clown eating rock nem...

[geckoejon]

i'm seriously bummed... my wife is even worse off... she picked out a pair of fancy clowns awhile back. they were in the nem tank. they were getting to the point were they were starting to experiment with the bta's by bumping them and starting to nuzzle. this morning i noticed one of my rock flower nems spitting out the male clown :****: he was awesome1 he had a white head pattern that made him look like he was wearing a helmet....

here is a quick crappy pic... he was swimming around perfectly fine last night...

maybe he bumped a rock nem and got taken down??? thoughts???

has anyone else had rock nems eat clowns? wondering if i should get rid of the rock nems? they are beautiful, but my bta's and clowns would take priority if i had to choose...

only plus side is that i will probably get rid of the other and get a half dozen small picassos or snowflakes and try to have a group.

anyone want a very nice fancy fairly cheap?

 

[Swirlygig]

Damn...I hear rock nems have one hell of a sting...I bet he bumped into it...You are probably better off selling those and getting mini carpets instead? Unless you don't mind occasional fatalities

 

[Lilmatty5dimes]

dang sorry to hear jon. text me a price on the fancy clown.

 

[geckoejon]

Damn...I hear rock nems have one hell of a sting...I bet he bumped into it...You are probably better off selling those and getting mini carpets instead? Unless you don't mind occasional fatalities

they are gone... the clown also got me thinking... i have had a yellow watchman goby and an anemone shrimp come up missing in the nem tank in the last couple of weeks as well. coincidence? maybe... listing them for sale...

matty, it's late, shoot me a text tomorrow and remind me about the fancy clown.

 

[FATDUBS]

That sucks, I was just looking at one of those yesterday I will cross them off the list

 

[geckoejon]

That sucks, I was just looking at one of those yesterday I will cross them off the list

are you sure?!?! i just listed 8 very beautiful ones for sale. lol

 

[Boostable]

wow, that does suck.. I almost bought a couple at the show awhile back, glad I didnt!!!

 

[Tenshoa]

Are you sure the clown wasn't already dead and the nem was just eating the carcas? To my knowledge, clowns have an outter mucus layer which makes them impervious to stings (this is how they can host nems). This I am almost certain of. And I can't imagine that a nem just swallowed a fish while it was still alive with no chance of escape, especially since they have a symbiotic relationship. Not to mention, RF are one of the least harmful/aggressive nems

 

[geckoejon]

Are you sure the clown wasn't already dead and the nem was just eating the carcas? To my knowledge, clowns have an outter mucus layer which makes them impervious to stings. This I am almost certain of. And I can't imagine that a nem just swallowed a fish while while it was still alive with no chance of escape. Not to mention, RF are one of the least harmful nems

rock flower nems do not host any clowns. not sure that clowns would have an immunity to their sting when they are not a natural host to any. i believe that ocellaris and rf's are from different oceans as well.

some anemone are known to eat clowns and other fish. most of what i have read / heard reported were carpet nems though.

am i certain? no... although... it was swimming around just fine aprox 8 hrs before and kept photo bombing when i was trying to take pics. that small male clown that was eaten had been sleeping on the end of the tank with the rf's. my theory is that he bumped it while he was sleeping and it grabbed him. can i prove it, no. am i willing to risk more fish? no... i also had a yellow goby go mia. coincidence... maybe...

if you would like them, i will cut you a deal on the group and you can let me know if any fish come up mia :spin3:

 

[Tenshoa]

rock flower nems do not host any clowns. not sure that clowns would have an immunity to their sting when they are not a natural host to any. i believe that ocellaris and rf's are from different oceans as well.

some anemone are known to eat clowns and other fish. most of what i have read / heard reported were carpet nems though.

am i certain? no... although... it was swimming around just fine aprox 8 hrs before and kept photo bombing when i was trying to take pics. that small male clown that was eaten had been sleeping on the end of the tank with the rf's. my theory is that he bumped it while he was sleeping and it grabbed him. can i prove it, no. am i willing to risk more fish? no... i also had a yellow goby go mia. coincidence... maybe...

if you would like them, i will cut you a deal on the group and you can let me know if any fish come up mia :spin3:

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that you are incorrect. It just seems that it would be a rare situation. I know they don't host clowns, but are still from the same family. The clown's mucus isn't resilient to only nem stings, but to all stings (even if sleeping). Which is why you'll often see them hosting frogspawns and torches as well. I have rock nems already in my 34g LPS tank, which houses 2 clowns and have never had a problem. I've even seen them brush up against mine.

On the other hand, nothing in this hobby seems to be a constant rule, so it's not impossible.

I have been thinking on if I want to convert my lps tank to a nem tank (since I don't have many corals in it). I may consider buying some.

 

[geckoejon]

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that you are incorrect. It just seems that it would be a rare situation. I know they don't host clowns, but are still from the same family. The clown's mucus isn't resilient to only nem stings, but to all stings (even if sleeping). Which is why you'll often see them hosting frogspawns and torches as well. I have rock nems already in my 34g LPS tank, which houses 2 clowns and have never had a problem. I've even seen them brush up against mine.

On the other hand, nothing in this hobby seems to be a constant rule, so it's not impossible.

I have been thinking on if I want to convert my lps tank to a nem tank (since I don't have many corals in it). I may consider buying some.

Agreed... I haven't heard of this before. I'm not taking any chances after seeing a fancy clown getting spit out. Lol I'm sticking to all bubble tips :0) they really are beautiful.

 

[Tenshoa]

Agreed... I haven't heard of this before. I'm not taking any chances after seeing a fancy clown getting spit out. Lol I'm sticking to all bubble tips :0) they really are beautiful.

lol. I can't say I blame you. Is there another tank you can put them in temporarily just to isolate and see? I'd hate to see you dump all your RF only to find out that there was a different culprit.

I love the look of RF. I wish they didn't sting my sps or I'd have a bunch of them in my DT.