Clownfish eating my Duncan?

[AlyciaMarie Verified Admin]

I think my Clownfish is eating my Duncan? Has anyone ever heard of this?

I left for a trip in June, and my Duncan was fine (I had a family member feeding the tank every other day). When we came back a little over a week later, half of the Duncan heads were gone. I assumed polyp bailout. Since we've returned, the remaining polyps have continued to dwindle. It's down to one polyp, with bits of flesh still attached to various parts of the skeleton. It's worth pointing out that everything else in the tank, fish and coral alike, is totally fine.

Until now, I've just assumed that it was new tank syndrome or some random issue with the Duncan. Well, I just witnessed my Picasso Clown charge at and nip the Duncan. Could my clown have been eating it this whole time? The tank is fed every day, but I wonder if when they were being fed every other day during our trip, it caused the clown to go looking for another food source, aka my Duncan. Has anyone ever heard of or experienced this?

 

[KrisReef]

Clownfish nip at their host, I don't know why but if they are hungry and it tastes good I can see them nipping it away to nothing. Is there a proper anemone in the tank that could distract the clown from visiting the Duncan?

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Clownfish nip at their host, I don't know why but if they are hungry and it tastes good I can see them nipping it away to nothing. Is there a proper anemone in the tank that could distract the clown from visiting the Duncan?

Yeah, we have a BTA at the top of the tank. One clown shows interest in it, but the other ignores it, haha.

 

[AlyciaMarie Verified Admin]

Clownfish nip at their host, I don't know why but if they are hungry and it tastes good I can see them nipping it away to nothing. Is there a proper anemone in the tank that could distract the clown from visiting the Duncan?

Yeah, like @Gumbies R Us said, we have a BTA. The corner of our tank is currently hosting the clownfish. It's never shown any interest in the Duncan that I've noticed until now.

 

[KrisReef]

Yeah, we have a BTA at the top of the tank. One clown shows interest in it, but the other ignores it, haha.

The BTA must not taste very good?

Clownfish can be so difficult. Mine are too.

 

[AlyciaMarie Verified Admin]

The BTA must not taste very good?

Clownfish can be so difficult. Mine are too.

That's the truth. I've tried some tricks, but they're stubborn.

 

[KrisReef]

Yeah, like @Gumbies R Us said, we have a BTA. The corner of our tank is currently hosting the clownfish. It's never shown any interest in the Duncan that I've noticed until now.

Well, maybe your clownfish is as confused as I am? See my reply to @Gumbies R Us -

I do think if I was a clownfish that I would prefer Duncan over BTA flesh, but I haven't tried either, yet.

I do know that once they get a taste for a coral they generally keep eating it.

 

[Lavey29]

They are probably nipping at pods on it. When a coral is in decline algae will start to form. May not even be visible to the naked eye. Cleaners like tiny pods then get on it to for the algae food. Then fish may nibble on the pods. My mandarin would often peck pods off calcified coral stocks.

 

[KrisReef]

They are probably nipping at pods on it. When a coral is in decline algae will start to form. May not even be visible to the naked eye. Cleaners like tiny pods then get on it to for the algae food. Then fish may nibble on the pods. My mandarin would often peck pods off calcified coral stocks.

This makes good sense.

 

[EricR]

@AlyciaMarie , how did this work out for you?
I have the same issue -- clown just started biting tentacles off of my healthy duncan about 10 days ago (after the coral had been in the tank with the clown for a year).

Curious if you did anything and, if so, how that worked out?

I have another post with not many responses yet here:
Clown Biting Off Duncan Tentacles

 

[AlyciaMarie Verified Admin]

@AlyciaMarie , how did this work out for you?
I have the same issue -- clown just started biting tentacles off of my healthy duncan about 10 days ago (after the coral had been in the tank with the clown for a year).

Curious if you did anything and, if so, how that worked out?

I have another post with not many responses yet here:
Clown Biting Off Duncan Tentacles

Unfortunately, my Duncan ended up dying… I still to this day believe my clowns were targeting it for whatever reason. Everything else is totally fine. Sorry about your Duncan!