True Perc or False Perc

[dolphinsfan]

I have 2 True perc's and recently found someone selling a BTA that had split in their tank very cheap. The two percs were attempting to host in anything soft (mostly mushrooms). I also have a tank with 2 false percs and was considering getting an anemone for them a few months ago.

I remembered reading that BTA's have a good survival rate, expecially when taken as clones so I had been considering getting one. Well, when I saw the BTA was for sale I figured I would get one and hopefully they would stop hosting in the mushrooms (makes you feel like a bad parent watching them squirm around in the mushrooms). So I picked up the BTA and put it in the tank and immediately, it expanded and looked great. After a few days of the clowns not hosting in it, I started poking around to make sure that they will host in BTAs. Everything that I read said that BTAs are not natural anemones for true percs or false percs but, that the false percs will host in them in captivity. Nothing stated that true percs host in them even in captiivity. Suddenly two days ago one of the percs found him and started to host and today, the other one has joined in.

This brings me to my two questions...First, do true percs also host in BTAs and Second, what is the easiest way to tell the difference between true and false percs?

 

[Andrew]

Yea, True Perculas will host BTA's. The main way to tell is is the True Perculas have alot of black around their stripes, white the false percula doesn't have much if any black around their stripes.

 

[stykthyn]

the stripes is not a very good way to tell. many true percs have very little black. false percs have a black ring around the pupil in their eye making it look much larger than it actually is. true percs do not have thise. the rest of their eye is a light orange.