HELP!!! Do carpets eat clowns?

[ghostman]

I have a blue haddoni and 2 percula clowns. The larger clown is accepting the smaller clown, and the smaller clown is displaying submissive behavior by "shuddering" below the larger clown. Neither clown has hosted in the nem. Today, I can't find the smaller "male" clown. Nowhere. Is there a chance the Haddoni ate him as he tried to host? I am at a total loss. Here Are tank parameters, sps, lps, and all other fish are doing great.
Thanks,

SG 1.026
Ph 8.1
Alk 8.0
Ca 430
Temp 79
Flow 2x MP40w
NO3 undetectable
All tests with Salifert, sg with refractometer

 

[jt_milstead]

Yes its possible.Carpets are known to eat fish.

 

[parrthed]

Yep, They can. Carpets are notorious fish eaters. Clowns usually avoid the trap but I have seen it happen before. Usually fish like gobies, cardinals, wrasses are the first to fall victim. Hope he is just hiding somewhere, have you checked the sump or overflow?

 

[April_Sherwood]

House carpets are known to take a few as well...hope he didn't jump out onto your floor.

Did you have any luck finding him?

 

[iamwrasseman]

they can if they want and sometimes do .

 

[ghostman]

Thanks for the responses. I am aware that carpets are fish eaters, I guess that I assumed clowns would be immune to stings of the nem. I have checked the overflow, filter sock, and sump many times with no luck:-( I also got a good look at the nems body since the lights are off. He is semi transparent, and there is no evidence of a clownfish body in there. Hopefully tomorrow will yield a surprise. I would like to hear more stories of a nem eating a clown. After 10+years in the hobby I'm still learning every day.

 

[somdinwong]

i had a bubble tip eat 2 grade a picassos and a snocasso before i caught it in action

 

[TCT]

Look on your carpet and behind your tank on the floor...any household cats?

 

[ghostman]

No cats. Tank in on a tile floor making it easy to inspect. No sign of him anywhere. I actually would prefer to find a "jumper" rather than knowing my carpet is a menace. I'm starting to wonder about pulling him out if this is going to be the pattern.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Thanks for the responses. I am aware that carpets are fish eaters, I guess that I assumed clowns would be immune to stings of the nem. I would like to hear more stories of a nem eating a clown. After 10+years in the hobby I'm still learning every day.

*not all carpet anemones are fish eaters
*clownfish aren't immune to the stings of anemones
*Haddon's is a fish eater and Clownfish that aren't properly acclimated to it make a healthy snack

instead of percula you might want to try polymnus

 

[iamwrasseman]

i would tend to think that he was dinner .

 

[bues0022]

the haddoni that I have right now in my tank is a proven eater of at least 3 b/w ocellaris males. It's housed only with clowns now that would otherwise be culled from deformities - if they are food at least it didn't cost me hardly anything.

 

[elegance coral]

Thanks for the responses. I am aware that carpets are fish eaters, I guess that I assumed clowns would be immune to stings of the nem. I have checked the overflow, filter sock, and sump many times with no luck:-( I also got a good look at the nems body since the lights are off. He is semi transparent, and there is no evidence of a clownfish body in there. Hopefully tomorrow will yield a surprise. I would like to hear more stories of a nem eating a clown. After 10+years in the hobby I'm still learning every day.

I do not believe anemones eat healthy clowns that have acclimated to them. If there's something wrong with the fish that causes the anemones nematocysts to fire, it can become food. Newly introduced clowns and those that have problems with their slime coat are at risk.

This is my little male ocellaris after bumping into my haddoni before having time to acclimate to it. He had stings over 80 to 90% of his body. He would have surely been eaten if I wasn't there to pull him out. He was having trouble breathing, swimming, and wouldn't come out to eat until the next day.

Here he is the day after. Once all this slime fell off, he made a full recovery.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

nice pix.

I had a big female ocellaris bump into a blue haddoni and it was similarly covered with stinging tentacles.

 

[elegance coral]

nice pix.

I had a big female ocellaris bump into a blue haddoni and it was similarly covered with stinging tentacles.

Thanks.
Just for the record, I've also had percula and ocellaris live happily in my haddoni once they've had time to properly acclimate. Even now, I have a pair of perculas that spend 99% of their time in a gigantea and lay their eggs next to it, but occasionally the female strolls over to visit the haddoni.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

interesting.

I've seen many ocellaris/percula/haddoni combos. I've also heard of many ocellaris/percula becoming haddoni sushi.
Acclimation is key.

 

[ghostman]

Thanks again for all the input. I check again this morning and no male percula, so I'm guessing that the haddon had an expensive dinner last night. I tested all tank parameters this morning, and all is good...no changes. My next question is: what to do next? Should I get another male perc? Should I try a more Haddon "friendly" species such as akindyos? Should I wait for my female to host in the nem before getting a male? I'm not in a hurry, but want to do what's right for the clown, nem, the tank, and me. Thanks again form the great input.

 

[ghostman]

I just wanted to add, I did make a change. I repositioned my Vortechs and cut the flow a bit. I don't want any small fish getting blown into the anemone. The smaller clown always seemed to be fighting against a current in the tank.

 

[elegance coral]

What you do next is up to you, but I agree with Gary. A. polymnus is a great choice for haddoni. Especially if you start with young captive bred polymnus. The larger, older, wild caught polymnus tend to be a little more skittish. At least when first introduced to captivity. They have a nasty habit of hiding inside the mouth of haddonis and the anemone doesn't seem to appreciate it. In time these clowns do get over their shyness and become very tame pets though.

 

[fraggleRocks]

I had a pair of tank bred false percs and introduced a very small green carpet nem. The female decided on the second day she wanted to check things out up close and personal.

She ended up getting stung very badly on her side, and had "burn" marks all down her side. She diddnt survive the second day after the incident. I cried when I lost her, and I traded the nem for about 30-40 purple/green mushrooms.