LOUD pink skunk clowns!!! Oh, and a light question...

zooman72

New member
I was going to post a questions with regards to my lighting over my 50g cube aquarium (24"x24"x20") housing my Magnificent anemone - have been running a Kessil 350N for over a year, with the nem about 15" from the light, and it recently has shrunk quite a bit, but I will get back to that - when I just happened to be by the tank to check on my "new pair" of pink skunks.

I lost my older female when she jumped through the small feed opening in the glass top (she was quite big, and the opening just big enough, lesson learned again...) a couple of months ago, so I recently acquired another smaller male to pair with the now-morphed female. It has been a few hours, and they seem to be "feeling" each other out, mostly with their "dancing", but the female has upped the game - I can hear her "chirps/ clicks/ pops" from several feet!!!

Now it is well known that lots of fish make noise in social behavior, including damsels and clowns, and my pair of clark's can be heard if right in front of the tank when they squabble, but I have never been able to hear such loud, distinct sounds from such a distance, even over the television! Needless to say, I have a new appreciation for their abilities, and just thought I would share... :)

Back to the lighting question - the mag nem really seemed to shrink since I lost my large original female pink skunk clown, and I had only fed it about once a month with the current lighting (did not want it to get too big), but tried about a month ago to bump feedings up to once a week. However, I noticed the nem would no longer accept food, with no nematocyst firing response, so I upped the carbon usage and did a couple of larger water changes. It worked, with the nem now feeding again, albeit very slowly, and in new competition with the clown (old female never bothered nem when feeding).

I am left wondering if my lighting should be increased (Kessil 350N is at 100%, over a glass top, and about 15" from the nem), or if it should be enough with additional feedings. I am considering either adding another 350N, or trying a Radion xr30 Pro - any thoughts from those that have used LED lighting over anemone aquariums? The aquarium also houses hammer and trumpet corals, one large green tree coral, and a smaller purple H. malu (about 6"), with the H. magnifica on a smooth flat rock shelf right in the center about 7" from the water's surface, where it has not wandered since it was introduced...
 
im not sure about your lighting questions but i do have some concerns/ideas.

firstly i dont think you should worry with shrinking they do it to expel waste and since your increasing your feedings it might need to be pooping more often. another thing that could be the problem is oxygenation. im not sure what your old female clown was doing with the anemone but i have to assume it was the normal relationship which means your clown was wiggling and squirming all over that anemone which provides the anemone with more oxygen and make it healthier. now that the clown is gone im betting the oxygen has something to do with it. having a tank with a glass top is already frowned upon because it prohibits gas exchanges that promote healthier water quality. so with a glass top and a clown no longer oxygenating the anemone my money is firm on that being the problem.
 
Thanks for your input Hodge, but just a couple of points:

1) The anemone has noticeably gotten smaller over time (2-3 months), not all at once, and tentacle length is also shorter, so I do not believe it is a temporary deflation cycle. I am afraid that it needs more food, and possibly more light.

2) It had a pair of clowns in residence, was down to a single clown, and is now back to two - waste absorption (i.e. clownfish waste) might be an issue, but not oxygenation, which leads me to...

3) The "glass top" issue is a myth for many reef tanks, especially with the higher turnover rates, surface skimmers/ overflows, skimmers, etc. Also, the top is not sealed, but rests on plastics "clips", so there is plenty of gas exchange at the surface as well. I have several aquariums, plus more over the years, and all have had glass tops without issue (well except for the fact that all my other fish have stayed in the tank before the unfortunate clown I lost here). Nothing else in the tank is showing any signs of oxygen deprivation, and the nem is about a foot away from an MP10 at ~70%, so it is also getting plenty of flow and flushing.


I will see if I can get any results with increased feedings alone before I move to additional lighting, and will brush up here to see what other Mag feeding regimes look like from others. I guess I am a bit surprised that the Kessil A350N may not be enough though...
 
I too have found that if I stopped feeding my anemones, what was once an eager feeder can become very reluctant to accept food again. Mine also shrank. With a lot of persistence with much smaller pieces than previously ie PE Mysis instead of chunks of squid, scallop etc the anemone(s) would appear to get back into the habit and after a period of a few weeks would once again eagerly accept food. I'm not sure why this occurs but I've had it a couple of occasions when I haven't been paying much attention to the tank.
 
Interesting Les, and thanks for the insight. I have moved to shrimp pieces that are a good bit smaller than previously offered, but I am afraid anything smaller would be nabbed by the clowns or other fish. I have to be on guard as it is with the latest food, but at least it has resumed feeding. I do find it odd that it shrunk only after the larger female clown "left it" though...

I do have a gen-3 Radion Pro coming, so I will see how it responds to more light too... :)
 
Back
Top