", shooing them into it at night, feeding near it, etc are all possibilities... but nothing is guaranteed.
 
Throw a barracuda in the tank and see how fast they learn to host. Seriously tank raised clowns don't have much fear.

They were not raised with anything that would eat them, They are not afraid of humans they feed me. They are sued to being moved from tank to tank.

Sometime they just wont host period and even if they do they will allot of times only do it at night.

Like someone said clarkii's do host more than others but they also are bolder and wander farther from there anemone even in the wild.

Never force a clown in a anemone they can get stung.
 
RokleM, actually often percs don't go immediately into BTAs. Expecting clowns to take to non-natural hosts is often an exercise in frustration. Some species of clown seem more forgiving than others and will accept non-natural surrogates, be they soft corals, leathers, or anemones (hosting species or not). And some species of clown aren't particular (A. clarkii will be hosted by all 10 of the hosting species of anemone). Captive-bred vs. wild-caught clown makes no difference it seems. However, providing a natural host will almost certainly lead to symbiosis within minutes to hours, based on my repeated experience and the experience of other anemone/clownfish aficionados.

BTW Tmoriarty, though Fautin and Allen list H. crispa as a natural host for percula, I have yet to see a pic of one in a crispa in the wild. I question the accuracy of that particular pairing.
 
garygb said:
Are you dead set on not trying a magnifica or gigantea? Your percs will go directly into a magnifica (I speak from personal experience). And though I don't have a gigantea, I expect the response would be similar with that species. Magnificas and giganteas are demanding and difficult to find in good shape, as I'm sure you know, but if a happy pair of percs in an anemone is as important to you as it seems to be based on all your efforts. I suggest you get a natural host-- research the anemone's requirements, and go from there.
Click to expand...

I heartily agree. The first percula I dropped in the tank with magnificas was in them within 15 minutes. The second one, added a few weeks later, was in them less than five seconds after being dropped in. After having clowns in quadricolors and having them in mags, I must say that the mags are a much better host. E. quads have much sparser tentacles that the clowns sort of try to wiggle into, whereas magnificas have very dense tentacles that they literally disappear into and pop out of like a dog in tall grass. Very neat to see.

Tyler, I see that you're just south of me in Visalia. You should have no problem getting a healthy H. magnifica there or up in Fresno. The ones I have gotten have been fully expanded and attached in the bag because they are packed up at the wholesaler early in the morning and driven up that same day. They are in transit less than 12 hours and are in excellent shape when they arrive. It's the shipping that really seems to get them. The one I had shipped overnight looked awful and did not do well, but these two have been as easy as any quadricolor and I believe that is largely because of the minimal transit time. I just dripped them and put them where I wanted them. They stayed put and started catching food out of the water the same evening. Oh, and they're also pretty inexpensive. I paid $40 each for my two cabbage-sized specimens.

If you need some convincing...
newlightsanemones062.jpg
 
It's much harder to find a healthy, acclimated magnifica than a quadricolor, and harder to bring them back if there is a problem. They do not ship well; some simply disintegrate in their bags. They need stronger flow and lighting and are more sensitive to changes in your tank. However if you start with a healthy specimen and put it in a stable tank with strong flow and lighting (which most tanks are and have anymore) they seem to be pretty hardy. I've found them to be easy and undemanding in terms of acclimation and care, but I acquired healthy ones straight from the wholesaler. The one that I attempted to buy online was a completely different story.

In fact, about an hour after I posted the above earlier today I received a call from my "Mag Contact" saying that he had just gotten one from the wholesaler if I wanted to come have a look. This one was also fully expanded and attached in the bag, so I had to have it. When I placed it in the tank it hardly brushed the rock before latching on; much faster than the others. And of course the clowns had checked it out in about ten seconds. :rolleyes:
 
Ostara and Garyb,

Trust me... multiple mags is originally what I wanted in this tank, without a doubt. And getting rid of the clown pair is unwanted, just simply because of how gorgeous the female true perc is, shes in my sig, and they are not CB they are wild caught. She would most likely associate with a Gig immediately.

