Large anemone questions

[KurtsReef]

It appears on the anemone listing that S. Mertensii, S. Gigantica, and H. Magnifica are the only anemone's which ocularis hosts with in nature.

I recently purchased ocularis hoping they would host in the Quadracolor (BTA) anemone's which were are in my system but over a period of about a month they have shown no interest at all in hosting with anemone's or any corals. The fish sleep at the top corners near the overflows, the smallest of which has been in the overflows on a few occasions.

There is the RC "Clown and Anemone FAQ" link above that mentions tank raised clowns may never look to host in anemone's and this may be the issue.

I am guessing that my choices here will be (1) to get some 'wild caught' Ocularis (2) change to one of these larger anemone's hoping they find it more attractive as a natural host or (3) give them more time to find and start a relationship with the BTA.

Anyone have any experience with a situation like this? Would love to hear about it. The three anemone's mentioned all are listed as being able to obtain 3' diameter in size which is a bit larger than I would like to have, although if they would not bother Clams and Acans one could live on my sandbed...

 

[JetCat USA]

first time i heard the suggestion i thought the person was off their rocker when they suggested taking a picture of your type clown in an anemone and tape it to the side of the tank.......don't enlarge the pic but keep it actual size and allot of people have reported it worked for them, might be worth a try for you. I've had tank raised O's that took to E quad's without a problem.

 

[Lance M.]

I have a pair of Ocellaris (one tankraised and one wildcaught) that host my bta. It took them 6 months to find it in a 20 gallon tank....


IME and reading lots of other people's experiences, there really is no difference between clown's hosting anemones when it comes to wildcaught and tank raised. It all seems to depend on the individuals.

 

[KurtsReef]

That is a wierd suggestion JetCat, but worth a try.

6 Months! Wow Lance, the only clown fish experience I have had is maroon striped clowns that would find the anemone within minutes of it being introduced or moved. I thought the one month time frame was long.

 

[phender]

I had some wild caught ocellaris that refused to accept a BTA as a host for over a year. It was a big BTA and they had to avoid it on purpose. One day they decided to try it and never left it again. In my experience I think it is more an ocellaris thing than a WC vs. TR thing.

 

[Amazon4]

My RBTA has been in the tank with the clowns for barely a week. (have had it growing up in another tank for 4 months)

My two (tank raised) true perc's have not shown any interest yet. I sure hope they find it!

 

[KurtsReef]

Interesting they take so long to 'find' them.

Anyone on the boards keep the larger anemone's? Seems like their maximum size would simply put them only in the largest of aquariums. Or do they not grow that large in captivity?

 

[JetCat USA]

it's not that they take so long to find them, they have to warm up to the idea of going over and saying Hi. my Clarkii pair have been moved several times over the 6+ yrs I've had them, they immediately notice a nem in the tank with them but they cautiously check it out for a day or two, then the female will make her way over and test it out for few days before the male joins her. their natural instincts tell them anemones are protection but they also tell them they are home to bigger and badder clownfish who'll gladly defend them from wannabe trespassers.

on the large nems, yes they get to huge sizes in captivity, you either have them in a very large system or you give them away when they outgrow your tank. I've had to get rid of several carpets over the years because they started to take up too much valuable real estate.

 

[SVXH6]

i have a 18" green S. Haddoni rite now hosted by a pair of onyx true percs.. i have had three different H. Magnificas that when i obtained them were all about 6" or smaller(smallest being 2.5" and severely bleached), and grew them until they were about 20"(pics in gallery).. i also rite now have a large H. Crispa(very bright green disk, cream/green tentacles w/ purple, bluish tips) that is 10" .. awesome color.. i hope to get the crispa to about 20" as well..

 

[raleej337]

When I first introduce a BTA in my tank to host my pair of tankraised BW clown, it took them almost two weeks to noticed the anemone. I've tried the picture being posted on the side of the tank. Well I don't know if that really helped the clowns to realized that they could stay in the anemone. Anyway, ever since then my clowns knows what anemone is, I've bought and sold BTA and LTA and the clowns love it except for the Hadonni which almost ate one of my clowns.

The moral of the story is, just wait and see. Have a little patience or try posting a pic of the same clown hosting an anemone on the wall of your tank.

my $0.02

 

[KurtsReef]

I went with a different option. Buy them some tudors

I have two anemones, one RBTA and one GBTA. The new Percula's housed immediately in the larger green, the female occelaris was immediately interested in what they were doing.

Shhhh, just be quiet and she will go away.

Now the female and male are watching.

Hopefully they (The Oc's) will find the RBTA that is on the other side of the 220 now that they seem interested in hosting.

 

[Genin]

aww, that last pic is pathetic. They are like I want to go in there to .

 

[KurtsReef]

It was very interesting to watch the Oc's appearing to 'learn' or at least have a very high interest in what the Percs were doing. We shall see if they learned about hosting in an anemone, hope to find them hosting in the other anemone or at lease trying out an LPS when I get home later today.

 

[MrManz1691]

My female maroon took my new RBT in about umm.... 30 sec. She then precided to almost kill it. She now lives in the sump. Im going to wait till teh RBT gets stronger and see if it can handle her. Im thinking on trading her for some percs or something, but i feel terrible cause i have had her for about 2 years and she was my first saltwater fish ever. I did have her in a tank with a large carpet for year or so and she wanted nothing to to with it. But once i put a GBT in there she killed it in a matter of days. I couldnt catch her back then.

 

[Beng]

I agree 100% on the tutor thingy.

It has work for me every time in getting a clown that does not know how to host in an anemone to start hosting by pairing it
with another clown that is already hosting.

Try it 6 times = 100 % success rate.


Beng