My maroon clown is eating my carpet anenome

[MatthewDino]

I found my Lightning maroon female eating my carpet anenome. She was eating large chunks from around the mouth of the anenome. Sadly it didn't make it but if shes done that to one does that mean that I should not put any more anenomes with her? And does anyone know what would cause this?

 

[griss]

How long have you had the anemone and the clown?

 

[griss]

@BeanAnimal @kharmaguru @reefing102 any thoughts here?

 

[MatthewDino]

How long have you had the anemone and the clown?

The clown about 6 months the anenome about 2 weeks

 

[griss]

How long has the tank been set up and what are your water parameters?

 

[bradleym]

Maroon clowns are intensely aggressive, and are often seen ripping tentacles off of BTAs (which are a better host). So, unfortunately this is not completely unexpected. You may have better luck with a LARGE BTA (or maybe several BTA) with this fish, but your tank will need to very healthy so the anemone can keep up with the maroon clown's attention.

 

[MatthewDino]

How long has the tank been set up and what are your water parameters?

My 30 gal been set up for about 4 months
As of Sunday 3/18 my peramitors were
Ammonia- 0
Nitrates-0
Nitrites-0
Ph-8.2
Alkilinty-10 dkh

 

[MatthewDino]

My 30 gal been set up for about 4 months
As of Sunday 3/18 my peramitors were
Ammonia- 0
Nitrates-0
Nitrites-0
Ph-8.2
Alkilinty-10 dkh

Also my salinity is 1.023

 

[griss]

Like @bradleym said, Maroons are very aggressive clowns.

Also, a 4 month old tank is a concern, carpet anemones can be challenging even for the most experienced hobbyist with a well seasoned tank.

Lastly, carpet anemones can get huge! If healthy with the right tank conditions, the will outgrow a 30 gallon tank very quickly.

I’m going to hazard a guess with the newness of the tank and the aggressiveness of the clown, the anemone was not healthy and the clown was just being overly aggressive with it.

My one Clarkii clown is being a bit aggressive with my LTA of late. Might have to move her to the fuge for some time.

 

[Reefing102]

Welcome to RC!

Your nitrates and salinity are a little low but nothing that should have affected this behavior. That said, the tank is still relatively new as far as stability for an anemone is concerned (again though shouldn’t have caused the clowns behavior).

I haven’t seen this behavior before though I know it’s not unheard of. @Anemone @OrionN any thoughts?

 

[MatthewDino]

Like @bradleym said, Maroons are very aggressive clowns.

Also, a 4 month old tank is a concern, carpet anemones can be challenging even for the most experienced hobbyist with a well seasoned tank.

Lastly, carpet anemones can get huge! If healthy with the right tank conditions, the will outgrow a 30 gallon tank very quickly.

I’m going to hazard a guess with the newness of the tank and the aggressiveness of the clown, the anemone was not healthy and the clown was just being overly aggressive with it.

My one Clarkii clown is being a bit aggressive with my LTA of late. Might have to move her to the fuge for some

Like @bradleym said, Maroons are very aggressive clowns.

Also, a 4 month old tank is a concern, carpet anemones can be challenging even for the most experienced hobbyist with a well seasoned tank.

Lastly, carpet anemones can get huge! If healthy with the right tank conditions, the will outgrow a 30 gallon tank very quickly.

I’m going to hazard a guess with the newness of the tank and the aggressiveness of the clown, the anemone was not healthy and the clown was just being overly aggressive with it.

My one Clarkii clown is being a bit aggressive with my LTA of late. Might have to move her to the fuge for some time.

That makes sense I appreciate ill give it plenty of time before adding any more anenome and I'll do a lot more research of the specific types I was told that carpets were their favorite but it sounds like I need to start with more of a beginner anenome when my tank is more astablished. Do you have any recommendations for how long I should wait and what I should start with?

 

[Anemone]

A couple of things might have been going on here. Had you fed the carpet before you observed the clown's activity? Maroons can often "steal" food from their anemone hosts, and especially if your carpet was unwell and had a gaping mouth, your clown might have been trying to get to some food ingested by the carpet (or your carpet could have been releasing undigested food, and the clown simply consuming that). On the other hand, clowns can sometimes be seen "cleaning" foreign material off/out of their hosts. If your carpet was going down hill, it could have been deteriorating or have infected material around the mouth, and your clean may have been removing that material.

As has been mentioned, maroons are known to nip the tips off their bubble-tip hosts' tentacles, and it's suggested that maybe helps increase their affinity/immunity to the anemone's stings. Personally, I've seen maroon's zip across a four foot tank to nip the tip off a waving, and apparently "offending" coral tentacle tip, so who knows what motivates these brats of the brine?

Kevin

 

[MatthewDino]

Welcome to RC!

Your nitrates and salinity are a little low but nothing that should have affected this behavior. That said, the tank is still relatively new as far as stability for an anemone is concerned (again though shouldn’t have caused the clowns behavior).

I haven’t seen this behavior before though I know it’s not unheard of. @Anemone @OrionN

A couple of things might have been going on here. Had you fed the carpet before you observed the clown's activity? Maroons can often "steal" food from their anemone hosts, and especially if your carpet was unwell and had a gaping mouth, your clown might have been trying to get to some food ingested by the carpet (or your carpet could have been releasing undigested food, and the clown simply consuming that). On the other hand, clowns can sometimes be seen "cleaning" foreign material off/out of their hosts. If your carpet was going down hill, it could have been deteriorating or have infected material around the mouth, and your clean may have been removing that material.

As has been mentioned, maroons are known to nip the tips off their bubble-tip hosts' tentacles, and it's suggested that maybe helps increase their affinity/immunity to the anemone's stings. Personally, I've seen maroon's zip across a four foot tank to nip the tip off a waving, and apparently "offending" coral tentacle tip, so who knows what motivates these brats of the brine?

Kevin

I fed the anenome yesterday some brine shrimp and the clown fish did take some from its mouth before going to find some of her own food. I didn't know the mouth gapping was a bad thing that would make sense especially now knowing my system is definitely not ready for an anenome, Especially a carpet.

 

[BeanAnimal]

I had a maroon clown that would quite literally draw blood when I put my hand in the tank. Meanest fish I have ever had. Worse than my evil domino damsel.

 

[Anemone]

I had a maroon clown that would quite literally draw blood when I put my hand in the tank. Meanest fish I have ever had. Worse than my evil domino damsel.

Yup, my female maroon in my rose BTA tank would consistently draw blood. I splashed more water out of that tank when I got bit.

Kevin

 

[shred5]

Your anemone could have had something wrong with it. It is possible the clown could have been trying to help it too.
What kind of anemone was it? Carpet is a general term.
I find that lots of Gigantea and Magnificas come in with bacteria infections especially mags. I just treat them no matter what now.
yes I know mags are not carpet anemones. Also Haddoni also come in with bacterial infections just not as much and I and is a more hardy anemone.