Clownfish Killing Duncan!?!

[mickeyfish]

So I have had my tank for about a year and a half now and always wished that my clowns would host in one of my soft corals... it finally happened and I am not happy about it.

I have/had a beautiful Duncan that was growing great and would consume entire cubes of (defrosted and distributed) of PE Mysis. Fast forward until about 2 weeks ago when the clowns started hosting in it and the coral is no longer opening very large during the day, does not close at all when I spot feed it, and I have even found a few detached heads on the sand bed.

Any advice?

Here is a shot from about a week ago. The coral now opened to about half that size.. if that during the day.

 

[mickeyfish]

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[Oldreeferman]

Yep, that is not a natural thing for a coral to have to deal with, the fish will irritate it to death eventually. Need to separate them. I tried an artificial anemone once on my OC clowns but they just flipped me the fin & rolled their eyes. I didn't want any real anemones in my tank period for too many reasons that most of us already know in a mixed reef tank, so they can do fine without one.. just need to make them leave your Duncan alone. How is the question, im sure someone will chime in but don't expect any corals other then mushrooms to not mind, my OC clowns regularly flip and flutter in my Ricordea & it does not mind............. they even sleep on it at night.

 

[mickeyfish]

Thoughts on likelyhood of them leaving it alone if I introduced a RBTA?


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[j.falk]

Slim to none...RBTA is not a natural host for them and no guarantee that they will go to it. Plus the anemone will move around and sting your corals until it finds a spot it wants to stay in.

 

[mickeyfish]

Hmm so .. considering I don't have another tank to put either in, I guess re-arranging may be my only option.


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[Oldreeferman]

I feel your pain, fish can be like bad dogs....................Once a bad habit is learned its hard to break it. They truly are worse then even naughty kids, ever try to catch one in a tank full of LR? Can't yell at them, can't spank them, can't take away the gamepad, could skip a meal i guess.......fish do always look hungry!

 

[Uncle99]

If it’s “easy” to move the Duncan, temporarily move the Duncan and see if they follow?

 

[mickeyfish]

Planning to move this weekend. Duncan does not close at all anymore when offering food.

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[Uncle99]

Let us know, what results from the move.

 

[mickeyfish]

Day 1 of the rearrangement and the clownfish have not gone near either.

More to come...


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[Uncle99]

That's a good start

 

[mickeyfish]

On a different note, anything I can do to assist the Duncan in recovery? Would love if it would eat again but it's non responsive to all food now.


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[Uncle99]

On a different note, anything I can do to assist the Duncan in recovery? Would love if it would eat again but it's non responsive to all food now.


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Nope, leave him alone for a while, he's photosynethic so he has food.
Test weekly his feeding response.

 

[mickeyfish]

The good news, several days in now and the clownfish has not gone near any corals. Also, the frogspawn I relocated is doing fantastic.

The bad news, Duncan continues to deteriorate. 2-3 heads have fallen off and others seem to be disconnecting from the skeleton.


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[mickeyfish]

1 week later.. the Clownfish have rediscovered their home in the Duncan.

Not looking good for the coral.


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