Will clowns damage an anemone?

[t5Nitro]

My RBTA is maybe 3 to 3.5" and the clowns decided to go in it. The male is in there all of the time now it seems and his caudal fin has a few rips in it. Is it normal for the clown to get a small bit dinged up when it first goes in an anemone? There is nothing else that bothers him. If I watch him he kind of twitches around in the anemone a bit and I'm not sure if he's scraping rocks as he does this or what.

And then will the clowns damage the anemone being that it isn't very large yet? The anemone looks alright for now. I just gave it PE mysis. I'm going to feed it more often and try to get it to grow faster since the clowns have decided they like it.

 

[Toddrtrex]

What type of clowns and how big are the clowns?

I personally have watched a pair of clarkiis love an anemone to death.

 

[t5Nitro]

They are perculas. They're maybe around 1.5" and 2" give or take.

 

[t5Nitro]

When the lights first come on and the clown is in it, does it take a while for the anemone to open back up? It's deflated and small so I turned the rock around so the clown doesn't go in it until it inflates again.

This normal? Should I just leave it the way it is and let the clown go in it, deflated?

 

[Toddrtrex]

There is a chance, given the size of your pair, and the size of the anemone that they could be stressing it out.

However, anemone will sometime get smaller when the lights are out, but still should be a good size.

 

[copokie]

They should be fine. keep the nem happy be feeding it plenty

 

[t5Nitro]

I just got back and the anemone looks normal again. I wasn't sure since it was almost all the way deflated looking and the small clown was quite a bit bigger than the nem itself that it would be damaged.

I'll keep giving it some PE mysis daily now that the clowns like it.

I've been giving it maybe 3-4 pieces of PE mysis when I do. How much should I be feeding it?

 

[Toddrtrex]

I just got back and the anemone looks normal again. I wasn't sure since it was almost all the way deflated looking and the small clown was quite a bit bigger than the nem itself that it would be damaged.

I'll keep giving it some PE mysis daily now that the clowns like it.

I've been giving it maybe 3-4 pieces of PE mysis when I do. How much should I be feeding it?

Normally I would say every 3-4 WEEKS, but since yours is fairly small compared to the size of the clowns I would suggest more then that. I would start with twice a week and see how it responds. Will need to keep an eye on the water quality since you are adding more food/waste to the tank.

 

[t5Nitro]

How much food twice per week should I be giving it? I give it PE mysis as stated. I don't want to be giving it too little or too much I guess.

 

[1DeR9_3Hy]

What type of clowns and how big are the clowns?

I personally have watched a pair of clarkiis love an anemone to death.

My occy pair loved a RBTA to death as well. It was funny, yet sad

 

[t5Nitro]

Usually only the male would go in it but now the larger one wants to join him. It seems ok after it opens but it doesn't want to open up unless I shoo the clowns away and let it open when the lights turn on. Do you think I should just put egg crate around the rock and just keep feeding it for a few more months before letting the clowns at it?

 

[Toddrtrex]

Yea, if you can rig something that keeps that clowns out until the anemone is bigger that would be great.

 

[t5Nitro]

I actually didn't do anything yet and wanted to see how the anemone looked after a few days. So 2 days later of both clowns in the anemone and closer to a week of the male being in it and the anemone has the "bulbs" on the tips yet.

Is it ok to leave it?