Clownfish nipping pocillopora frag

Vinnygnanoreefing · May 4, 2019

Hey everyone, I’m new here but not new to the hobby! Have been a passionate reefer for now 7 years. I had to quit for a year but I’m back at it with another tank (of course). Alright now for the problem. I bought a pocillopora frag off aquasd the other day, and I’m kind of worried about it. It was sold as a pink poci, but only the top half of the branches have any color. Figured it might be partially bleached, because the polyps in the white part are still extended and alive. The bigger problem is that my clown will not leave it alone. He keeps pecking at a certain spot and despite my efforts to stop him has managed to remove a patch of flesh from the skeleton. I cant see it being him trying to host it, but I’m stumped as to why he’s so interested. Ive only ever had clowns bite me, not corals! Worst case scenerio I have a friend who can take the frag, but I’d really like to keep it as I really love pocillopora.

Any input is greatly appreciated!
Best regards, Vinny

flooddc · May 4, 2019

IME, Fish will try to move anything that added to their territory. Try moving the frag elsewhere or rearrange the rocks around the clownfish main spot to keep the clownfish busy.
Pocillipora is pretty easy and fast grower (well, for most people). Because of its shape (tree like), the bottom usually died off and only the top has polyps. Not sure how big is your frag, but if it's a small frag, then the white part is either bleaching or dying.
photos?

Vinnygnanoreefing · May 7, 2019

Hi flood, thanks for the suggestions! I ended up moving the frag to the top of my tank and for the last couple days the clown has been completely ignoring it! The patch that he bit off is already growing back but the bottom is still bleached. It came in this way so I can only thing that it was pretty close to other corals in the facility and that caused the bottom to be shaded out and bleach. The picture isnt too great because its ipad quality. It is pretty close to my galaxea now, but i believe it will fine due to the high flow. Im still keeping an eye out for sweepers at night though.