Clown Finally Hosting in RBTA!
 

http://www.auphanonline.com:8080/gal...10_432_1_8.jpg

It took 3 months since getting the RBTA, but it's sure cool now that it's finally happened!
(click below on the reefblog to get more details/pics)

Cool. :wink:

When my clowns first started hosting, it was the coolest moment in my reefing experience. Glad yours finally started hosting for you...

That will grow into a very nice RBTA

Thanks man. As lame as it sounds, this was one of my goals when getting into this hobby! Tres cool for sure.

Haha.. clownfish/anemones is why I got into SW as well. Definitely cool...

Very cool :cool:

I was afraid our 2+year old captive bred ocellaris would not take to our GBTA for a long time, but it only took them a couple of days. Then, when we got our juvie tomato clowns and RBTA just before lsts Christmas, one OWNED the anemone right off the bat. That fish still owns the RBTA, leaving the other tomato hovering nearby, ever hopeful of getting a chance to host as well.

You can never predict how long it will take for the clowns to host. You've been very patient :biggrin:

Nice pictures. For whatever reason, they always host with their head facing away.

I had two tank bred percs for a year and a half, from my ten gallon to my 90 gal. They have never seen or knew of an anemone so when I got my hetaractis magnifica I was concerned with them not hosting. I got a small perc from a store that was already hosting in a carpet there and introduced the anemone and fish to my tank at the same time. The little guy was in it in a flash and my two just watched. Within a half an hour they were a happy family of three and haven't left it since. I feel like a proud papa and everyone that sees the tank is amazed.

I guess that's why we do this.

Yeah, plus my anemone isnt that big/deep yet. It's more 'flat', so the clown has to rub up sideways against it.

Weird how the smaller clownfish is still hosting in the frogspawn at night. They were so buddy buddy before. Guess it will take a little time for the little guy to get aquainted with the anemone.

FWIW,

I have a nice sized anemone (BTA) that can easily fit my 2 clowns. My female always sleeps in it, but the male.. he goes back and forth.. from the frogspawn, to the anemone.. it's weird. You'd think that with a host in the tank, it would choose that over a coral.. haha. He sleeps in either or as well, going back and forth at night too.

Clowns are just..... weird. :razz:

Definitely! It just adds a whole new level of enjoyment to the tank. I actually got a striped shrimp goby & pistol shrimp mated pair recently, but the shrimp has gone mia :S Goby hids in this rock.

So how does a clown fish 'take care' of the anemone? I heard that they may bring food back to it?

Now that's a cool sight to see... IMO. When feeding your tank (more specifically your anemone) when using big pieces of food (that can't be pigged out on by the clown) they will (and maybe not right away) take the food in their mouth and go put it on the anemone's tentacles.

I had a Clarkii that would go stick it right inside the anemone, placing it on it's mouth. The clown wouldn't leave it until it started to digest the food.. it was too cool.

They will, sometimes.. (IME) swim all around the anemones area and peck at rocks, pretty much as if it's cleaning house.. making everything perfect for them. I had a pair of CB Ocellaris that would move small pieces of rubble around the anemone if it wasn't to her liking . It's fascinating to watch..

But.. not ALL clowns will do this.. at least in my experience so far. My recent pair of true percs have yet to feed their host.

HTH :D

My gold-striped maroon pair love their LTA. The larger female will grab bigger pieces of food & feed it to the anemone, but as mentioned, smaller foods like loose mysis are scarfed down by the clowns. Originally, in the 110g, the female had the large LTA & the male stayed in the small RBTA but now they host together in the Long Tentacle.

My Ocellaris pair have never even looked at an anemone. They love to host in a green bumpy Rhodactis mushroom coral & have always done so. The RBTA is in the tank with them but they ignore it.

Anthony

How long should one wait in a new tank before adding an anenome?

I got my anemone about 2.5months after I setup the tank. Mainly because a LFS suddenly got a shipment of them (and I havent seen any RBTA for sale up to that point), so I jumped in and got one.

Having said that, my tank was jump started because I pretty much took over a friend's setup (got most of the LR and corals he had, so there was minimal cycling involved).

I would wait around 6 months to be sure the tank is stable, longer is better.

I am definately no pro when it comes to the facets of the clownfish/anemone symbiotic relationship. I just know that they definately feed it. I can drop a piece of krill in now and there is no way the clowns can eat it, and they will take it into the anemone and drop it. The big female does anyways. And they protect it with their lives. Keeping small predators away and constantly picking at the tentacles. I have seen them just laying in it and routinely inhaling and exhaling tentacles one at a time as if vacuuming them. I have seen the big female throw hermits off the top near the anemone. That's funny. Just a couple thoughts.

Mike