Anemone - Clownfish pairing

EvilMel

EvilMel

is a serious goby fanatic
Hi, so Art and I were talking about his new clownfish and anemone this weekend. I have a problem with clownfish jumping out of my tank (yes, I know...canopy) and I have no anemone.

Art also had the same problem with his clowns (going down the overflows) when he had no anemone. But now he has an anemone and those fish are all over that thing. They rarely venture away from it at all (it's really cute actually).

So this got me to thinking about anemones and maybe I should have an anemone if I get any more clownfish?

My real question is: what anemones will clownfish host?

I used to have a Clarkii clown because I wanted this one certain anemone (I think it was a long tentacled anemone) and that's the kind of clownfish that goes with it.

So perculas host what? Cinnamons host what? Maroons host what?

Are any of these anemones less prone to movement around the tank?
 
You don't have to have an anemone for clownfish, they will host in lots of things. Mine are using an xenia for a host. Ive seen them in all kinds of soft corals from zoanthids to toadstools. It really depends on the clownfish. I would wonder why yours jumped out in the first place. Something had to have been chasing it. If you put an anemone in there, it doesn't like where you put it, it will move to where it wants, terrorizing all your other corals along the way. Not to mention it could get hung up in overflows and have its tentacles torn off by it which would be a mess with anemone parts all over the place. But if I had to choose, I would go with a rose bubbletip anemone...
 
here is a pic of my clowns and their host
xeniahost.jpg
 
My GSM's went right in a bubble in the QT for awhile then a half clam shell after I took the bubble out then your spagetti leather when I dumped them in it in the big tank. I have some ocelaris that never have hosted. I wonder if GSM's are more prone to host? GSM's are pretty mean though, mine attacks the huge naso, or anyone if it ventures anywhere near her leather. She is about 1 1/2 inch long and the naso is at least 7 and runs! :lol:
 
I dont think its a specific breed thing, I think it all depends on the fish itself. Different fish have different personalities.
 
Young clowns hang at the top, that's their predisposition. In the wild, there are certain combinations which are "natural". Wilkerson's book has all that info.

Dave
 
It is a specific species interaction. Maroons are naturally hosted by BTA anemones (and only BTA in the wild), so they usually take to them fairly quickly. I think this was a consideration in Art's case ;)

Clarkii-complex clowns IME are not picky at all and will even host in florida condylactus (I have a pair of barrier reef clowns that use one). They also are known to use many anemone species in the wild.

Ocellaris/percula are as a whole fairly picky, but it might just be that their natural hosts are more delicate and not kept as often in aquariums.

Wilkerson is a good book, but how are we going to get Mel to read a fish book?! There is a great book that has clown and anemone species and their natural compatibility by Fautin and Allen, and it can also be found online here (maybe she will read it if it is on the computer?!) I think it is a good resource:
http://www.nhm.ku.edu/inverts/ebooks/intro.html

Matt
 
My Ocelleris wanted nothing to do with the RBTA that was in the tank untill I added an additional pair of Black Ocellaris (juvis) One of the Blacks went straight into the RBTA, the "female" would try to attack the one black in the RBTA and it would hide in the RBTA and she would not enter its tentacles... About 2 days later they were both hosting the RBTA... I thought it was funny because she originally seemed to be pairing with the black that wanted nothing to do with the RBTA... Oh well...

On a side note, I've read that some people have had luck taping pictures of clowns hosting anemones to their tank in order to get their clowns to start hosting anemones in their tank... I don't know if this is bunk or not, but many people swear by this technique...
 
Hi so...nothing was chasing my clowns in either of the two tanks I've had them jump out of. My tank is an extremely peaceful one, seeing as how it's very friendly to smaller fish. My naso never chases other fish EVER. They jumped out due to something else.

I think part of it is that they were juveniles and hung out near the top, like Dave suggested. Matt has told me he occassionally has them jump from his tanks.

Guys...the point of this thread wasn't to teach ME...but to provide an informative discussion. I don't really want to be referred to books (you all know that!!). But what I thought was we could discuss it on here, so that more people than me could get the information.

Ok so we have Perculas hosting RBTA? Or is it Oscellaris?

Then we have Clarkii hosting mostly anything.

Any others? I always thought that the clownfish you see in the store were most in love with carpet anemones (not that I recommend anyone getting one of those).
 
Well, I figured the book reference would go over like a turd in the punch bowl :rolleyes: Not a slam at you Mel ;) I hope some here can find it helpful though, as much of what this thread is questioning can be found there...

Ocellaris/percula aren't naturally hosted by BTA anemones, but they sometimes use them in aquariums. IME bta nems don't move around so much after they find the right spot, and they are pretty tough and can be found as tank-reared clones, so they are a responsible choice too. Mel's right, occ/perc like carpets, but that's best left to a dedicated aquarium, or at least one where special considerations have been made. They like flowerpots too if you just want to give them a home. Clarkii, maroon, tomato-complex clowns, they'll all use BTA nems IME.

I think all clownfish tanks (all fish tanks really) should be covered or some consideration made for jumping fish. I've had fish jump out (fortunately happens when I'm there most of the time--when I'm gone, all lids are closed). Sometimes clowns sleep near the top (even adults), and since they can be startled at night, it isn't uncommon for them to jump out. Giving them something to call "home," even if it's just a flowerpot, seems to help settle them and keep them away from the top.

Here is a chart of the natural pairings:
http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/marinedepotlive/AnemoneSymbioticMap.htm

Of course this is only what happens in the ocean, and other pairings are possible in aquariums. Many people even use surrogate hosts, such as sarcophytons, LPS, polyps, etc etc...

As far as clown/anemone/host compatibility, I think the bottom line is that they will do what they want...they are clowns after-all :D You can find exception to almost every combination, it's just that the ones found in nature are more likely to be compatible, if that makes sense.
 
Maybe it would be helpful, or at least interesting, to share our own pairings and combinations, like Geekdafied's ocellaris/xenia combination and Randy's bta/ocellaris. I have some bicinctus in a bta and akindynos in a condy (and bta sometimes).

Old clarkii/LTA from the greenhouse before we lost the heater that winter :(
33076clarkii_lta.JPG
 
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what about skunk clowns, dont they host in pretty much anything? A friend of mine has one that has taken up in Xenia, and I believe they are a relatively docile fish right?
 
In the first link I provided there is a full list of what hosts what and it doesn't take a lot of reading. I would cut and paste it here but it's in PDF.
FWIW, Chris
 
Ok so now that you mention that Chris...and I look at the link...that is very informative. Thanks! I'm just so bad about never looking at the links someone posts if I think it means any excessive reef reading. I'm usually only reading the threads at work very quickly and not too slyly, so that's why it's got to be fast for me.

Matt...hah hah turd in a punchbowl. Yep...that's about it. Does the book have a lot of good color pictures? I can probably read a thinish book if it has a lot of good pictures in it. hah hah.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8504960#post8504960 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by EvilMel
Does the book have a lot of good color pictures? I can probably read a thinish book if it has a lot of good pictures in it. hah hah.
Click to expand...

You bet it does (the online versoin has them too); I'm not a big fan of reef-related books without pictures either :D

The Wilkerson clownfish book is full of pictures/diagrams/tables, etc, very interesting to look at/read.
 
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