How long until my perculas hosts the anenome?

[ibjellyfish]

Ive had a true percula clownfish that Ive had for a while and I bought a bubble tip anenome today. My clownfish likes to stay in oone corner of the tank. The anenome is on the oppisite side. How long to you guys think itll take for him to host, if he does host at all. Im not even sure if he will host, but do you guys have any estimated time for a clownfish? Im just wonderiong. Thanks!!

[Ninong]

Your new bubble-tip anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor) is not a natural host for Percula clownfish (Amphiprion percula). They sometimes accept it as a surrogate host in captivity but they usually do not.

The natural hosts for Percula clowns are: Heteractis crispa; H. magnifica; Stichodactyla gigantea.

[vaporize]

Ive had a true percula clownfish that Ive had for a while and I bought a bubble tip anenome today. My clownfish likes to stay in oone corner of the tank. The anenome is on the oppisite side. How long to you guys think itll take for him to host, if he does host at all. Im not even sure if he will host, but do you guys have any estimated time for a clownfish? Im just wonderiong. Thanks!!

No estimate base on the information provided.

But for a start, you can tell us about:

• whether your clownfish is tank raised or wild caught
• size of your anemone & age of your tank (more for the health of your BTA)
• Size of your tank
• size of the fish
• tankmates

[ibjellyfish]

Im glad to inform you all that the clownfish started hosting the anemone yesterday =D
Thanks anyways guys, it just took time.

[Ninong]

Congratulations!

The answer to your original question is that in your case it took your A. percula clowns one week to accept your E. quadricolor as a surrogate host.

This time period is quite variable, especially when the pairing is not a natural one. When pairing clowns in captivity with one of their natural hosts, the time period for acceptance is usually anywhere from a few hours to a few days. When attempting to pair clowns with an anemone that is not one of their natural hosts, it usually takes longer and sometimes it never happens. You're fortunate that it worked out in your case. Good luck!

[sea boy]

do i need to move my bta to the light everytime it moves away

[Ninong]

You should leave your BTA alone. It will find the light on its own in its good time.

[sea boy]

You should leave your BTA alone. It will find the light on its own in its good time.

ok ill do that thanks. and im also waiting for my percula clown to host it.

[sea boy]

also i just got home from work and my tupe anenome was fighting with my bta. and its the first time it moved since i got it. my tube anenome aways stays in the same spot.

[Ninong]

Two points to consider: 1) Anemones will fight. Sometimes they do it physically and other times it's chemical warfare; 2) BTAs are not natural hosts for percula clownfish. Sometimes a percula clown will accept a BTA as a surrogate host in captivity but oftentimes they don't. Ocellaris clowns are more likely to accept a BTA in captivity in spite of the fact that it's not a natural host for that species either.

As you can see from the posts put up by the topic starter, percula clowns actually do accept BTAs sometimes. Sometimes it takes only a week or two, or a month or two, but other times it's never.

How large is your aquarium? That's a very important factor to take into consideration when it comes to what you can keep together as far as anemones are concerned. In other words, it's a lot easier to keep more than one anemone in a tank that is six feet long than it is in one that is only two feet long.

[sea boy]

thats true then ill just move the tupe anenome to a other tank i have 3 tanks all saltwater i have a 30gallon a 25gallon and a 10gallon i just got the bta on sunday the clown rubs it with his tail but does not get in its something im starting to do i have coral but never have had anenomes but i thank you for helping me out on this

[berkdog]

My tank bread ocellaris would never touch an anemone. So one day a friend came over and told me to put it in quarantine with an anemone (a smaller container). After a day in closer contact, the ocellaris started to host the anemone!