I have had my LFS trying to get me a gig for 6 months, he brought one in and its mouth was gapping, I told him he looked in bad health, he assured me it was actually fine and its normal for them to do that daily or so (hes a marine biologist). I told him it wasnt normal (I know better) and that If it was doing better in three days I would buy it. Three days later it was gone, and he didn't know if an associate sold it (im sure it died by how it looked). Other than that I am in search of a good lucky magnifica, finding species is not terribly hard online, finding good looking ones is far more difficult.

I may pull out the six existing e. quads (a hassle in it self) and attempt some magnificas instead. And I personally feel that the difficulty in keeping the "hard to keep" nems is more related to how they come in. Some nems are just doomed from the start, I have had BTA's shrivel and die within a month of adding to a tank that has thriving BTAs already existing in the tank. Perhaps a change is in order, since im about to order stuff for a seahorse tank im starting, its a good chance to slip in an order for some new nems :P.

Tyler
 
garygb said:
RokleM, actually often percs don't go immediately into BTAs. Expecting clowns to take to non-natural hosts is often an exercise in frustration.
Click to expand...

The point of my post is to clarify this statement:
"Your percs will go directly into a magnifica (I speak from personal experience)."

There is no way you can guarantee that, but that's how it's phrased. Maybe I should have been more direct instead of hinting ;) Every clown has their own process for deciding a host and as evident by this thread, it doesn't always work or follow logic the way you want.

Hopefully you see where I'm going.
 
Tyler I hope you can find a healthy magnifica. That is a beautiful fish you have there.

RokleM, I suppose there are no guarantees; however, in nature clownfish are attracted to their host species of anemone by smell. It's instinctive. So, on multiple occasions with different species of clown and anemone, I have found that with natural host, there is an almost immediate attraction. I have also paired ocellaris with BTAs and found a much less enthusiastic attraction. With that same fish, when put in a tank with a magnifica, the ocellaris swam directly to it. So, as much as anything can be a guarantee, I would say if Tyler adds a magnifica his perculas will be in it within the same day, if not the same hour.
 
I will keep this updated and let you guys know, I have talked to a place who should be ordering me two magnificas tuesday, and I should hopefully get them wednesday. I will be removing the BTA's hopefully this weekend and placing them in my 55g (selling the haddoni in that tank). Hopefully these magnificas come in looking good and settle into the tank fast. I am taking a chance ordering mags I can not see but at this point I am willing to take a not so perfect looking magnifica or two as a host until I can find a better looking one.

I will let you guys know how it works out. And thanks for the compliment Gary, now just hopping it breeds because I would love to see some WC true onyx percula/False black ice babies :P.

And yes my false/true percs are paired, and my male does his little dance for the female all the time :P. Hopefully getting them into a home will prompt them to want to mate.
 
I give the clowns an hour.... The female is looking at this new "home" like she has never looked at anything, It has thrown her into a sexual frenzy and she is displaying mating dances with the male for the last 30 minutes more than she ever has. She is excited. I can noticeably tell the difference in her behavior and I can tell that she wants to associate with the nem out of sheer instinct.

I will post pictures when she goes in the nem finally (maybe not till tommorow I got to work in an hour). Thank you to everyone who I have spoken to and who has replied on this page. Lets hope this final move to magnificas does the Trick.
 
I lied... just turned around and shes in... male is outside the nem wondering what to do :P......

As Borat would say

"GREAT SUCCESS!!"
 
LOL, 9 months for bubble tips, still fail.

Less than a few hours with new nem. Win.

Should have done this a loooooong time ago. :P
 
You would not believe how hard it is to actually find a healthy magnifica, that isn't bad looking. Even this one isnt perfect, but its not bleached and its mouth is only slightly open. It is sticky and is attached firmly to the rock already. I wanted the tank ready for a Magnifica, but yah this is obviously what was needed. BTW both clowns are in the nem, although the female is not wanting to share, she is being a tad ferocious with the male right now, I am sure it will pass as they sleep together normally, but we will see.

I will post videos and more pictures in a minute, trying to take videos with a T3i is a new thing for me.... hope they turn out half decent :P
 
No flow Video Little male submission at the end, she isn't being nice :P

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/PTU2eCqefXg?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
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