Well, after countless hours of prayer, my A. percula pair dove into my RBTA! I know this isn't super rare or exciting to some, but I actually got to witness the the whole thing happen and it was definitely the most enjoyable/rewarding thing that I've seen in a tank of mine during the 8 years that I've been involved in this hobby. I've been reading every post on this forum regarding how people have successfully coerced their percs into hosting a RBTA and used a variety of those tactics.
Here is a short video of them in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyR38NJUaOk
They have in past stayed near a frogspawn coral I have. They haven't directly hosted in it, but have always hovered right above it. I started by relocating this coral directly next to the RBTA. I also taped pictures of A. Ocellaris in a similar looking rose anemone around the tnak. I spent the morning harassing them with a turkey baster whenever they went to a spot in the tank not near the anemone, this didnt seem to be going anywhere good. I then spent the afternoon feeding mysis at hourly intervals, directly above the RBTA. This at least let me know they knew it was there. My final, and ultimately sucessful tactic was to feed the anemome until it would not eat anymore. Then I dumped mysis into the anemone, and the leftovers just lay there. The clowns (the male first) would eat the mysis, eventually going for the mysis laying deeper in the anemone. Once it ate a mysis that required that it dive into the anemone to get, it figured it out! It was as if it just discovered the best thing in the world, and immediately forgot about the food -- it just dove right in and wiggled non stop. The female soon joined her.
Now I have a whole lot of concerns/questions. First of all I'm scared that they'll forget about the anemone. They usually sleep in the front right corner of the tank, against the glass. If they do that tongiht does that mean that they aren't truly hosting in the anemone? Should I leave the pictures up for a while, and along those lines, do you think its fine to put the frogspawn back to other side of the tank? As you can see in the video the anemone is pretty small. Is it going to dislike the two clowns rubbing in it all the time? The male has not left the anemone since it discovered it, while the female seems to enjoy it, but could care less. Is that at all typical?
Anyway, thanks for any advice. And if you've a ever posted your experience or any tips regarding getting your clowns to host a BTA, I've probably read it, so thanks!
Here is a short video of them in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyR38NJUaOk
They have in past stayed near a frogspawn coral I have. They haven't directly hosted in it, but have always hovered right above it. I started by relocating this coral directly next to the RBTA. I also taped pictures of A. Ocellaris in a similar looking rose anemone around the tnak. I spent the morning harassing them with a turkey baster whenever they went to a spot in the tank not near the anemone, this didnt seem to be going anywhere good. I then spent the afternoon feeding mysis at hourly intervals, directly above the RBTA. This at least let me know they knew it was there. My final, and ultimately sucessful tactic was to feed the anemome until it would not eat anymore. Then I dumped mysis into the anemone, and the leftovers just lay there. The clowns (the male first) would eat the mysis, eventually going for the mysis laying deeper in the anemone. Once it ate a mysis that required that it dive into the anemone to get, it figured it out! It was as if it just discovered the best thing in the world, and immediately forgot about the food -- it just dove right in and wiggled non stop. The female soon joined her.
Now I have a whole lot of concerns/questions. First of all I'm scared that they'll forget about the anemone. They usually sleep in the front right corner of the tank, against the glass. If they do that tongiht does that mean that they aren't truly hosting in the anemone? Should I leave the pictures up for a while, and along those lines, do you think its fine to put the frogspawn back to other side of the tank? As you can see in the video the anemone is pretty small. Is it going to dislike the two clowns rubbing in it all the time? The male has not left the anemone since it discovered it, while the female seems to enjoy it, but could care less. Is that at all typical?
Anyway, thanks for any advice. And if you've a ever posted your experience or any tips regarding getting your clowns to host a BTA, I've probably read it, so thanks!
