Will a clown accept a fake anemone as a host...?

[Aaarrrggg]

Turns out, YES!

I'm in the process of upgrading from a 20g to a 144g and while my clowns are waiting for their new home to be ready, I thought I'd try a little experiment.

I bought this 9" anemone ornament from eBay...

...and within a week...!

She still spends most of the day begging for food at the waterline, but I catch her in it in the mornings and she snuggles up to it every night.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/yPa-2ds4qRk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
http://youtu.be/yPa-2ds4qRk

Sorry for poor quality pics and low light vid. I have to sneak up on her to get a shot. If she sees me she instantly rushes up to the surface (she's such a brat!)

The male is still sleeping in the corner of the tank, but she does let him under the tentacles from time to time. I'm hoping that will improve in the coming days/weeks.

The real test will be when I move them over to the 144g. I'm hoping she'll recognize the nem and continue to associate with it in the larger tank. Then 6mths down the line when the tank is mature enough, I can swap in a RBTA.

If your tank is not yet ready for a anemone, this is definitely worth a try! Get a head start on hosting. :bounce2:

 

[Johanv]

Can you post the link of where you got it?

 

[ken6217]

be careful when acclimating the nem not to get to close to the lights so it doesn't melt.
Ken

 

[Hinds04]

I also want one

 

[Aaarrrggg]

The male is being allowed in today! Yay!

I got it off eBay so I probably can't link it directly, but if you do an eBay or Google search for "Penn Plax Anemone" you'll find them. I went for the large orange one (9")

The only problem with them is the tentacles are quite stiff so they don't move in the current as I'd hoped. I'm not sure if the smaller ones would be better for that or not. I've also seen some more rubbery fake corals in PetCo that might work. I really wanted something that looked more like a BTA though so I went with this one.

These would be great for breeding tanks that don't have enough light for a real nem.

 

[Aaarrrggg]

Wanted to give an update...

I've now moved the clowns and their fake anemone from my 20g to the 144g. I moved the nem first so it wouldn't freak them out when I placed it in the new tank. When I added the clowns the female onyx dove straight into it!

It's been a few days and she now spends most of her time in the nem. They'll both explore the tank together, but she always comes back to her beloved fake nem. :lol: She decided to sleep away from it on the sand with the male clown for 3 nights, but now she's back in there every night. If I surprise the male domino (move fast outside tank,) he will dash towards the nem, so he obviously wants in too... but she pushes him away. Here's hoping that situation will improve in time.

I've heard it said that clowns can "sense" or "smell" host anemones, but there's obviously a strong visual cue as well for her to take to this one so readily.

Here's a video I took about 15mins after introducing them to the big tank.



I'm looking forward to getting a real nem for her once the tank is ready for it! :bounce2:

 

[deangelr]

I read a paper that found clownfish were able to acclimate more quickly to a natural host after being housed in a fake anemone for a period of time..

They build up a mucous coat in a fake anemone that helps them move more quickly into the real one.. It doesn't match the same chemical cue but still moved the process along..

So you should be in good shape when you get the real deal..

 

[BonsaiNut]

Perhaps when you add the sunken pirate ship you can get her to wear an eye patch!

 

[anderson0196]

My clown thinks that the PVC elbow in QT is it's host....I think some use just about anything