why do you have to have an anemone?

[Riona]

I see a lot of posts(not only here) from people wanting anemones for their clowns. Some would be good owners to them, others get them, then have them die quickly(a lady where I live did that just recently. Got a bubble tip for stock lights in a 24 nanocube deluxe a week or two after it was set up, ***at the reccomendation of the store that it was okay in that new of a tank*** and it did okay for a couple of months, just did die on her, luckilly one of the guys there told her to try something like a frogspawn for her clowns instead of another anemone and she was considering it) or slowly, or just want one sooooo bad that they can't stand it, whether they get one or not.

So basically, why do clown owners feel the need to have one? I've never wanted one to begin with, and even so my clowns don't seem to be missing anything for not having one. I've seen the one in the display at my local LRS in his anemone, and it's interesting, but I really don't see the huge attraction to it? Am I missing something maybe?

 

[Anemone]

People just want to capture nature realistically. Is it necessary? No, but people want to say, "this happens in nature, and I have it right here in my tank."

Kevin

 

[sarahkucera]

I find this post funny because my clowns won't host in their nems.

 

[Slakker]

A lot of people like the whole concept of the symbiotic relationship between clowns and anemones...it's very endearing.

 

[davocean]

In contrast to my other fish who all scramble for every bit of food they can eat as fast as they can, there's my clown.
She always grabs food and spits it into her nem b4 eating herself.
If a shrimp molts, she'll drag that across the tank and push it into her nem.
The more I watch this kind of relationship, the more I admire it.

 

[GSMguy]

like davocean i love watching the clowns relationship with a host. personally i think some of the coolest hosts are things like frogspawns and brain corals as long as the clowns dont hurt them.
i also keep an anemone because my maroon clowns love it and its not that hard to keep i try to keep my water quality high whether i keep nems or not and the clown anemone relationship is one of the things that made me start this hobby

 

[raoul]

I'm just amazed and intrigued by the relationship as well.

When I was young we lived on Guam when my dad was in the military. There were many times that we got to walk out to the reef at low tide, put our heads underwater and just watch the sealife. I was convinced I would be a marine biologist when I grew up.

Well, now I have children of my own and I still want to be a marine biologist when I grow up I'm fascinated by it all, and the more I can observe and learn the more I enjoy the hobby. The clowns and anemone were some of the things we did not see on our trips to the reef, but now I can look at them everyday in my tanks.

I guess I just echoed what others have said, but that's how I feel