My mag and clowns
- Thread starter bhotep
- Start date
The branch coral has been in the aquarium for only a few months but there is about 25lbs of liverock that have been in there for a year and a half. I agree when it gets to large I will move it to a larger home. The bioload is not too heavy, other than the clowns I have only a small yellow wrasse and a blue damsel (and clam) no corals, and I do very regular water changes. It is sitting on a smoothish piece of liverock about 20cm under a 150w mh fixture.
I have removed the 2 clowns to my other tank for now as the large b&w female has been digging in the mouth of the nem irritating it. I fed it this morning and its mouth seems to be closing back again. Just wondering if I should get the 2 small skunk clowns that were origionally in it at the supplier I got it from? They may be more gentle on it. Any thought on this?
It's common for clowns to pick at the mouth. I wouldn't be overly concerned. You want the anemone to be 3 times across the length of the clowns. This is a pretty good rule of thumb in my opinion, for a rough estimate. You could put the clowns back once the anemone seems to be settled and is eating well. How long have you had the mag? Glad to hear the tank has been established a while. Regular water changes is a good thing, especially in a smallish tank.
I have had it for about a week. It still is looking ok, mouth is slightly open. It was sold to me as a purple Malu, as the tentacles were shorter in the shop and it was on the sand bed. I figured it was a mag. when I brought it home and put it high in the tank on a rock and it hasn't moved from that spot. As I was putting it in the tank and it was barely in the water and even partly in the bag when the 2 clowns dove into it!
psusocr
Active member
took mine about 5 months
Interesting psusocr, my experience has been the same as the OP with both percs and occellaris. They would literally swim directly to it. That's interesting that it took so long for yours to find the mag. I wonder if the health of the mag or some other variable could be at play. I know that the scent of the anemone is thought to be a factor in attracting clowns.
Well I got two small skunk clowns and they went straight in the anemone also. I did a major water change today, cleaned the return pump (not done in over a year), glass etc. The mouth of the anemone is now pretty much closed and it is looking good (fingers crossed) so far. I have not fed it since I put the new clowns in. I have a feeling they will just steal any food not sure the best way to do it. With my bubble tip in the other tank, it would eat the food so fast that it is not a problem to distract the clowns for a couple of minutes.
Took a few pics here's one.
Took a few pics here's one.
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M Woodhill
New member
hey, dude, where did u get ur mag?
i'm long lookin for one but still waitin.
i'm long lookin for one but still waitin.
m12x13adass
New member
Wow. I love the location of the Anemone. Looks really cool.
0 nitrites or ammonia, nitrates 0-5, ph 8.2, calcium 400, lighting is 150w metal halide which is about 16 cm above the anemone, temp. is a tad low at 24 C. It had been attached to a rock that I had placed on the top of the branch coral. Maybe it did not like the surface of the rock as it was rough with some crevases. It is sure suctioned on hard to the glass. I don't mind the that it is on the back glass, actually looks cool, just a bit unnatural.
Assuming your MH bulbs aren't old and are a decent Kelvin (10-14K), you seem to have plenty of light. You didn't mention your sg, but mags (and host anemones in general) benefit from natural strength seawater, i.e. 1.026-1.027. It's been my experience that mags don't like nitrates. Nitrates will not kill them (unless perhaps they are astronomical), but they are sensitive to them and will begin to shift around on their perch. They are like canaries in a coal mine that way--you can almost measure the nitrates by the way they look and behave--again this is my experience. As far as the glass serving as a long-term spot for it, if it doesn't bother you then it should be fine. If water chemistry is annoying it, then it will likely shift around again. Be sure to cover any powerhead intakes while its wandering around.
The sg is 1.025, I could bump it up a bit but as the tank has no cover I do get a lot of evaporation and it does rise very slightly over the course of 3-4 days. I have a rock formation around my pump which I hope will be enough in case the mag decides to float, but so far it seems quite "attached" to its location.
