Do Ocellaris host in Anemones

[Reef Happy]

I was told by a local store that most times the black and white Ocellaris pairs will not host in anemones. Do anyone know this to be true. Does it matter who they have been tank raised from whether or not they will take to a anemone?

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

All clownfish, tank raised, captive bred, or wild caught can and usually will host in anemones eventually. Especially their natural hosts. They prefer to host in anemones that are more natural to them though. Read more about it here: http://www.carlosreef.com/AnemoneFAQ.pdf

A. ocellaris's natural hosts are:
1) H. magnifica (Ritteri Anemone)
2) S. gigantea (Carpet Anemone)
3) S. mertensii (Mertens Anemone)

But even given the case, each fish has its own attitude and will host in a variety of things.

 

[Reef Happy]

Thanks Travis. This link is great. Helps alot. So much information to read and to take in, but it tells all.

 

[papagimp]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9079723#post9079723 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Travis L. Stevens


A. ocellaris's natural hosts are:
1) H. magnifica (Ritteri Anemone)
2) S. gigantea (Carpet Anemone)
3) S. mertensii (Mertens Anemone)

A. Ocellaris's un-natural hosts are:
1) Mag-Float (glass or acrylic, they dont' care)
2) Powerheads
3) HOB filter Intake tube
4) Mesh Netting that fell off of a frag
5) Misc. LPS/Leathers/Softies (mine like the hairy mushrooms)

 

[pwhitby]

you saw mine last night in my sebae didnt you?

P.

 

[herpchat]

Lets not forget flower pots.

Some will host on condys as well though I would not reccomend it.

 

[jkhudson]

Mine will hang out during the day in my xenia and spend the night in my sebae. I think the xenia caught on and I'll be seeing them on "Divorce Court" before too long.

 

[Reef Happy]

No, paul I didn't notice it in your sebae.
A person would think that our local stores would know. I thought they would host in anemones but wanted to hear from those that have them and know.

 

[pwhitby]

Mine went straight to the Sebae. The large female was in it when we were looking at the tank last night.

The main thing is this, as they are tank raised their drive to host in an anemone is not as great. I have seen them in rose bubbles as well (the pair in AC are in arose bubble). They look great in it actually.

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

FWIW, I don't have an anemone, but my pair of B&W Clowns have jumped from hosting in a variety of things from Zoas to Xenia to GSP, and even a fake koosh ball anemone.

 

[Reef Happy]

Bear with me guys. I have am in the learning mode here and have a question about the B&W Clowns.
If you have 2 of them and the smaller of the two is darker at about 1 1/2 inches but hasn't turned all the way black and the larger is almost 2 inches and isn't as dark as the smaller would it become the female? And should'nt it be already black. Will they always turn the jet black color. In other words have you ever seen a black and white not turn all the way black? I was wondering at about what size should they normally turn all the way black and white. I know they have the orange face as they are smaller.
I appreciate your help.

 

[pwhitby]

its not size, but age.

The female is always the larger, so if both are same age, the female may be 4x as big.

takes about a year and half for them to fully color up. Some may retain a little orange around the mouth.

P.

 

[GraviT]

My Ocellaris clowns have 3 BTA (2 green, 1 rose) and they host in all of them. They are tank raised and it did take months before they decided to take the plunge, but one morning I woke to find my clowns all happy and hosting.

Good luck

 

[captbunzo]

I had our false perc (ocellaris) clowns for 4 months, then added a BTA. Well, the clowns ignored it and ignored it and ignored it some more. Then after the anemone had been in the tank for 8 months and were planning on getting rid of it as it was aggressing toward our corals, THEN the clowns decided to start hosting.

Now, they do so constantly. Screwy little fish.

 

[SeanF]

If you have the tank to keep a Ritteri then you will never see clowns go to an anemone so fast. I actually used to be able to get them to host in other anemones in a tank after I had sold their ritteri.

 

[Reef Happy]

I have 2 false ocellaris's in a nano tank, they are the regular orange and white. I have had them in the tank for about a year and about 6 months ago added a green bubble tip anemone. The clowns have never hosted in the anemone. I thought it was because I added the anemone after the clowns. I suppose they will someday go in it, who knows.