Clownfish...?

[j.falk]

All my pair does is swim up and down in the back righthand corner behind the rock work. That's it. They don't swim anywhere else in the tank anymore. When they were babies they would swim everywhere but once they paired up...nothing.

Here's my question: If I got rid of one of them, would the single start swimming the entire tank again or would it be better to get rid of the pair and get a new single?

I really hate to get rid of these two but the tank looks empty with no fish swimming in it.

 

[j.falk]

Maybe I should dump a bunch of new clowns in there...that'll get the old ones moving!

 

[davocean]

Mmm, probably not moving in a positive direction...

Clownfish are "nesting" fish, they stick close to their host, it's their nature to not really roam tank, except when new to tank exploring it.

They know they want to reside in something, they just did not find it in your tank, so they have just accepted a space to claim as kind of a host area.

Give them frog or hammer or similar if you do not have or wish to have a nem.

 

[j.falk]

Give them frog or hammer or similar if you do not have or wish to have a nem.

There are 5 BTAs in the tank right now...they won't go near any of them.

 

[davocean]

BTA is not a natural match to most clowns, I know maroon, think maybe tomato off top of my head.

So since occs and percs are most popular, this is why we see so many hosting issues, takes a lot longer usually for them to recognize it.

They normally do in time, just usually takes much longer, sometimes maturity, spawning, kinda kicks them in gear.

Given a natural nem choice those same clowns will usually dive right in.

 

[j.falk]

BTA is not a natural match to most clowns, I know maroon, think maybe tomato off top of my head.

So since occs and percs are most popular, this is why we see so many hosting issues, takes a lot longer usually for them to recognize it.

They normally do in time, just usually takes much longer, sometimes maturity, spawning, kinda kicks them in gear.

Given a natural nem choice those same clowns will usually dive right in.

Would that be true even for tank raised clowns? I have one giant green bubble tip anemone and they won't go near the thing...they almost act as if they are scared of it.

 

[davocean]

Tank bred or wild caught makes no difference, the hosting instinct is still very much there, just stronger towards what they would naturally be found in.

We see all the time, clowns don't touch BTA for months, give natural choice and suddenly they dive right in

 

[Gyaradoite]

It seems that they've just established their territory, there is no need to worry!

 

[j.falk]

Who's worried...it's no fun looking at a tank with no fish swimming in it. That is the issue we are discussing.

 

[BeachVacationer]

I "taught" my clowns to make home in my BTA after they ignored it for 6 months. I used my iPad to show videos of BTA hosting clowns. I did it repeatedly for hours and they finally eventually tried it. Now thats their home. I was very skeptical at first but it does work.

 

[j.falk]

I "taught" my clowns to make home in my BTA after they ignored it for 6 months. I used my iPad to show videos of BTA hosting clowns. I did it repeatedly for hours and they finally eventually tried it. Now thats their home. I was very skeptical at first but it does work.

I've considered doing that, but I want my BTAs to have some time to grow first. I have one giant green BTA which would probably be fine, but the others are all too small for the clowns right now.

 

[j.falk]

 

[sde1500]

What's the tank size? What other fish? If you can add another fish that is known to swim around. It's well know clowns tend to find some territory and just stick to it.