Clown / Brain Coral Dillema

[gvidon]

Hi All,

So, we've had a pair of percs for about 1.5 years now raised from little guys to their length of about 2.25 inches. Following a little sparring towards the beginning of their time, they became best buds and go everywhere in the tank together.

The larger of the two, that I presume to be the female, has really taken a liking to our open brain coral. She rubs against it, occasionally nips at it, and rests on it. We just recently upgraded to a 30g with a sand bottom and after returning from a four day trip I've found the brain at the bottom of a two inch depression in a wide, aprox. six inch bowl shape. There is sand on the surrounding rocks and corals and just since being home we have seen the large clown widening the bowl with swiping motion of her body and rear fin. The brain looks terribly agitated and I am worried that the stress on the coral. It has never seemed to take well to the hosting behavior and I am worried by the fact that it only seems to be getting worse.

So, onto my questions:

1) Is this digging a nesting behavior, and does it mean our clowns have paired and are ready to mate?

2) What's going to happen if I remove the coral to a different part of the tank and cage it in egg crate? Will this stress our percs? Will it interrupt a mating cycle? I've tried moving it in our last tank, but neither that nor the upgrade to a new tank has caused her to find a new host.

Thanks all for your help!

 

[mobert]

Re: Clown / Brain Coral Dillema

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13157428#post13157428 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by gvidon


So, onto my questions:

1) Is this digging a nesting behavior, and does it mean our clowns have paired and are ready to mate?

2) What's going to happen if I remove the coral to a different part of the tank and cage it in egg crate? Will this stress our percs? Will it interrupt a mating cycle? I've tried moving it in our last tank, but neither that nor the upgrade to a new tank has caused her to find a new host.

1) yes and probably.

2) I think if you switch the brain to a different part of the tank or temporarily move it to the sump and replace it with something else, there is a chance they will switch. I wouldn't worry too much about disrupting their mating behavior as I've seen percs clean rocks for years and never lay eggs.

Best of luck.

 

[Smo]

Kiss your brain goodbye if they keep at it!

Lost my very large open brain coral to a pair of occelaris last year. They did the same thing to it as yours do now. Eventually the flesh wore off and exposed most of its skeleton. Then it wouldn't eat any more and never extended its feeders again.
Soon the whole outside skeleton was showing and the only flesh left was where his mouth was.
I couldn't take the pain anymore, even after placing him in his own container inside the tank away from the clowns. He never grew back and deteriorated even further.

I sure miss him.

 

[basser1]

Here's a pic of my clowns in an open brain. I got my clowns a year ago, and they took to the brain immediately after they were in the tank.

As they grew, they continued to use the brain coral. I was worried they would aggravate it to death, and the brain coral didn't seem to inflate like it used to. So I decided to move it to another location in the tank. The clowns have left it alone and the brain is now open and plump! Now the clowns are using a large colony of yellow polyps, a large toadstool, and a large duncan. The clowns seem to alternate and will be in all 3 sometime during the day.

 

[robojet]

I have 2 b&w ocellaris... the female has made my brain here bed. She has also created a 'bowl' and maintains the sand the way she likes it. So if I move the sand back, she gets to work quickly, redecorating the place. This is not 'mating' behavior, but it's definitely a 'nesting' behavior. That's there home and they will decorate it as they wish. Although the brain seems to be tolerating it... I am concerned, but I've decided to let the clowns do what they want. I don't want to put any undue stress on them by changing things around.

 

[nrannalli]

My perculas did the same thing to my maze brain coral and it stop inflating. But it seems to be fine now they have left him alone