Captive bred vs. ocean clownfish

[brett559]

Some stores sell captive-bred clownfish. I really want to get some clownfish to set up in an anemone. Is there a difference between the type of clownfish (captive-bred vs. not) and the likelihood of it hosting an anemone. Is a captive-bred clownfish less likely to seek out an anemone?

 

[sc50964]

It's less likely at the beginning, but will eventually host an anemone.

 

[lhm nole]

Some stores sell captive-bred clownfish. I really want to get some clownfish to set up in an anemone. Is there a difference between the type of clownfish (captive-bred vs. not) and the likelihood of it hosting an anemone. Is a captive-bred clownfish less likely to seek out an anemone?

Most store sell captive breed very few sell wild caught clowns anymore and captive breed will host anemones might just take a little more time... Wilds are going to be more colorful and less deformities but you can get some really nice tank raised ones..Tank raised way to go imo

 

[Stevenliu9]

In my experience, captive ocellaris have never hosted any of my anemones. But captive bred percula, Tomato, and clarkii have all happily hosted

 

[sc50964]

I had a pair of black and white clowns and they initially didn't know what to do with a RBA, but eventually hosted it after a couple of months.

 

[SDguy]

IME it makes no difference.

 

[HumbleFish]

IME; captive bred clowns are less likely to seek out a nem or any host at all, and they are usually not as deeply colored as their wild caught counterparts.

 

[SDguy]

and they are usually not as deeply colored as their wild caught counterparts.

The OP didn't ask this

IME/O colors of larger species like clarki and tomato complex clowns don't look so great in TB specimens. Maybe it's just because there is less focus on them.

 

[sc50964]

Captive bred vs. ocean clownfish

They are a little weird at first coz they like to stay around the water surface, but i haven't experienced the color problem.

 

[HumbleFish]

They are a little weird at first coz they like to stay around the water surface, but i haven't experienced the color problem.

I've noticed it mostly in Ocellaris and Clarkii. A LFS in Houston had a tank full of captive bred Ocellaris right next to wild caught ones. I was stunned at how much "paler looking" the captive bred looked. I asked the owner if this was the norm, and he said it was.

 

[sc50964]

I've noticed it mostly in Ocellaris and Clarkii. A LFS in Houston had a tank full of captive bred Ocellaris right next to wild caught ones. I was stunned at how much "paler looking" the captive bred looked. I asked the owner if this was the norm, and he said it was.

I see. It's true that they used to be less colorful.

 

[CoralsAddiction]

Captive bred vs. ocean clownfish

Is a captive-bred clownfish less likely to seek out an anemone?

I think so. I had a wild caught Ocellaris a while ago and a rainbow BTA. While BTA is not a natural host for Ocellaris clownfish, my clown moved into it after 4 days of being in the tank. So the natural instinct dictated the clown to be hosted by an anemone.

 

[kw22]

I would always recommend captive bred,over wild caught.

Percula clownfish are more likely to host then the ocellaris.

 

[Stevenliu9]

I've noticed it mostly in Ocellaris and Clarkii. A LFS in Houston had a tank full of captive bred Ocellaris right next to wild caught ones. I was stunned at how much "paler looking" the captive bred looked. I asked the owner if this was the norm, and he said it was.

It might be diet related. Not accusing the breeders/farms of anything but one of my captive bred ocellaris has gotten significantly "darker" in orange since i brought them home.

 

[mcfa2403]

As for anemone hosting remember that the natural host anemone is required to have a higher success rate of symbiosis. The reason most people have poor luck with getting ocellaris and perculas to host is due to the fact that the natural host for these clowns are S. Gigantea and H. Magnifica (formerly known as ritteri) which are not only two of the hardest to keep but also are the two hardest to find. As percula and ocellaris are the two most common captivity bred (these give you platinums, picassos, snowflakes, etc.) it seems as though the success rate is incredibly low but it has to do more with lack of the proper host.

Many of your gold stripe maroon clowns are also captive bred and tend to have a ridiculously high rate of being hosted. This is because bubble tip anemones are there natural host.

Personally, I have a C-quest bred onyx (percula) paired with an ORA snowflake (ocellaris) and despite having several bubble tip anemones in the tank mine have taken up residence in my gold torch coral. I have been trying for months to get a good heteractis magnifica but good specimens are difficult to come by. If you do some digging on people with these anemones on the clownfish and anemone forum on this site you will find several stories of captive bred clowns hosting these nems in under 24 hours of their addition to the tank.

Long story short, the instinct to go to the host anemone is innate but is dependent on having the proper host rather than coming from the wild.

 

[jmareef1022]

I thought all fish get their bright colors once fully established in a tank:crazy1:

 

[Moort82]

Captive will colour up with good nutrition and they are much hardier and less likely to suffer in the chain of wholesaler to tank.

 

[Azedenkae]

http://www.masa.asn.au/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=259460

1.) Clowns are less likely to go towards a host if they have not seen one. So wild clowns tend to go towards hosts earlier. Of course, it's all a probability game.
2.) Clowns gravitate towards their natural host more so than other hosts. Note that this means that given two non-natural hosts, say a Gig and a Hammer, there's really no saying which one it'd prefer if it's naturally hosted by BTAs.

Or so the paper indicates anyways.

 

[ivan osornio]

My clown host anemones

My clown host anemones

I been breeding some clowns and all my clown host a BTA's

 

[b_evans06]

my pair of tank raised occelaris clowns were hosted by my bta within 24 hours of putting the anemone in the tank. The fish had already been in there a couple months.