soldier.1102
New member
I am curious as to why my clowns will not host in my anemone....Two true oscilares clowns (spelling?) and a huge seabee anemone more or less curious as to why they will not host in it
Clown fish not enjoying the anemone
- Thread starter soldier.1102
- Start date
kduen
Member
This is just myth. ALL clownfish have the natural instinct to sek out a host. The question then becomes, do I have a natural host for the species of clownfish that I have.
Since the percula? (or false percula)clownfish doesnt use sebae anemones in nature, it is less likely to happen in the tank. However, just give it 2 months, my bet is that it will start hosting it. I had a sebae that my clownfish had just started to almost host, but i traded for a bta, and now my clown is loving it
CoralReeferGal
New member
Not true. If they were wild caught and hosted in the wild, it is more likely they will be hosted quicker in captivity. A tank raised clown is less likely (or will often take longer) if they have never been hosted before.
phender
Active member
This is not my experience. Can you site any studies?
I have had TR orange skunks that accepted a H. crispa immediately, while I had WC ocellaris in a tank with a BTA and a haddoni carpet and it took them 3 years before they decided to accept the BTA.
Those are just the extremes of my many pairs of clowns over the years.
Ocellaris and perculas seem to be the most picky as to their host. They are also the most popular, hence the endless stream of "My clown won't go into my anemone" threads. If clarkis or tomatoes were the most popular, we wouldn't have nearly as many of these kinds of discussions.
CoralReeferGal
New member
Most of my backing to that statement has been experience, both on here as well as in person (our tank as well as local reefers we know). I also read it on WWM: "On the contrary, wild caught Ocellaris Clownfish much prefer living in an anemone. Your clownfish may have been tank bred and these fish will unlikely habituate an anemone." (http://65.36.157.188/btacompfaqs.htm) I've also read several place (which I'm sure is true) it's really luck of the draw. Some WC never host, and some tank raised will host quickly, and vice versa. Our WC GSM was in our carpet nem in just over a week. When we traded the carpet when it got too big, she was in the BTA in a few days, and the most recent BTA she was in it before we even had our hand out of the tank. But also in my experience, our tank raised clowns never hosted in any of our nems for the entire time they were in the tank. I can keep looking for more documented sources if you'd like, but it seems to me to be overwhelming opinion of fellow reefers, that from experience WC will more readily be hosted.
CoralReeferGal
New member
Also from WWM: "And is there one of these clown fish that is more likely to host the BTA than the other? and also which one has more chance to host the BTA Tank Raised or Wild? Generally either the percula or the ocellaris both will host to a Bubble tip anemone, though a wild caught one is much more likely to host than a tank raised which may have never seen an anemone. Your local fish store may have clownfish in with anemones already so you might be able to get some that have already hosted and or paired. Hope this helped" and "Even if you have the clowns natural host, tank raised specimens of this species often do not take an anemone as a host." (all from the same site from my previous post.)
CoralReeferGal
New member
and I respect that opinion... but #1, does that mean MY experience holds no value? #2, I was asked for sources siting it, which is what I gave. Also stated that it seems to overall be luck of the draw with each individual clown fish. It's experience vs experience, neither one of us wrong here, just offering what we have seen.
SNAKEMANVET
PREMIUM MEMBER
My captive raised occs were trying to get in my bta during the acclimation,they tried their best to get through the plastic bag.All fish are differant and time will vary from each one.Some will never go to anemone if there is something else they prefer.
soldier.1102
New member
Wow thanks for all the advice...whats odd is the clowns will not go near the anemone at all...its kind of odd I feel
phender
Active member
Well I'll put my money on Phender over WWM any day.
Thanks, but I don't have any studies supporting my experiences either.
CoralReefGal,
My question was if you could site any studies, meaning scientific studies.
One of the big problems with forums where there are "experts" answering all the questions (like WWM) is that they often have no real experience with what they are talking about and are just winging it or going from what they have heard. Once they make a statement, it gets perpetuated on forums like this one. So, yes you can find lots of quotes on sites from people who are simply restating what they read, but have no real experience either.
I value the experienced opinions of other very much, especially if it doesn't match mine. It leads to great discussions.
I wasn't trying to say you were wrong. If it sounded that way I am sorry. I read your statement like you were stating a fact. I thought maybe there was a scientific study that you had seen/done that showed that WC clowns accepted anemones faster than TR clowns. I was hoping you could share it, because it didn't seem to match my experiences.
CoralReeferGal
New member
Thank you for respectful answer, Phender... I know I have read it several places, but can't find anything now that I'm looking for it, of course. I can't say it's backed scientifically, but I do personally know of at least 8 people (including me) who have had overwhelming experience of WC being hosted and TR not. It just seemed to me that that was just how it was lol, sorry. I didn't mean to necessarily state it fact, because really, not much of anything in this hobby is 100%! (especially when it comes to what fish do!) I honestly feel like its the same as with angels. Some will pick at corals, some will not. Some WC clowns will host, some will not, and some TR clowns will host, some will not. It just seemed to be that it's more likely for a WC to host quicker, just like its more likely that an angel will pick than not.
CoralReeferGal
New member
It also just sort of seemed logical to me that if a fish was hosted before, (TR or WC) they will be more likely to host again. They will seek out where they feel safe, and if prior it was an anemone, they will look for the same thing. If a fish is TR and never had an anemone, how would they know what to do with it, or that that's where it's supposed to live? WC tend to have more experience with nems, as well as regularly see other clowns in nems... at least thats how it worked out in my head anyway lol...
Whenever I asked this question around the forums, most people said that tank raised clowns still have the instinct to host an anemone, but Im guessing (just a guess!) that it will take longer for a tank raised clown to use an unnatural host (non occuring in nature) than a WC clown. As for a specific timeline I don't think anyone can answer that question with any real accuracy 
O btw, the pic I posted above is of a tank raised clown, not a WC
O btw, the pic I posted above is of a tank raised clown, not a WC
ssgtgonzo
Entacmaea Enthusiast
THIS is the only constant...that every fish is an individual, and must be examined as such. My occys took to their BTA within hours, but my maroons associated with their BTA in no less than 6 months. Maroons are only found in BTAs in the wild, while occys are rarely found in BTAs.
Just like the occasional clown trigger that is well behaved or lemon peel that doesn't nip, there will always be exceptions to any hard and fast rule.
