Clownfish Heaven...I Guess.

[nitratehater]

Hi all,

I have made an interesting discovery, for myself anyway, that I thought I'd share. About two years ago, I purchased what is called a Green Torch (Euphyllia glabrescens). It is a soft coral with relatively thin purplish-brown fingers and green tips. About a year ago, I introduced a True, Percula Clown to the tank with a partner. Unfortunately, this clown has been alone for about 10 months now due to an agressive Damsel who has since been REMOVED.

Anyway, the clown has been in the tank for quite some time along with the green torch. This clown seems to have it's favorite spot in the tank as most clowns seem to. He/She never travels outside of what I'd say is a 6 inch perimeter of this location unless it's feeding time. This area is just next to the green torch...until last night. My wife was passing by the tank and shouted, "Hey, the clown is playing in the coral thingy!" All of a sudden. I have NEVER seen this clown, or any other clown for that matter, IN this soft coral before! We all know how priceless it is to see this seemingly symbiotic relationship before our eyes.

Now I know this probably happens and that someone out there has seen this before. But what could have made the clown ALL OF A SUDDEN decide to take a dive into this coral after a year? He/SHe seems to just love rolling around in it and it is so fun to watch, or course.

Could I expect this to be for good?

Has anyone seen this kind of occurance?

I'm pumped!

Thanks, Mike

[zhenya]

Hi Mike,

Could I expect this to be for good?

Has anyone seen this kind of occurance?

Yes, it is quite common with abcense of host anemone. The anemonefish will accept some soft corals as a surrogate host or some stony corals with large "wavy" tentacles on the polyp. Keep an eye on your Euphyllia coral becouse sometimes this type of symbiosis could be detrimental to the coral in the long run. I had an Ocellaris clownfish once that was hosting in the Torch coral becouse she wouldn't accept my H.crispa anemone as a host. The coral stoped expanding after couple of weeks and I had to return the fish to the store and get a fish that would host in the anemone.
Just a heads up. ;)
If your coral is fine then there is no need to worry, let it be and enjoy the "partnership".

[nitratehater]

Thanks! I'll try to post a picture, but that is something I have to master. How do you all take these wonderful pictures of your specimens? No flash? I have a very good digital camera, but haven't been able to take a good shot of my tank. If this is a question for another forum, just let me know.

Thanks, Mike

[romunov]

To reduce the flash reflection, try shooting at an angle. There's a photography article at www.reefkeeping.com you might wanna take a look at.
Not sure if RHO has one of those... yet?

[zhenya]

The article that Roman linked to is a good one and you may want to check out Gregory Ho's site as well, lessons section.
http://www.ximinasphotography.com/lessons/

[BubbaWPB]

My clowns snuggle up to my mushroom coral when my anemone is deflated.

[nitratehater]

Here's a

[nitratehater]

Here's a picture.