Leucokranos Husbandry Question

[WDLV]

I have a couple leucs that I've had for several years. Like their chrysopterus counterparts they're fairly prone to disease. As a result they've been quarrantined and treated on two occasions. At present there are no outward symptoms of disease but the female is extremely skittish as she always has been. The male is as friendly as a skunk can be expected to be. Both are WC.

When I sit in front of the tank she cowers in her anemone and starts getting blotchy white from the stress but when I hide and observe them she's an aggressive feeder and is aggressive with the male (though not unusually so.) The tank is not in a high traffic area. It's in my basement and aside from my dogs residing in their "houses" within view of the tank, large creatures (humans) are only seen maybe two or three times a day during the week days. Two visits are for feeding.

So, this tank is a 45 cube (24"x24"x19") and they are the only fish inhabitants in that display but there is a total of about 200 gallons total system volume. This is a new reef and they do have an anemone. The tank temp was recently raised by two degrees for the fourth consecutive month for a current temp of 82F. They were previously residing in a system that held latezonatus clowns and needed to be cooler. I've gone up in temp to see if I can get some courtship behavior out of them.
I feel like I'm pretty experienced with this species. I've had seven of them and none have ever died. Two were donated to a public aquarium and three were sold to other hobbyists. These have been with me for about three (Female) and four (male) years.

That's the background. Now for the question....

Is there something else I could be doing to make them more comfortable or is it just the nature of the beast with this species?

 

[MarinaP]

is it just the nature of the beast with this species?

That ^

At first I thought you were talking about my caps I have 275G full of nems for them - same story.

 

[Reefvette]

Walt

Walt

My female is very skittish but ive been through that with my nigripis so i wasnt too worried.

I did notice that when they hosted the mertens carpet the female was more out and about, now that they host a mag the female hides more.

I think, like nigripis these guys dont venture far from the anemone in the wild, especially if they are hosting the large mags and mertens. When those anemones get big they are like a never ending maze. of tentacles.

 

[WDLV]

That ^

At first I thought you were talking about my caps I have 275G full of nems for them - same story.

At this rate I think my thielleis will spawn before anything else does. They act like Os.

I need to get you up here one of these days to evaluate my systems. And the same goes the other way. If you ever do a tank tour with WAMAS or whatever please let me know.

 

[WDLV]

My female is very skittish but ive been through that with my nigripis so i wasnt too worried.

I did notice that when they hosted the mertens carpet the female was more out and about, now that they host a mag the female hides more.

I think, like nigripis these guys dont venture far from the anemone in the wild, especially if they are hosting the large mags and mertens. When those anemones get big they are like a never ending maze. of tentacles.

That's a good point! Never thought of it that way. The nems I'm keeping are quite small.

 

[traveller7]

That ^

At first I thought you were talking about my caps I have 275G full of nems for them - same story.

pshaw, they came out to see me this weekend when I dropped by to visit...although it was the first time I have seen them in years ;>)

In my humble opinion: add dither fish, lots of them Caps seem to retain the nastiest attributes of chrys and skunks: cantankerous, aggressive, and skittish to the max. Let's try to breed those qualities out of them and turn them into puppy dogs like ocellaris for the easy going clownfish collectors like me

 

[OrionN]

I agree with Scott. My yellowtail damsels (two of them) always get my shy clowns to be outgoing more, and eat more. Yellow tail damsels are prety docils and will not bother the clowns in their anemone, but the clowns will chase them away from the anemones. I think this is more natural and get the clown to be more comfortable trying to defend teir anemones.

 

[WDLV]

I have kept them in a larger system with green chromis and they did come out more then.

...but the tank they're in now was designed only to hold one pair of clowns. There's not really room to add ditherfish. I suspect anything I added to the current tank would be killed quickly.

As you can see here, when I'm in front of the tank, she's hiding.

 

[reefpix352]

I'm thinking the dither fish will help too. Also - looking at your awesome tank - I'm expecting to see a nice bommie w/ a BIG anemone in the middle. I think a bigger anemone would be a better host as I tend to see sandracinos and crys clowns in big carpets in the wild.

Cheers
James

 

[rodsboys]

This might sound stupid,but is there any way you can put some kind of 2-way mirror on the front glass?

 

[WDLV]

I'm thinking the dither fish will help too. Also - looking at your awesome tank - I'm expecting to see a nice bommie w/ a BIG anemone in the middle. I think a bigger anemone would be a better host as I tend to see sandracinos and crys clowns in big carpets in the wild.

Cheers
James

That tank will eventually hold a lot of BTAs... if you're referring to the smaller tank pictured second. The first couple pics were of my old system at about the one year mark. That system was far prettier when I finally took it down. The smaller tank with the bare bottom is only a few months old. It has a lot of growing to do.

This might sound stupid,but is there any way you can put some kind of 2-way mirror on the front glass?

Sure, but I would never do that because it would make them think there was another pair of clowns in the tank that they needed to defend against.

 

[rodsboys]

You could always stick a sheet of tint on the mirror side.No reflections for them and you can still observe them in action instead of hiding.

 

[WDLV]

I don't see how that would not create a reflection??? I had considered putting up a oriental screen or something so I could take pictures etc, but that seemed kind of rediculous.

 

[LargeAngels]

I'd add rock's in the middle. When they are in the open their only choice for retreat is the back wall.

 

[WDLV]

That's one idea I've been debating. I have a little problem of what I can put there without obstructing flow and turning into a poop trap. I'll have to build something....

 

[LargeAngels]

Make a tall pillar in the middle. Take a fiberglass rod and stack drilled rock on it.

 

[tahoe61]

Shy clownfish

Shy clownfish

You stated your tank is in the basement. If it is not getting alot of foot traffic and you are not spending alot of time in there the clownfish is going to do what is natural and run and hide, some clowns are just like that. I would try spending more time at that tank when feeding and attempting to hand feed if possible.

 

[MarinaP]

I would try spending more time at that tank

Not going to change their behaviour. When they were young, mine lived in a 12g in the library/den. They saw me 10-12 hours a day and remained the way Walt had described.

What do you know - their offspring who "saw" me since day 1, also darts and hides when approached

 

[Reefvette]

Mine was most active when it was with the mertens.

Check it oooouuuutt.

 

[WDLV]

In my previous system (210 gallon) I made sure there were numerous places to hide with the mentality that more hiding places = less desire to hide. I had forgotten that concept considering instead that the anemones would provide amlpe shelter. So, I tried three different rocks. The first one I added last night. I was pleased to notice that the male and female were in the front bottom right of the tank hanging out when I came down this morning. I just didn't like the rock because I thought it was just too big because it obscured the back too much and provided too much of a flow killer and detritus trap.

So I tried another smaller rock but that one was too tall for my liking and again blocked too much of the view of the back wall.

The third rock I tried was wider but short enough to allow view of the back wall. I think it has a nice shape to it too. What do you think?