Stubborn Clownfish and The Hungry Anenome

[Seth Francis]

So....
Anenomes are awesome right? The only appropriate answer to that is certainly YES - (when they’re behaving). Clown fish have awesome personalities? Again, absolutely!

As often as the anenome is the source of issues, this time it is with a cute little pair of clownfish that I’ve have for about 4 months.
I got these two little snowflake clowns and they were TINY!

[this was right when I got them]
Probably about 3/4”-1” in size.
They’ve been awesome! Funny to watch, pleasant to everything I’ve introduced to the tank and they come to the top of the tank and see me whenever I walk by. (They LOVE to eat)

Well, I’m in the process of transition to my 70gallon tank and I wanted to accomplish a few things before I moved everyone over.
I wanted to get an anenome, &
I wanted to get the clownfish acclimated to the anenome.
That way, it would be easier to get them acclimated than chasing them around a 70gallon tank.

That brings us to where I am now. I introduced the anenome just shy of 3 weeks ago. The clowns paid it NO mind.
So I caught them and put all three in a plastic container in the tank. They did EVERYTHING they they could think of to stay as far away from the anenome as possible for the first few days. I caringly forced them to touch it a few times, they were NOT happy. One thing I noticed is that when their fins or a part of their body touches the anenome it turns white for a little while, no more than a half hour or so. It doesn’t seem to bother them too much.
They have been in the container for a week now as of today and they’re getting more used to the anenome but STILL don’t host in it. I’ve started putting pellets just above the anenome when feeding them and they swim up and get them, often just nipping the anenome with their fins. PROGRESS! But I’m wondering if this is going to be a lost cause?

My whole motivation for the clowns hosting is to prevent other fish from stealing food from the anenome when I feed it, I mean plus all the benefits that come along with the clowns doing some of the work maintaining it.

Anything else I can try? Anyone find different solutions?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

My clowns only took about 18 month to year before they hosted my BTA.
Nems don’t need to be fed that much really.

 

[Bob Loblaw]

BTA=/= Occy symbiant. The fins are turning white due to the nematocyst firing. Mix one of the 14 BTA symbiant species of clown and there will be hosting almost immediately or add one of the 3 species of nem that are an Occy symbiant for immediate hosting.

 

[Halal Hotdog]

Mine took 1-2 months to be hosted by the anemone. What worked for me was putting food in the anemone and letting them watch, then they started going closer and closer.

One of your goals is to have the clowns protect the food for the anemone. That is not what I notice in my tank. My ocellaris clowns always take food out of the BTA's mouth and try to eat it, if to big they just fling it away. They have made feeding the anemone almost impossible. The clowns are very well fed, just jerks by nature.

 

[Jason mack]

If the clowns were tank breed then they probably don’t know what an anamone is , but saying that it’s in their genes to host ...it just takes time sometimes .. I used the “ old foto of clowns in nems “ .. stuck too the back wall of my tank .. I could see the clown fish looking at them .. took about two weeks .. but in the end it worked .. also clowns have a mucus layer 3 times thicker than normal to protect against the nem .. but this needs too be built up as they get used too the nem ... as with everything in this hobby Patients is everything .. I also agree with @saltyfilmfolks .. nems don’t really need feeding that much as they rely heavily on photosynthesis.. so if you have a good light on your tank your nem will feed from the water column when you feed your fish ..

 

[Seth Francis]

BTA=/= Occy symbiant. The fins are turning white due to the nematocyst firing. Mix one of the 14 BTA symbiant species of clown and there will be hosting almost immediately or add one of the 3 species of nem that are an Occy symbiant for immediate hosting.

Do you believe over time they will acclimate to the BTA? Or do you think i should get a third Clown? I would expect aggression if I did that?

 

[Seth Francis]

If the clowns were tank breed then they probably don’t know what an anamone is , but saying that it’s in their genes to host ...it just takes time sometimes .. I used the “ old foto of clowns in nems “ .. stuck too the back wall of my tank .. I could see the clown fish looking at them .. took about two weeks .. but in the end it worked .. also clowns have a mucus layer 3 times thicker than normal to protect against the nem .. but this needs too be built up as they get used too the nem ... as with everything in this hobby Patients is everything .. I also agree with @saltyfilmfolks .. nems don’t really need feeding that much as they rely heavily on photosynthesis.. so if you have a good light on your tank your nem will feed from the water column when you feed your fish ..

I do have a kessil so I’m not worried about it surviving, I just like to make sure everything gets the best opportunity to thrive. There are a lot of things that I can not do, but anything that I can do - I tend to try.

Perhaps I’ll try the photo idea! I never thought of something like that

 

[Seth Francis]

BTA=/= Occy symbiant. The fins are turning white due to the nematocyst firing. Mix one of the 14 BTA symbiant species of clown and there will be hosting almost immediately or add one of the 3 species of nem that are an Occy symbiant for immediate hosting.

 

[Seth Francis]

My clowns only took about 18 month to year before they hosted my BTA.
Nems don’t need to be fed that much really.

Do you think I should keep them in the container or just move them to the 70gallon and let them do their thing?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Do you think I should keep them in the container or just move them to the 70gallon and let them do their thing?

My self. I’d put them in the tank.

 

[Jason mack]

My self. I’d put them in the tank.

+1

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

It may take a while for them to host, especially since they're not paired with one of the species they would host in the wild. They may adapt to it, they may not. Unfortunately, there's nothing you can do to make that happen.

I'd just put them all in the tank. If they're going to host it, they'll find it. If not, they won't.

 

[DeniseAndy]

Some clowns are just stubborn about it. My clarkiis absolutely love any anemone I put near them. My blackfoots took months, my occelaris took months in my large tank. In my 40g, my percs are useless if I put a nem in there. So, I don't try anymore. My little snowflake took to his in the 5g right away (I move my fish around when larger - no worries). Just give them time. It will happen. Do not add a third.

 

[Bob Loblaw]

Mixing non-symbiants, tank bred or wild caught, is a crap shoot whether they'll host. They may with time but the odds are equal of a mag float hosting them. I would not recommend adding another clown.

 

[DeniseAndy]

So true. My percs just love my overflow. They even lay eggs on it. Go figure.