is this true or even possible?

[Purple Penguins]

a friend of mine is getting a sebae today for his clowns, which use to be mine, I could never get them to host a BTA so now hes going to try the sebae (which we know are not natural hosts for the Occelaris) but you just never know with clowns.

But I heard/read somewhere that if you post pics or hang pics of clowns hosting anemones on the tank that it encourages or teaches them to host, these clowns are tank raised and I have seen them try to host a torch.

We know there is no way to get them to host, and they do that in their own time, it seems slightly crazy to me, but has anyone had luck with this or heard of anyone having luck with this?

Thanks

 

[mugginns]

I doubt it is true. The anemone will host the clownfish when they get ready.

 

[sgarron]

I have read alot of people have had success with that method. I got lucky, my ocellaris dove into my sebae as I was lowering it into the tank.

 

[Toddrtrex]

I really don't think there is any way to prove that it works or doesn't work.

Can't run a test to prove/disprove it. Since each clown is different. Who is to say that the clown just happened to be ready to go into the anemone when the picture was put up.

I personally don't think it will help, however I don't see putting up a picture hurting anything.

 

[phender]

I have heard of people doing it. Its pretty hard to prove that the picture is what caused them to go into the anemone. It has been said that using a picture of a preditory fish might also convince the clowns that they need the security of an anemone. Again, maybe it was the picture, maybe it was a coincidence.

 

[Sk8r]

Fish do pattern recognition: imho, the presence of orange and white stripes is moderately likely to catch their attention even in a static image. One wonders if placing a mirror on the other side of the nem might have the same effect.

 

[MarinaP]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11676024#post11676024 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by phender
It has been said that using a picture of a preditory fish might also convince the clowns that they need the security of an anemone. Again, maybe it was the picture, maybe it was a coincidence.

Yep on both points Phil made.

A picture of a lionfish worked like a charm.

 

[kar93]

I put a pic of an anemone hosting some clowns and they was hosting the next day but it could of just been a coinsidence.

 

[kindafun]

It would take a study to prove this, but it's certainly worth trying. I had 2 true percs in the tank for several months with an RBTA before they finally "found" each other.

Different situation but same idea, I have a pistol shrimp and high finned goby that I put in at the same time. After about 3 months they "found" each other and their behavior completely changed. They lived like that for about 4 months, then they split up! Then about 2 months after that they were back together again and have been so for the last 6 months. Very interesting to watch.

 

[Sk8r]

Re pattern recognition: I had a tee-shirt I could not wear near my former tank---
It had a ship's wheel as the logo. If I came near the tank wearing that, every fish I owned either dived for tunnels or attempted to jump out the top, and this included a kole tang and an angel.

I think it looked like a jellyfish to them...

 

[Slakker]

That's crazy...I've noticed that what i'm wearing near the tank can spark different reactions from my fish, usually not so extreme, but you can definitely tell that they know something is different "out there."

That's what I love about the marine hobby...fish have personalities, they demonstrate a level of intelligence. In all my years with freshwater, I never felt like any of my fish had any idea what was going on outside of the tank, and if they did they certainly didn't care.

 

[seanm001]

I'm willing to give the theory a test run. I bought an RBTA and ocellaris on Sunday and the clown is (I think) finally starting to calm down and accept his new home. They haven't yet paired up, so maybe showing them pictures of how to do it will help initiate the behavior.

I picked out some pictures of ocellaris hosting RBTA and printed them out. I'll put them on the tank tonight and post my findings.

Maybe I'll give them through the weekend to figure it out the nice way before I try scaring the clown with a huge close-up of a lionfish printed on 11x14 paper...

-Sean

 

[Cheebs]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11677551#post11677551 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by seanm001
I'm willing to give the theory a test run...

I was going to say, wether it's a proven theory or not, it definitely can't hurt to try.

 

[tedr]

Try taking a "nemo" nori clip and actually placing it next to the nem.

 

[seanm001]

Well, I stuck up six pictures this evening when I got home. The ocellaris inspected and pondered each picture individually as I put them up, spending more time in front of some than others. Then he lost interest.

He had about a half hour of all lights on, a half hour of just the actinic, and now it's been lights out for a half hour. No progress yet, though the RBTA was rather deflated when I got home (if he's going to deflate, he seems to do it around the same time in the evening). He's slowly inflating now.

I'll see if there's any progress overnight and I'll post an update in the morning...

- Sean

 

[Lahn Doe]

I tried the picture thing for a year and it didn't work for me. I was trying to persuade a ocellaris to go into the bta.

 

[seanm001]

No progress as of this morning. Once all the lights were on, the ocellaris kept inspecting the pictures, but paid no attention to the RBTA. Maybe getting to look at the pictures all day will inspire him...

- Sean

 

[Finding Emo]

Any news seanm001?

 

[Avast Marine]

what kind of pictures do you hang on the tank to get them spawning?

 

[seanm001]

I had no luck with the pictures of clowns & RBTA over the weekend, so I took them down Sunday night. I put up a big picture of a lionfish last night and the clown was just as interested in the picture of the lionfish as the others. He wasn't scared at all...

So, no luck thus far.

- Sean