Does the picture on the tank really work?

[nerses818]

So I recently got an RBTA for my tank. And I've read many times that people put pictures of clowns hosting anemones around to the tank to encourage their tank raised clowns to host. I know this has been covered before but I wanna here some first hand experiences if they are out there. Has this worked for you?
I forgot to mention I have 2 occelaris and 1 midnight domino clown.

 

[ReeferMadness80G]

So I recently got an RBTA for my tank. And I've read many times that people put pictures of clowns hosting anemones around to the tank to encourage their tank raised clowns to host. I know this has been covered before but I wanna here some first hand experiences if they are out there. Has this worked for you?
I forgot to mention I have 2 occelaris and 1 midnight domino clown.

lol I played a video of nems hosting clowns for an hour straight one time and my clowns actually watched it! They never went into it tho. Before I went the sps route I did have rbta host an occelaris, I woke up one morning and he was in it after months of never going near it. After that he never left it. It's really cool to watch them interact! Btw anemones host the fish, not the other way around ;) good luck buddy

 

[Ebone]

i've not personally tried, but a friend has done it multiple times by taping multiple pics around his tank. He swears by it

 

[BMW540]

I did it once myself and the clowns were in the anemone the following morning! May have just been a coincidence, but I think it was the picture :)

 

[Ebone]

maybe it only works in NC

 

[nerses818]

lol I played a video of nems hosting clowns for an hour straight one time and my clowns actually watched it! They never went into it tho. Before I went the sps route I did have rbta host an occelaris, I woke up one morning and he was in it after months of never going near it. After that he never left it. It's really cool to watch them interact! Btw anemones host the fish, not the other way around ;) good luck buddy

It's interesting i see them looking at the pictures too. So hopefully I'll see them in the anemone one of these days too!

 

[pga7602]

Just sharing another technique. I call it operation Clown Chute. Get a 1 inch or bigger pvc pipe and cut it to the height of your tank. Put one end of the pipe almost touching the middle of the nem and gently put your clown through the other end. The clown will naturally want to swim toward the other end. When it senses the nem it will go right in to hide from danger.

This has worked multiple times for me and its not too stressful. I think its better than chasing the clown into the nem which has never worked.

 

[Ebone]

Just sharing another technique. I call it operation Clown Chute. Get a 1 inch or bigger pvc pipe and cut it to the height of your tank. Put one end of the pipe almost touching the middle of the nem and gently put your clown through the other end. The clown will naturally want to swim toward the other end. When it senses the nem it will go right in to hide from danger.

This has worked multiple times for me and its not too stressful. I think its better than chasing the clown into the nem which has never worked.

interesting method

 

[ReeferMadness80G]

Just sharing another technique. I call it operation Clown Chute. Get a 1 inch or bigger pvc pipe and cut it to the height of your tank. Put one end of the pipe almost touching the middle of the nem and gently put your clown through the other end. The clown will naturally want to swim toward the other end. When it senses the nem it will go right in to hide from danger.

This has worked multiple times for me and its not too stressful. I think its better than chasing the clown into the nem which has never worked.

I have seen this used, I believe it works for introducing new clowns to your tank. However, if you have clowns already in your tank it may not work. And you may have another task on your hands just trying to catch a clown that's in your tank. If you've found a good way to do that, let me know.

 

[pga7602]

I have seen this used, I believe it works for introducing new clowns to your tank. However, if you have clowns already in your tank it may not work. And you may have another task on your hands just trying to catch a clown that's in your tank. If you've found a good way to do that, let me know.

I only do this as a last resort. So yes.. all the times it had worked, the clowns have already been introduced into the tank. The trick to catching clowns out of the display is to make sure the room is dark and shut off the lights for an hour or more. Using a tiny light source indirectly light up the tank just enough to see the clown. Red cellophane over a phone flash light is even better. You will see the clown is stationary moving in small wiggles. Using two nets.. a small and a large. Use the small one to gently push it into the large net. Its actually easier than I am describing. The clowns are actually asleep and can be easily directed.

Btw i use to breed them for LFS in my area so I had to figure all this out. For adult pairs and babies for pictures. Hope this helps....

 

[nerses818]

Just sharing another technique. I call it operation Clown Chute. Get a 1 inch or bigger pvc pipe and cut it to the height of your tank. Put one end of the pipe almost touching the middle of the nem and gently put your clown through the other end. The clown will naturally want to swim toward the other end. When it senses the nem it will go right in to hide from danger.

This has worked multiple times for me and its not too stressful. I think its better than chasing the clown into the nem which has never worked.

I saw this used one melevs reef YouTube channel, sounds interesting I think I'll give it a try

 

[nerses818]

Update: my clowns are the most stubborn clowns ever. Tried the method with the pipe. The swim into the anemone and then right back into their corner next to the return line [emoji58] hopefully one day they will go inside

 

[pga7602]

Update: my clowns are the most stubborn clowns ever. Tried the method with the pipe. The swim into the anemone and then right back into their corner next to the return line [emoji58] hopefully one day they will go inside

Sorry about that. Try again at lights out. Good luck.

 

[ReeferMadness80G]

lol

 

[revhtree]

How about a clown slide/tube? :D

 

[FranklinDattein]

I tried pictures and videos on a stablished ocellated pair, that was hosting a rock 5cm from a large BTA. I repeated it a handful of times in a 3years period, without success.

They finally hosted the anemone when I moved the tank and had a chance to remove the BTA and put them together in an enclosure, for a couple of hours.

 

[Jason mack]

So I recently got an RBTA for my tank. And I've read many times that people put pictures of clowns hosting anemones around to the tank to encourage their tank raised clowns to host. I know this has been covered before but I wanna here some first hand experiences if they are out there. Has this worked for you?
I forgot to mention I have 2 occelaris and 1 midnight domino clown.

Yes a picture on the back will work.. it did for me .. may take a couple of weeks .. i actually watched my clowns studying the photos . It was funny at times ...before and after pics attached :)

 

[nerses818]

Thanks for all the responses everyone. I will leave the pics up on the tank for a while and see what happens. I figure in any case it can't hurt to leave them up. The anemone seems to have attached for now so I don't want to disturb it by moving it into a container with the clowns for a few hours. If i see it on the move though I'll see if I can remove it and leave them together for a few hours and see what happens then as well. Will keep you all updated with what happens

 

[csreed]

Hi everyone! Has anyone tried these methods on a pair of clowns who have focused their affections on something else before the BTA was introduced? Mine think a frogspawn is their "anemone" & they won't give my newer BTA the time of day...

 

[nerses818]

Hi everyone! Has anyone tried these methods on a pair of clowns who have focused their affections on something else before the BTA was introduced? Mine think a frogspawn is their "anemone" & they won't give my newer BTA the time of day...

That's a good point! Would like to hear anyone's experience with that as well