Tank Raised Clown Insticts
- Thread starter RLeclerc
- Start date
jt_milstead
New member
You can introduce when your tank is mature enough. I wouldn't put a nem in your tank until your system is at least 6 months old.As for a tank raised clown being hosted by a nem: It will happen when the clown is ready. It can take a few minutes or it can take months....
faulkincanyon
New member
its not a for sure thing either....some clowns could care less about the anemone
bues0022
New member
JJ Ocean
New member
They have the instinct at a very young age. The onyx I raise will go in them right after meta (around 12 days old). The ones in my pic below are 20 - 30 days old.
... and here's a video of them in a fake anemone at 13 days old. As you can see, some choose to go in & others choose to ball up.
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-John
elegance coral
They call me EC
This is a very hotly debated subject. As the title of this thread suggests, many people believe this behavior is "instinctual", and therefore can not be changed. The problem with this is that "instinct" is not a fixed and never changing behavior. Instinct is a term used to separate human behavior from animal behavior. When a primate, or any animal (other than us) nurses, cleans, protects, and generally cares for its young, we call it "instinct". When a human mother does the exact same thing, well.... It's just part of being human. Instinct is also used to describe behavior that we simply don't understand. How does a monarch butterfly migrate from Central America to Canada over several generations? Well it's instinct of course.
All behavior is influenced by environment. It doesn't matter if we call the behavior "instinct" or not. We can not take a wild animal, completely alter its environment, and expect it to behave exactly as it would in the wild. Even if we call the behavior "instinct". Nature simply does not work that way.Wild clowns start life, in the egg, at the base of their host anemone. For about the first week, the father fans the eggs, bathing the developing little ones in substances produced by their host anemone. When they hatch, they emerge into a world dominated by substances produced by their host anemone. Then they drift away and eventually go through metamorphoses. At this point, they use these same chemical cues, from their host anemone, to guide them home. They then spend the rest of their lives within the security of their host anemone. Until they are captured for the trade, that is. Most captive bred clowns have been denied exposure to these substances during crucial developmental stages of life. Then they spend several months in "grow out" tanks where development continues without exposure to their host anemone. IMHO, it would be unrealistic to expect two animals with such vastly different environmental influences, especially during development, to have the exact same behavioral patterns. This would be like expecting someone born and raised in a small village in the Amazon to behave exactly like someone born and raised in New York City. It's simply not going to happen.
I do believe that captive bred clowns will move into their natural host, in time, if it is provided. I just don't believe they have the same sense of urgency to do so, as a clown that has spent its entire life (minus roughly one week) in the security of its natural host. Every wild clown I've dealt with would go into its natural host almost immediately. My LFS added a pair of Picasso's to their display tank with two magnificas. It was two or three weeks before one of them moved into the anemone. I can not believe this would have taken so long if the clowns were wild.
clowns101
Active member
I agree with EC.These fish can be hosted and will be hosted by an anemone in time.I have never had a cpative clown,NOT be hosted by an anemone.Every fish I have that is captive raised has lived along with an anemone within just a matter of a few weeks.
Just takes time.Happens when the fish are ready.And the fish know what they are doing.
Oh and Like Todd always says,its THE ANEMONE WHO HOST THE CLOWN NOT THE CLOWN HOST THE ANEMONE!...lol...I had to do it.
Just takes time.Happens when the fish are ready.And the fish know what they are doing.
Oh and Like Todd always says,its THE ANEMONE WHO HOST THE CLOWN NOT THE CLOWN HOST THE ANEMONE!...lol...I had to do it.
AD87
Active member
This is a very hotly debated subject. As the title of this thread suggests, many people believe this behavior is "instinctual", and therefore can not be changed. The problem with this is that "instinct" is not a fixed and never changing behavior. Instinct is a term used to separate human behavior from animal behavior. When a primate, or any animal (other than us) nurses, cleans, protects, and generally cares for its young, we call it "instinct". When a human mother does the exact same thing, well.... It's just part of being human. Instinct is also used to describe behavior that we simply don't understand. How does a monarch butterfly migrate from Central America to Canada over several generations? Well it's instinct of course.
Wild clowns start life, in the egg, at the base of their host anemone. For about the first week, the father fans the eggs, bathing the developing little ones in substances produced by their host anemone. When they hatch, they emerge into a world dominated by substances produced by their host anemone. Then they drift away and eventually go through metamorphoses. At this point, they use these same chemical cues, from their host anemone, to guide them home. They then spend the rest of their lives within the security of their host anemone. Until they are captured for the trade, that is. Most captive bred clowns have been denied exposure to these substances during crucial developmental stages of life. Then they spend several months in "grow out" tanks where development continues without exposure to their host anemone. IMHO, it would be unrealistic to expect two animals with such vastly different environmental influences, especially during development, to have the exact same behavioral patterns. This would be like expecting someone born and raised in a small village in the Amazon to behave exactly like someone born and raised in New York City. It's simply not going to happen.
I do believe that captive bred clowns will move into their natural host, in time, if it is provided. I just don't believe they have the same sense of urgency to do so, as a clown that has spent its entire life (minus roughly one week) in the security of its natural host. Every wild clown I've dealt with would go into its natural host almost immediately. My LFS added a pair of Picasso's to their display tank with two magnificas. It was two or three weeks before one of them moved into the anemone. I can not believe this would have taken so long if the clowns were wild.
Well put, I was simply just rewording what the original thread starter was trying to say. "work vomit". I have never had any issues with any clown recognizing an anemone. I have even put 30 tank raised percs babies that have never seen a anemone in their life into my tank. They immediately took to the magnifica as soon as they hit the water.
My tank-raised ocellaris took to my H. magnifica immediately. The same with tank-bred maroons and RBTAs. I've read that anemones produce a scent that attracts the clowns. I have definitely observed that anemones go to natural hosts much more quickly than to anemones that are not their natural hosts.
Gary Majchrzak
Team RC
I've never had a tank raised anemonefish NOT take to it's natural host when provided with it.
elegance coral
They call me EC
What species of clown, and what species of "carpet" do you have?
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