Perc not hosting RBTA when is time to part ways

[Newjack2005]

I purchased a Rose bubble tip anemone 3 months ago I had a percula clown already in the tank prior to addind the Nem he goes to it swims around occasionally but never host off it. Now I know percs aren't the natural host but I heard over time they take Nem and call it home I purchased a tomato clown because I was discouraged and wanted a clown to host the Nem so bad at my local FS he hosted within 5 minutes however never left the Nem and died after a week. So my question is do I keep my perc and and hope for one day for him to host or part ways and get something different I know maroons and tomatoes host fast but im woried about the aggressive nature and adding future fish

Thanks guys

 

[shifty51008]

mine took almost a year before the clowns went into my RBTA's and they are occ's. I wouldn't give up, the clown doesn't need a host to live happy anyway

and it is the anemone that does the hosting not the clown.

 

[BJCollie]

I and a similar experience, so I decided to try and remove the clown fish. In the process she ended up hiding from the net inside the BTA and never left after that. Maybe some friendly coaxing with your net will work.

 

[spieszak]

clowns can be stung badly by a nem. if you decide to "coax" do so cautiously.
Mine took almost 2 years to find the her nem. In my case it seemed like the female hit a "maturity level"... there is no telling for sure, but her behavior seemed to change a bit when she was about to find it, and she and her mate were doing the happy dance more often. Its conjecture, but I imagined her thinking "where am I going to hide the eggs?"
Some people have had luck hanging a picture of a hosted clown/nem pair on the tank. One other interesting thing I've read was someone who used a flashlight. The clowns followed it to the nem....

 

[MelloW33]

Just give it time. Especially if you have a juvenile clownfish

 

[BlueFyre]

Mine took almost a year to hose my BTA. In my case they never looked at it until it got to be pretty big then they slowly started associating with it.

 

[christopherjudd]

here's what always worked for me, I have higher rate of success when I put the clown and anemone in a smaller tank, 10 gal or less.

 

[chicagoreefer20]

Ah, this is good news. I recently bought from another person his two paired clownfish + the RBTA they hung out in. However, in my tank, the clownfish don't seem to recognize their old friend and have made a home in bunch of candy cane coral. Its very cute- they sleep kind of snuggled inside the coral.

 

[BJCollie]

clowns can be stung badly by a nem. if you decide to "coax" do so cautiously....

This is a very valid point. When I added my maroon pair it did take them time to get used to my gigs sting. I am not sure how they adapt to the different nematocysts. I also had a clown get sick and it left the giga until it recovered. Once his slime coating was healed he returned to the nem.

 

[kduen]

Just give it time. Especially if you have a juvenile clownfish

This really isn't true. Juvenile clowns will accept a natural host almost immediately, it doesn't matter if they are tank raised or wild caught their instincts are the same. The pair of clowns that I have now are tank raised, both were under an inch and have never been near an ocean but it took them all of about 1.5 seconds to dive into the H. Magnifica after being released.

 

[spieszak]

With a natural host yes.. for those of us with smaller tanks or less than stellar lighting, a natural host isn't always a possibility. When hoping they will take to a nem that they don't naturally pair with in the wild, time and patience help the most it seems. Some may never accept the 'non' natural host, though most will once they have some time to figure it out..

 

[Tomkun]

My lfs told me if you wanted to try you could take the anemone and clowns out and place them in a bucket and try to get the clown into the anemone. Some may feel that this is a bad idea but it worked for me.

 

[MelloW33]

This really isn't true. Juvenile clowns will accept a natural host almost immediately, it doesn't matter if they are tank raised or wild caught their instincts are the same. The pair of clowns that I have now are tank raised, both were under an inch and have never been near an ocean but it took them all of about 1.5 seconds to dive into the H. Magnifica after being released.

Considering that H. Magnifica is a true host for A. Percula, your pair's instincts would be to dive into the anemone. E. Quadricolor is not a natural host for A. Percula.

 

[kduen]

Considering that H. Magnifica is a true host for A. Percula, your pair's instincts would be to dive into the anemone. E. Quadricolor is not a natural host for A. Percula.

The clowns that I have now are Ocellaris but still a natural host. What I was trying to say up there is that it makes no difference if the clowns are juvenile or not, the instincts are there from the begining.

 

[chicagoreefer20]

I think the conclusion is that the clowns will do whatever they want to do, on their own timeline.

 

[MelloW33]

The clowns that I have now are Ocellaris but still a natural host. What I was trying to say up there is that it makes no difference if the clowns are juvenile or not, the instincts are there from the begining.

That is your opinion and I have mine. I've had many pairs that would not host until after a few months or even longer. Some may be hosted from the beginning, some may after some time, and some may never at all. To say it will happen at the beginning is simply not true in every case.

I was just telling the OP that it may take time because he asked "when is time to part ways."

 

[shifty51008]

in the wild they only have 1-2 days at the most after meta to find an anemone or they are food, so yes their instincts are from when they are born.

 

[kduen]

Hmmm. Let me try this a different way.

When attempting to have clowns associate with an anemone the best chance for success is a natural host species of anemone. When there is a natural host present the clown immediatley responds. When there is not a natural host it can take a day, week, month, year or never for the clown to associate. I have also had a pair of percs that hosted a GBTA within about a week if getting it but the nem was too small for the both of them and returned it to the LFS. Two weeks later I put in a fairly large S. Haddoni and they wanted nothing to do with it for the next 7 months until a freak accident cracked the tank while I was out of town and nothing survived.

What I was referring to when I said "this isn't entirely true" is that it makes no difference if the clown is 2 weeks or 7 years old/ from the ocean or from ORA, SA.... the instinct is there from the begining.

 

[MelloW33]

Hmmm. Let me try this a different way.

When attempting to have clowns associate with an anemone the best chance for success is a natural host species of anemone. When there is a natural host present the clown immediatley responds. When there is not a natural host it can take a day, week, month, year or never for the clown to associate. I have also had a pair of percs that hosted a GBTA within about a week if getting it but the nem was too small for the both of them and returned it to the LFS. Two weeks later I put in a fairly large S. Haddoni and they wanted nothing to do with it for the next 7 months until a freak accident cracked the tank while I was out of town and nothing survived.

What I was referring to when I said "this isn't entirely true" is that it makes no difference if the clown is 2 weeks or 7 years old/ from the ocean or from ORA, SA.... the instinct is there from the begining.

I'm not sure why you keep coming with the back-and-forth banter; we are saying the same thing. I told the OP not give up on his two Perculas because it could take some time since E. Quadricolor is not a natural host.

 

[kduen]

There is no back-and-forth banter. Your first post said "give it time especially if they are juvies" which is wrong. Instead of just saying this in the first place I tried to explain as to why it was wrong. I was attempting to correct some of the misinformation that gets spread around like "juvies and captive bred take longer or will not associate with an anemone" that's it nothing more nothing less.