M Woodhill
New member
well, if the story goes to perc or oc, i gotta say the one above is the only method that works
9 months.... clowns still won't associate!!
- Thread starter Tmoriarty
- Start date
well, if the story goes to perc or oc, i gotta say the one above is the only method that works
BonsaiNut
Premium Member
One other option:
"Borrow" a clown from a friend - one that is already hosted by a BTA. Add him to your tank and he/she will be in your anemone in a nanosecond and may convince the other clowns to try it.
Clowns locate anemones on the reef via smell. Captive-raised clowns, or clowns that you are trying to get to be hosted by non-natural hosts will take time, or may not chose to be hosted at all. Wish I had better advice for you.
"Borrow" a clown from a friend - one that is already hosted by a BTA. Add him to your tank and he/she will be in your anemone in a nanosecond and may convince the other clowns to try it.
Clowns locate anemones on the reef via smell. Captive-raised clowns, or clowns that you are trying to get to be hosted by non-natural hosts will take time, or may not chose to be hosted at all. Wish I had better advice for you.
velvetelvis
Active member
You really can't force your clowns to use a host. They either will or they won't. It's frustrating, but it's really up to them.
If you really, really have your heart set on having clownfish take to a host, you might want to trade in your ocellaris for a pair of Clark's or tomato clowns, both of which tend to take to anemones easily (at least from what I've heard). They're also natural symbionts with BTAs, which a lot of people think helps. Other species found with BTAs in nature include (among others): cinnamons (A. melanopus), bicinctus, maroons, and fire (A. ephippium) clownfish. If you have deep pockets and a taste for the unusual, mccullochi and latezonatus are also found with BTAs in nature.
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Tmoriarty
New member
To bonsai: tried it.... failed... the clown was mean and attacked my clowns.... it came out right away. Maybe ill try it again with a smaller clown that is already hosting in a nem, one that my clowns would bully out and take the nem, but I wouldn't want to have a friends clown die to my clowns bullying either. Maybe if I just keep adding nems to the tank until they cant go anywhere else they will go in 
to velvet: Im set on having either true or false percs. Honestly I prefer the True perc I have but the false perc I have is awesome so I picked it up. I also know that false/true percs can and will mate giving the right conditions. Because of this I would like to have these two clowns mate up (they have already did the pair dance)
to velvet: Im set on having either true or false percs. Honestly I prefer the True perc I have but the false perc I have is awesome so I picked it up. I also know that false/true percs can and will mate giving the right conditions. Because of this I would like to have these two clowns mate up (they have already did the pair dance)
westohooligan
New member
I have your same problem. I have a haddoni that my clowns wouldn't associate with, traded one fish for another that was being hosted by a haddoni, but as soon as she went in my tank wanted nothing to do with my nem. SUPER frustrating. This has gone on for me for about 2 months. I tried spotlighting, which almost worked, but in the end did not!
jmadison
rebmeM deretsigeR
I would agree, never physically confine the nem and clowns together forcing them to interact, this could have bad outcomes. I have tried the picture trick and the addition of a clown known to already take to nems tricks, both with no success. Time was found to be the key (and LOTSSSS of it) with the pair in question.
