silly idea

[hotelbravo]

Would placing a few fake but extremely realistic bubbletip anemones in a tank with ocellaris or percula fry increase their chances to go to a real BTA in the future?? maybe if its their only shelter in the fry tank they would have the mindset that anemones are good and helpful..

maybe this is just a dumb idea but in my head it sounds brilliant....

 

[ichthyogeek]

Not really, adding in "fake" organisms is something that is done on a much bigger scale too. Take for example whooping cranes and phillipine eagles.
WC: The movie "Fly Away Home" (1996). They have a "mother" crane (actually an airplane) that allows them to establish migratory routes.
PE: Mother "birds" (human hand puppets) feed the chicks of abandoned/retrieved eggs, teaching them to feed their chicks the next generation.

So, no, your idea is not stupid. However, you may want to try with real anemones. We still don't know why or how anemonefish in general can survive the sting of anemones, and if you use a real anemone, then you can probably get them settled into the 'nem species of choice. Here's a link on getting tank raised onto anemones, it might provide some help.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=927945

 

[thedasher]

Actually I think this works because there's a guy on YouTube that did this and when he put the clowns in his display tank they hosted his hammer heads. Let me try and find the videos.

 

[thedasher]

Heres the fake anemone. http://youtu.be/ynGsoKc1RWM

And another fake anemone. http://youtu.be/ZwpfDW817jY

Same clowns hosting hammer heads. http://youtu.be/FEQjTU-AhRQ

 

[kizanne]

I think that captive bred clowns will naturally host in the 'normal' anemone for their species without any training.

When I bought my captive bred pink skunks the LFS said they wouldn't host. And that might have been true if I tried a BTA because in the wild they are mostly found in long tentacles. I stuck a long tentacle in there and they were in it in about 3 seconds it hadn't even opened fully.

I think trying the fake is fine. It might give them a false sense of security though. They may not realize the full strength of a real anemone.

 

[hotelbravo]

Im asking because im going to try raising fry that are a mix between picasso(percula) and black ice(ocellaris). I want them to host like their parents are but ive had 3 ocellaris in the past that had absolutely no interest in BTA.

 

[kizanne]

in the wild percula and ocellaris prefer Heteractis magnifica. If you had one of those then a captive bred who had never seen one would most likely host in it. (is my opinion). The fact they prefer Heteractis magnifica is not my opinion that is from reading.

 

[ichthyogeek]

They also live in Stichodactyla gigantea, S. mertensii, and Heteractis crispa. (ocellarisclownfish.com)

H. magnifica is the species of anemone portrayed in Finding Nemo.

Of course...all 4 of these species are either more delicate, or get ginormous...

 

[Denbf58]

some breeder recommend it but it is more to help with the metamorphosis. I added two to my grow out tank and the young ones seem to like it.

 

[hotelbravo]

So would adding a real nem like advised above be good from day 1 or should I wait till they are a week or two old first? Would the nem take any of the rotifers out of the water column?

 

[kizanne]

I'm not sure who advised a real nem. but if it was me then I didn't explain correctly. I'm not saying you need a real nem. I'm saying that if after they grow up you were to place them in the tank with a Heteractis magnifica then even having not seen one when little they would most likely host. Some captive breds will host in just about anything. But many clownfish wild or captive will only host in their preferred nems. Ichy gave you some other choices.

 

[hotelbravo]

Ok thanks