Clown hosting my Duncan

[Leetch]

For some reason my mated pair clowns like the left side of the tank. Rarely do they venture over to the right except for a little exercise or to grab an occassional snack.

I've been kind of bummed because Bob (my quadricolor anemone) resides on the right side and was hoping the clowns would find that Bob has very nice accommodations complete with massage chair and all. Unfortunately they seem to think Bob lives in the slums and never visit him.

Last night I was watching my little funny fish and noticed the female of the pair head straight down toward my Duncan and began to rub around on it like it was an anemone. I was in complete shock and awe at the defiance this little bugger has afforded me. I wanted to punish Little Nemo for ruining my perfect little world but found it funny enough that I had to leave him alone.

Is it common for a Clown to host another creature assuming it finds it's tentacle pleasures relaxing enough or has my clown gone off the deep end and I need to get him (well her) some therapy?

[Ninong]

Clownfish have been known to adopt many different species of corals as surrogate hosts in captivity; however, this is very rare if the available host anemone in the tank is one of their natural hosts. They are almost always attracted to flowerpot corals: Goniopora and Alveopora.

Your E-quad, Bob, is a natural host for the following species of clownfish: A. akindynos, A. allardi, A. bicinctus, A. chrysopterus, A. clarkii, A. ephippium, A. frenatus, A. mccullochi, A. melanopus, A. omanensis, A. rubrocinctus, A. tricinctus, Premnas biaculeatus.

Please note that Bob is not a natural host for either A. percula or A. ocellaris; however, in captivity, ocellaris clowns will usually accept E-quads and percula clowns will occasionally accept them as surrogate hosts.

If you have any of the clownfish listed above as species that naturally associate with E-quads, which I doubt, then I don't understand why they are rejecting Bob. On the other hand, if you have percula clowns, then you may have a problem on your hands. They may or may not ever accept him.

Good luck!

[Leetch]

Clownfish have been known to adopt many different species of corals as surrogate hosts in captivity; however, this is very rare if the available host anemone in the tank is one of their natural hosts. They are almost always attracted to flowerpot corals: Goniopora and Alveopora.

Your E-quad, Bob, is a natural host for the following species of clownfish: A. akindynos, A. allardi, A. bicinctus, A. chrysopterus, A. clarkii, A. ephippium, A. frenatus, A. mccullochi, A. melanopus, A. omanensis, A. rubrocinctus, A. tricinctus, Premnas biaculeatus.

Please note that Bob is not a natural host for either A. percula or A. ocellaris; however, in captivity, ocellaris clowns will usually accept E-quads and percula clowns will occasionally accept them as surrogate hosts.

If you have any of the clownfish listed above as species that naturally associate with E-quads, which I doubt, then I don't understand why they are rejecting Bob. On the other hand, if you have percula clowns, then you may have a problem on your hands. They may or may not ever accept him.

Good luck!

Nin - you are correct, they are false percs but I still figured they would rather hang out with Bob than a flower. I didn't realize they would use coral as a surrogate. My wife found it very endearing.