Another trick you might try that lets the clowns make the move would be to cut ALL flow in your tank and carefully use a turkey baster to target feed your nem and ONLY your nem. If you don't feed the tank for a day or two prior it will atleast draw them near to the anemone and whether or not they choose to jump in will be on their terms. This is the trick I used after adding my giga to my display. Percs went in immediatly. JM2C
Another trick you might try that lets the clowns make the move would be to cut ALL flow in your tank and carefully use a turkey baster to target feed your nem and ONLY your nem. If you don't feed the tank for a day or two prior it will atleast draw them near to the anemone and whether or not they choose to jump in will be on their terms. This is the trick I used after adding my giga to my display. Percs went in immediatly. JM2C
M Woodhill
New member
To bonsai: tried it.... failed... the clown was mean and attacked my clowns.... it came out right away. Maybe ill try it again with a smaller clown that is already hosting in a nem, one that my clowns would bully out and take the nem, but I wouldn't want to have a friends clown die to my clowns bullying either. Maybe if I just keep adding nems to the tank until they cant go anywhere else they will go in
to velvet: Im set on having either true or false percs. Honestly I prefer the True perc I have but the false perc I have is awesome so I picked it up. I also know that false/true percs can and will mate giving the right conditions. Because of this I would like to have these two clowns mate up (they have already did the pair dance)
man, i tried perc and occ with rbta four times---all failed
u can try physically or manually matchmake'em----to my experience, rtba's aint so aggressive but just like matchmakin marriages, the relations were weak and easy to break
i imported a pair of occ's with its host rbta from a friend's tank but they then turned to a piece of rock in my tank instead of their old lover
so now i only put coins on their natural host either gig or mag---or u really gotta call help from the big guy
they just jump into gig or mag upon detectin there is one in tank
the means i've tried:
quarantine in a small acclimatin box
use flashlight at night to direct'em to an rbta
scare'em repeatedly to an rbta
always put food around an rbta
use aggressive fish to harrass'em into an rbta------worst way so far. either the clowns would've been stressed out or the clowns proved to me they were aggressive, too, opposed to their tender appearance
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Tmoriarty
New member
Lol.... I tried the target feeding... and they attack my baster like its candy... but so do the rest of my fish including my tangs. The tangs get to close to the nem (they touch it when i do the target feeding thing) and Id rather them not get eaten. One thing I have not tried is spot lighting... perhaps Ill try this tonight and see how it works, should be easy given the position of the nems.
Tethered_Limbs
New member
To bonsai: tried it.... failed... the clown was mean and attacked my clowns.... it came out right away. Maybe ill try it again with a smaller clown that is already hosting in a nem, one that my clowns would bully out and take the nem, but I wouldn't want to have a friends clown die to my clowns bullying either. Maybe if I just keep adding nems to the tank until they cant go anywhere else they will go in
this is wat i have, still rather sleep in a corner under the overflow
kduen
Member
I would not even attempt any of the mentioned "tricks" with a Haddoni, you are just asking to have your clowns eaten.
westohooligan
New member
Agreed. I had a close call with one, decided it is not worth it. They will go on their time.
After reading this a few days ago i thought for sure I will never see my GSM host my purpletip sebae.... I have had the maroon a juve for a month and have been feeding him with a turkey baster gutloaded mysis shrimp close to the nem everyday see if he gets close because he would stay by a powerhead or in a corner of the tank all day. I woke up today and my GSM is having a blast in the nem !
M Woodhill
New member
basically speakin, clarkii, maroon and tomato are much less picky than perc and occ
nicodim55
New member
Another thing to try is to put the clowns in your refugium with the nem and see if they host it. I'm actually using that technique right nowhoping it works
Well, I'm happy to say that this method worked for me:celeb3::celeb3::celeb3:. I placed a pair of clowns and a LTA yesterday and now they are all over the nem:beer: BTW this is my odd couple, it's an onyx paired up with a misbar perc. Hope you find a trick that will work for you
Tmoriarty
New member
Ok, again posting on this... again with no dam luck. I swear its been a year plus and the dam clowns refuse to go in nems. I chased the female in the other night after like my 15th night of spotlighting nems and she went in the nem... on accident... and left it when i left her alone.
So now I know the nems will not eat the clown, next choice is again either new clowns (which I am opposed to as I really like my pair) or putting them in a small area with just the Nem.
If the clowns refuse to host after that I am hand feeding them to the haddoni that is in the other tank (not really but dam they are frustrating fish)
So now I know the nems will not eat the clown, next choice is again either new clowns (which I am opposed to as I really like my pair) or putting them in a small area with just the Nem.
If the clowns refuse to host after that I am hand feeding them to the haddoni that is in the other tank (not really but dam they are frustrating fish)
