Forcing a clown to choose a particular 'nem

[azcummins]

I've got a medium sized (4") maroon clown that LOVES 'nems. I mean, she'll hang out in them all day long loving on them.

Currently in my tank I have 4 GBTAs, 2 are clones that just split, all 4 are about 2.5" across. I also have a small 1" LTA and a large 8" LTA.

I'd like to have the clown "choose" to host the big LTA as it is most suited for her size, but I'm worried she'll chose the smaller GBTAs and love them to death.

Is there any way to force the clown to choose the large LTA?

 

[traveller7]

Re: Forcing a clown to choose a particular 'nem

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14616187#post14616187 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by azcummins
Is there any way to force the clown to choose the large LTA?

No, but they are more likely to choose the one you want if it happens to be the only one available.

fwiw: My maroons have always preferred BTAs over any and all alternatives offered, it would seem that experience and published works detail the natural preference conclusively.

In the situation you describe, I would attempt to keep the BTAs in a cluster so that the attention is spread among the specimens. In such an environment, my BTAs have grown out quite large, even while hosting aggressive breeding pairs.

Best of luck.

 

[azcummins]

Re: Re: Forcing a clown to choose a particular 'nem

Re: Re: Forcing a clown to choose a particular 'nem

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14616672#post14616672 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by traveller7
No, but they are more likely to choose the one you want if it happens to be the only one available.

fwiw: My maroons have always preferred BTAs over any and all alternatives offered, it would seem that experience and published works detail the natural preference conclusively.

In the situation you describe, I would attempt to keep the BTAs in a cluster so that the attention is spread among the specimens. In such an environment, my BTAs have grown out quite large, even while hosting aggressive breeding pairs.

Best of luck.

Hmm...all my BTAs are on one medium rock so I could move that to my sump for a couple of days to get the attention on the LTA.

All of my BTA's get to be about 5" across, then they split. It happens about every 1.5 months which helps pay my power bills when I sell the clones!

 

[traveller7]

Re: Re: Re: Forcing a clown to choose a particular 'nem

Re: Re: Re: Forcing a clown to choose a particular 'nem

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14616867#post14616867 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by azcummins
Hmm...all my BTAs are on one medium rock so I could move that to my sump for a couple of days to get the attention on the LTA.

In my experience, that works until the BTAs are returned to the tank and nature takes over