[Bamm Bamm]

HEY EVERYONE LONG TIME SO SEE. I'M BACK AND I'M STARTING TO GET BACK INTO THE HOBBY AGAIN...

Ninong would you still happen to have that clownfish/anenome pairing list?

So here's the deal..
What Anenome for True Perc's? Setting up new tank
Well I've kinda been out of the hobby a for awhile I still have my 90 gallon it's mostly a FIsh only now with a few corals.
But I'll be moving in the next few weeks and setting up another tank. I'm thinking of going with an 18gallon I've had laying around for awhile now and I'll be using a 5-6" DSB, about 20-30lbs or so of beautifully encrusted LR. Still not sure if I'm going to hook up one of my sumps to it or not. I'll probably just run my CPR bakpak w/mj1200 and 2 other mj1200's for circulation. I don't plan on having to cycle the tank because I'll be taking everything out of my 90gallon that's been up for 2years but established for 4 years now..
The tanks only inhabitant will be a pair of True Perculas and I will eventually put in a Anenome for a host for them. I can't seem to find any of the list's I'd saved and printed out for which clowns pair with what anenome's though. Lighting will consist of 1 250w 6500k Iwasaki MH for now. Eventually I'll probably get a 10k bulb again..

Any sugestions would be great.

Also of course the tank will have snails, Maybe a few blue legged hermits crab's I'll have to see what the LFS's have when I get up to Chico...

I've previously had a pair of tomatoes crowns with a Seabae(can't remember scientific) for 2.5 years until a powerhead took him out while on vacation and I also had a BTA with my gold stripe maroon clown in my 90gallon until it perished due to a power failure and lack of circulation while on another vacation a year or so ago.(now I have people check on my tanks)=)


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[Ninong]

Hi Bamm Bamm,

I really think that a 40-gal is the smallest size tank for any host anemone-clownfish setup but I guess you could keep one of the small BTA clones in an 18-gal tank. There are two problems with that idea though and they are that it might start cloning itself and the second is that True Percs very rarely accept it as a host.

As far as what species might be most suitable for A. percula clownfish in a smaller aquarium (40-gallons or thereabouts), I would suggest Heteractis crispa (Sebae Anemone) because the other natural hosts are too difficult and require very large tanks.

Sometimes A. ocellaris clownfish will accept Entacmaea quadricolor (BTA) in captivity even though it is not a natural host. The most reliable clownfish for pairing up with a BTA is Premnas biaculeatus (Maroon Clownfish) but they require a minimum of a 40-gal tank.

[Bamm Bamm]

Ninong thanks so Much I knew I could count on you. Maybe I'll set back up my 46bowfront as a salt tank again and put them in there.. You're definately right I think I'll go with a Sebae anenome I had my last one for 3 years and it did beautifully until that one day when it crawled up my maxijet 1200=(... Thanks again....I think If I set the 18 up I won't put an anenome in it just a bunch of corals.. and maybe one or two fish..

[Mango Man]

Ninong, can you tell me if you have any tricks on trying to lure my true percs to my LT anenome? I know its soon, but they are not paying any attention. The true's are wild, not tank raised.

[Ninong]

There are no tricks involved in "luring" clownfish to accept an anemone as a host. The only thing that works is to know in advance which clownfish species are symbionts with which host anemones and then make your purchases accordingly.

You can find descriptions of all ten clownfish-hosting sea anemones and all 28 clownfish species in Dr. Daphne Fautin's excellent e-book Field Guide to Anemone Fishes and Their Host Sea Anemones. It is an excellent reference.

Joyce Wilkerson has written an excellent hobbyist's book on this topic, Clownfishes. I highly recommend it. She lists all of the natural symbiotic relationships as described in Fautin but she also lists known surrogate relationships between clownfish and host anemones that have been reliably observed in captivity.

There are several online sites that offer advice on which combinations are likely to succeed in captivity. Most of these sites are reliable but some are more up-to-date than others.

Of course you could take the easy way out and just start out with a pair of Amphiprion clarkii. They accept all ten species of clownfish-hosting sea anemones in nature and in captivity.



P.S. -- I am assuming that by "LT anemone," you mean Macrodactyla doreensis. If you mean Heteractis crispa, then there is a much better chance that your Amphiprion percula fish will accept it as a host; in fact, this is a natural combination. It's very difficult to know what people are talking about when they use a common name that is common to more than one species.

[Mango Man]

your right ninong, but taking the easy way out and buying clarkis would not be my style, haha, i like the challenge. thanks for the info though, did you see the thread i posted about anenome's? " the best info ive seen yet on anenome's", was the head line.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by Mango Man

your right ninong, but taking the easy way out and buying clarkis would not be my style, haha, i like the challenge. thanks for the info though, did you see the thread i posted about anenome's? " the best info ive seen yet on anenome's", was the head line.

Yes. Greg (BonsaiNut) wrote it, Carlos posted it on Reef Central. I've read it.

You may also enjoy reading Dr. Daphne Fautin's ebook here. It's also available in hardcover but the online version is free. That's an expansion of her doctoral thesis. She has done extensive field research on host anemones and clownfish in situ.

Another excellent source, especially if you're into breeding clownfish, is Joyce Wilkerson's Clownfishes. It's only about $24 $20.88 + $0.97 shpg online in paperback. She covers clownfish and their host anemones. She includes detailed instructions on breeding.

And then there is this article on Reefland written by Dr. Ron Shimek. It covers anemone husbandry in general with emphasis on Entacmaea quadricolor.

[returnofsid]

There is actually one trick that I've read a lot about, it's also been suggested to me by Kevin at Aquatic Dreams. In all the reading I've done, it seems to be very successful. This sounds nuts...but I've also suggested it to others who have tried it and it works!!

Find a pic online of your species of Clown hosting in your species of Anemone. Print out the pic and tape it to your tank where the Clown can see it. I know it sounds crazy but give it a try and then let us know how it works. I thought I felt my leg being pulled when Kevin first suggested it to me. I didn't have to try it as my Clowns went directly to my Anemone. However, in further readings on this technique, I became convinced it does work. So, as I mentioned, I suggested it to several different reefers who were having troubles getting their Clowns to host. They all tried it and it worked for all of them.

[ReeferSD]

My clown fish seems to love branching hammer coral to live in. it feeds it and rarely comes out of it. it has frogspawn that it will go to as well but loves the hammer. The hammer coral is huge when clowns in it, (which is nice cause hes there almost 24/7) the coral must like it also. If you dont want an anenome try the coral first.