Clown are breaking my heart

[Waynerock]

They keep thinking my show Australia jewel Goni is an anemone and they are slowly killing it. I am so frustrated I spent the last hour trying to catch them and no go. When I am not trying to catch them they bite the hell out of my hand. Any suggestions besides taking out rock and getting them. That is not an option. I guess I just cant have nice Goni’s while they are alive. Sucks my fish are only in my tank to poop on my corals and the corals take president. I am prob going to give up the Goni to a new home and it will most likely die I am the only one who can keep Goni’s alive in these parts.

 

[Chefwheredyougo]

Try a big fish net and a smaller one to chase it into the big one. With the rocks in it'll be hard, but manageable.

 

[Quietman]

This why I won't have a pair of clowns. I'm even debating whether to have one clown (one clown I don't believe will not get as aggressive I've heard). But even with wanting to make my wife happy (who loves clown fish), I have two Alveoporas, a gorgeous hammer and a Duncan I would hate to see damaged. I keep showing her stories like yours on here and she's coming around to protecting the corals from clown fish....which she doesn't think are as 'cute' anymore.

Try the nets but I think you're going to end up removing rock and draining some of the tank in the end.

Wonder how many of us have reef tanks without clown fish? Probably very much in the minority I expect...seem to be first fish most add to their tank.

 

[Chefwheredyougo]

The one time I got both of mine out was during a tank transfer. The little one is easy. The bigger one, not so much. Even with the method I suggested. I still had to remove all rocks and drain all but 2 inches of water to be able to capture her. Theres also the food trap method, if you're willing to spend some money on the trap

 

[smiley28]

Hold feedings for a day or so then feed a tiny bit while holding the net in position for a quick swoop

 

[Waynerock]

I li

Hold feedings for a day or so then feed a tiny bit while holding the net in position for a quick swoop

I like that idea thanks

 

[sarcophytonIndy]

I have a pair of clowns and four rbtas at one end of my 125 mixed reef. They never move more than a few inches away from their hosts. Some day I may have an rbta issue, but at least no clown issue.

 

[Terri Caton]

What does a jewel one look like?

 

[bryanfuel]

I usually hold the feedings then do the bottle trap with a mysis cube on the inside

 

[Katrina71]

Could you diy a cage from craft canvas to protect your goni? Maybe give them a nice frogspawn to snuggle?

 

[Magellan]

They keep thinking my show Australia jewel Goni is an anemone and they are slowly killing it. I am so frustrated I spent the last hour trying to catch them and no go. When I am not trying to catch them they bite the hell out of my hand. Any suggestions besides taking out rock and getting them. That is not an option. I guess I just cant have nice Goni’s while they are alive. Sucks my fish are only in my tank to poop on my corals and the corals take president. I am prob going to give up the Goni to a new home and it will most likely die I am the only one who can keep Goni’s alive in these parts.

I have a larger Goni in the front of my tank, had been there about 3-4 months and my clownfish randomly decided it needed to be constantly bumped. I had tried so hard up to that point, and it was honestly the pit of despair watching my female clown ram it every time it tried to come out again...I went straight to the store and did the one thing I really didn’t want to do: got a nem. This did nothing. Clownfish kept bumping the Goni. I got rid of the nem immediately (28g tank). Ultimately the most low tech option of all was the solution: I caught her in the act and scared her (lunged toward the tank and snapped my fingers right beside the glass/her and the Goni). She backed off. I waited. She tried again. I scared her again. She tried one more time about an hour later that I was able to catch her in the act again, and the next time I saw her approach the Goni she visibly changed her mind. Never had a problem since...except my cleaner shrimp is an absolute demon monster cockroach. But that’s another story

 

[Orion1885]

get your tank pitch black and net them out using a head lamp. Or net them in the middle of the night

 

[Waynerock]

What does a jewel one look like?

It’s really sparkly in person

 

[Waynerock]

I have a larger Goni in the front of my tank, had been there about 3-4 months and my clownfish randomly decided it needed to be constantly bumped. I had tried so hard up to that point, and it was honestly the pit of despair watching my female clown ram it every time it tried to come out again...I went straight to the store and did the one thing I really didn’t want to do: got a nem. This did nothing. Clownfish kept bumping the Goni. I got rid of the nem immediately (28g tank). Ultimately the most low tech option of all was the solution: I caught her in the act and scared her (lunged toward the tank and snapped my fingers right beside the glass/her and the Goni). She backed off. I waited. She tried again. I scared her again. She tried one more time about an hour later that I was able to catch her in the act again, and the next time I saw her approach the Goni she visibly changed her mind. Never had a problem since...except my cleaner shrimp is an absolute demon monster cockroach. But that’s another story

I would try that but I think I would give my yellow tang a heart attack! It seems super neurotic as it is

 

[OrionN]

Wait until night when they are sleep and scoop them up. They cannot see red light well so Red LED light works well.

 

[LadyMac]

I agree with waiting til night, mine will hover in one spot by the rock work since I don’t have any nems or anything else to host them. Shouldn’t be too hard for you, hopefully.

 

[Jesterrace]

Get a fish trap or make a homemade one. I used this to catch my butthead of a snowflake occ:

 

[Magellan]

It’s really sparkly in person

that’s a Goniopora Stokesi under some nice blue light, I’ve had one in my tank for over 6 months. I’m surprised it didn’t retract with the clownfish in there, you might get lucky and it will decide to let the clown host! I would recommend (at a minimum) daily feedings of oyster feast for that voracious animal!