Does height of coral matter regarding choice of host for Clowns?

[pammy]

Probably a silly question, but I'll ask anyway. I bought a pair of Percula's 3 weeks ago (smaller one just eaten by my Duncan Coral so I just have the one clown right now) I just added a Frogspawn coral. It has two branches and about 8 heads, and looks like a tree right now. It's about 4" high. Do clowns care about the height of a coral when choosing a host? I have a small hammer that my clown is trying to host in. It has two heads and it's low to the ground. I added a frogspawn, and he's still interested in the very small hammer. Just curious if they prefer corals close to the sand, rather than tall corals. Would I be better off cutting off a bit of the trunk on the Frogspawn or do clowns not care about the height of the coral? I took a video with the clown carressing the hammer lovingly. The Frogspawn is in the video to the left. Hammer is not open all the way in the video because the MH lights had gone off for the night. Click on the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2oGYGNTi60

Thanks!
Pam

 

[wicked_NaCl_h2o]

Maybe it does, their anemone they host in the wild is in the sand. Nice frogspawn and hammer corals btw. I just bought a branching hammer coral..what color is yours? I can see why you want the clown to host the frogspawn the hammer is too small for it. Do you have another tank? I would put the hammer in a different tank. Maybe that would make your clown more interested in the frogspawn. Don't cut your frogspawn..what if the clown still shows no interest in it. Then you made your big frogspawn smaller for nothing.

 

[pammy]

Thanks Wicked_NaCL_h2o
Hard to describe the color of my hammer. The video doesn't show the colors at all. It's kind of a rust-ish / purplish color. You're right, I LOVE the size of the Frogspawn right now, and how it looks like a little tree, and that would stink if the clown still chose the hammer. If clowns will host a powerhead, why not a taller frogspawn right? I only have the one tank, so can't move the hammer. I thought the clown wasn't going to try to host it again, since I had moved it out of the corner to make room for the Frogspawn, but he went back to the hammer the next day.
The hammer is about double the size when fully open....but still too small for the clown to fit inside of it. I'd love to get an anenome, but I've read horror storries about tanks overflowing if they block the overflow etc. Thanks, Pam

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10659157#post10659157 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by wicked_NaCl_h2o
Maybe it does, their anemone they host in the wild is in the sand. Nice frogspawn and hammer corals btw. I just bought a branching hammer coral..what color is yours? I can see why you want the clown to host the frogspawn the hammer is too small for it. Do you have another tank? I would put the hammer in a different tank. Maybe that would make your clown more interested in the frogspawn. Don't cut your frogspawn..what if the clown still shows no interest in it. Then you made your big frogspawn smaller for nothing.

 

[basser1]

I don't think coral height matters. My picasso clowns started to host my brain coral immediately after they were placed in the tank and they have been in it ever since!

 

[pammy]

Oh...what a cute picture Basser1 !!! That belongs in a Reefing magazine!!
Pam

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10662062#post10662062 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by basser1
I don't think coral height matters. My picasso clowns started to host my brain coral immediately after they were placed in the tank and they have been in it ever since!

 

[pammy]

YAY!! My clown decided tonight to try to host the much larger Frogspawn that I bought yesterday!! He's behaving exactly the same with it as he was in the video I took of him with the small hammer. Looks like he's testing it out right now.
Pam

 

[basser1]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10662860#post10662860 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pammy
YAY!! My clown decided tonight to try to host the much larger Frogspawn that I bought yesterday!! He's behaving exactly the same with it as he was in the video I took of him with the small hammer. Looks like he's testing it out right now.
Pam

That's great pammy! My previous clowns were a pair of black & white percs. The only thing they would host was the powerhead in the back of my tank!

 

[pammy]

My clown is officially hosting!! All of a sudden last night, I couldn't find her, and knew she must be inside the frogspawn. (She's always in site). A second later, she came out of the frogspawn. She was completely inside, and kept going in and out all night.
Woke up for work at 4am, and she was all nestled inside the frogspawn sleeping. First time I've seen her actually resting at night since I got her about 3 weeks ago. She was always swimming in the corner at the top of the tank all night long.
One of the reasons I wanted a clown so much, was the hope to have them host which is so cool to watch. I know it's completely hit or miss if clowns will host, so I'm so excited!! She's a True Percula (Wild Caught). Now....to try a 3rd time to get her a buddy or leave her as a single clown?

Pam

 

[wicked_NaCl_h2o]

Oh cool pam, I am glad things worked out. You have tried to find her a mate? What happened the first few times? Don't give up, my girl was a little hell raiser. I thought we would never find a mate for her because she was such a meany. First time we failed I guess he wasn't healthy enough for her, in two weeks he died. Then a couple months later we were at the lfs and saw a clown that looked healthy. We asked the guy at the store to feed the little clown. He gobbled up the food like there was no tomorrow. I was like " dang! don't you feed your fish often enough? " They do..I just bought a little piggy he is a great eater. He takes flakes bigger than the size of his head and sucks them up like noodles. My female ocellaris didn't even eat that well when we first got her. Yeah she wasn't a male or female when we first got her but she turned into a female durring that two weeks we had the first male. After that is when she started biting us every time we put our hand in the tank. Even when we tried to feed her she would bite us or splash water at us with her tail. Once the new healthy male was added to the tank the biting stopped. I guess all she wanted was a mate..shrugs..lol..Maybe in your case ..the third time might be the charm..Just make sure her mate is smaller and is a good eater and they'll get along fine...I wish you the best of luck.

 

[pammy]

Here's a video of my clown hosting in the much larger Frogspawn I added to my tank. Only took 24 hours.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_i6Sc_doo8