Clownfish question

[Lizzy_lray]

When I'm ready for my first fish which will be pretty soon I'm thinking about adding a clown first after CUC of course. I heard they are hearty enough as a first fish and I don't want to add a damsel and be stuck with a fish I do not want. My question is do I need to buy a host right away? I've had clowns with hosts in the past but I've always had them before the clownfish purchase.

 

[gone fishin]

A clown will be fine by itself. They do not require an anemone. Good luck

 

[Lizzy_lray]

Yes I'm def not interested in an anemone. I've had one host to a bubble coral and a Xenia. What other coral would they host to? I've heard torch or frogspawn has worked for others

 

[Lizzy_lray]

I just want the clown to be happy and have a home.

 

[gone fishin]

Mine hang out in a corner where some of the rock is in a horseshoe shape. a no trespassing sign is not needed LOL. I suspect just about anything that is wavy, the clowns may take up a residence in.

 

[Lizzy_lray]

Lol I heard they will host to your powerhead!

 

[gone fishin]

yeah, they pretty much set up house wherever they feel like it.

 

[Emma1234]

I had bought two clowns at the same time. They hung out together in the tank. One of them ended up missing about a month or two ago and I never found it. The one that was left hung out in the top back corner of the tank. It was sad. After asking for advice I was told to get another one. That worked. The two hang out together now.

None of the clowns seemed to go hang out in any of my coral. At night they tend to hang out in the corner of the tank. I'm not sure what "host" means. But mine don't seem to mind not having a coral to bunk in. However, I did notice that the one clown got spots on it. Someone mentioned that could be from rubbing up against the side of the tank. Maybe if there was a coral for them to bunk down in they wouldn't get the spots.

I'm a newbie with just a few corals in a 55 gallon tank. Its been set up since July. All parameters are good and the tank is doing fine (knock on wood).

 

[NJAB]

I have 2 clowns mine are fighting for dominance though, I even bought one larger then the other at the same time, but nothing ever serious (no marks) and its usually during feeding time only however when they fight the smaller of the two will run into my frogspawn and momentarily host it. The frogspawn doesn't care much unless the clown is moving erratic, then it closes down for a minute or two. Every once in a while the smaller one will hang out with the frogspawn. At night though both of them sleep horizontally together by HOB protein skimmer output. So as you can see i think every clownish is unique and will host anything if it wants or like my larger clown not host anything all together.

 

[igot2gats]

No, they don't need anything to host.

However, it just really depends when it comes to a clown hosting something. If they're comfortable enough, and happy, they'll host whatever coral they feel like it.

 

[Mrramsey]

I am still waiting for my clowns to host to one of my anemones.

 

[SGT_York]

Mine hosted my overflow for a year (just rubbing on the black wall). I had lots of LPS and a few anems. I had to buy a third clown that was hosting when I bought it before the other two caught on.

 

[jrkonzelman]

Currently have a clown hosting in the middle of about 12 hairy mushrooms, he literally lays in them all day, pretty cool to watch

 

[jachrist]

Mine are currently hosting a pot that I planted with anthelia. Should work out perfect for when they start breeding (hopefully).

 

[droog]

Clowns are a kind of damsel, so you might want to add them last in a small tank.

My clown husband and wife live in an elegance coral that sits on the sand bed. I swear I saw one of them fall off the bed at night one time!

-droog

 

[Lizzy_lray]

Clowns are a kind of damsel, so you might want to add them last in a small tank.

My clown husband and wife live in an elegance coral that sits on the sand bed. I swear I saw one of them fall off the bed at night one time!

-droog

I understand the aggressive nature maybe add royal gramma first? I only have 20 gallons so I'm not sure who the other tank Mates will be I know my max is 3 fish

 

[droog]

If you would like a royal gramma then yes, I would add him first in a tank that size. They are a cool fish but very timid.

A cardinalfish would be a nice dolice tankmake also, and there are some cool blennies that would work also. Check the stickies here, will be lots of ideas

-droog

 

[Lizzy_lray]

I really want a wrasse more then anything but most of them require a lot more tank space it sucks

 

[Ajohnson]

My clowns are beginning to host in my frogspawn ever since my anemone decided to nose dive. It's kind of cool, but once they start hosting a euphyllia they irritate the heck out of it and can even kill it if they rub too hard on it and puncture the membrane on the skeleton.