another anenome question

[Seamonkey]

:? I now have a name to my anenome (macrodactyla doreensis)Thanks. This is more a query than a concern.
It took about 3 weeks for my common clowns to become interested in the anenome, once they decided they like it, they really have not been away from the tenticles for more than 20 seconds - not that I sit around all day staring into my tank...
After a few days I notice a new behaviour, don't know if it was both clowns, or just one, as they are pretty much identical in size, but it appeared they were sucking ? on the ends of the tenticles really, this went on for a while periodically, not all the time, and now 2-3 months later I realize that this does not happen at all. I'm not even sure how long it went on for. Is this a aclimatization respose, anyone had this happen with their fishies.
Toni

[Troy F]

That's a normal behaviour and is open to speculation but you're probably close to the mark. There are a few theories on the whole acclimatation process. Daphne Fautin and Gerald Allen co-wrote a book entitled; Anemone Fishes And Their Host Sea Anemones. I've noticed similar behaviour in my pair and their host. Another odd behaviour is that every night the female kicks the male out while the actinics are on and he doesn't come back in until lights out.

[sumpfinfishe]

Dido, my old skunks and there BLTA were very close also
I totally believe that this is part of the acclimatation too.
My female also did the same as Troy's, she would kick out the male at dusk, were he was left to guard her, and sleep below at the base of the LTA. I won't touch on this part, could be very dangerous :!:

Well I can't believe it, I found an image of that monster when it was just a baby

[BC_Grl]

the female kicks the male out while the actinics are on and he doesn't come back in until lights out.

this is all very interesting. ...

Serious now, does it really take that long for the clown to host with the anemone? I've thought about reading the Wilkerson book on Clownfish & Anemone- is that a good book?

[Troy F]

Sometimes clowns may not go into an anemone at all. The first anemone I had was a Stichodactyla haddoni and I had tank raised ocellaris that never went in. Haddoni isn't the natural host for ocellaris and I guess being tank raised didn't help. The haddoni was killed when it went into a pump intake that wasn't as protected as I thought. It took less than 24hrs for the tank raised percs I have now to enter the S. gigantea. The giant carpet is one of the natural host anemones for a true percula clown. The female began the acclimatation process within about four hours and the male entered the next morning about 17 hours after he was put in the tank.

Jeanna, don't get any ideas about kicking your hubby out . I don't have Wilkerson's book but it's on my list. I was under the impression it was more on the raising of fry, maybe someone could fill us in? The Fautin/Allen book I have is geared mostly towards the identification of the fishes and anemones (Darren probably wonders if I'm giving it back). There's very little information about their captive care requirements. Daphne Fautin, one of the leaders in anemone research, is completely opposed to anemone collection.

[Delphinus]

Wilkerson's book does focus greatly on breeding and rearing anemonefish but it does have a half-decent section on anemones, and also touches on acceptable/unacceptable anemone surrogates... It's a VERY good book, I totally recommend it, if you have interest in anemonefish and hosting anemones. Too bad we don't live a little closer otherwise I'd offer to lend it out... OTOH it's not all that expensive compared to other books available to us reefers...

Joyce Wilkerson has similar feelings on the topic of anemones in captivity as does Daphne Fautin, although is a little less unforgiving and that seems to come out a little.

The field guide is basically a field guide, and Wilkerson's focus is almost entirely on captive aquaria. So you kind of need both books as they have a little overlap, but together they cover a broader spectrum than either of them does on their own. Just my $0.02 anyways ..... 8)

cheers

[BCOrchidGuy]

I like both books, both have excellent information.