Re: Hi, just a question about my (surface loving) clownfish, Anemone 5/13/08 Hi team! <Hello> Just writing to report that my clownfish are still happy and healthy (and extremely cute). <Good> Just thinking of getting an anemone for my pair to host. <Definitely requires a step up in care over the clowns.> I can't work out whether they are ocellaris or true perculas because they are always moving too fast for me to count the spines in their fins, but I assume they are the more common ocellaris because they are more yellowy. <Most likely.> Just wondering - if I got a compatible anemone, what are the chances that they will become "friends"? the guy in the fish shop says that they almost certainly hang out together eventually, but just takes time. Is this true? <They may, however tank raised clowns often do not host. They would be fine without one.> I'm especially worried because my fish like to be near the surface all the time and they might not want to be wherever my anemone decides to be. Thanks again! Ps. I attached a pic, just because I'm in love and I want to share the love.  Here they are up at the surface as usual. Splashing the water around as usual. Lai <Very nice.> <Chris>

PS: Hi, just a question about my (surface loving) clownfish -5/13/08 PS. I also have an extremely clean, obsessive compulsive scarlet cleaner shrimp, who is especially keen to clean these guys but they wont have a bar of it. Will that change in time? Is it ok to have a lonely, rejected shrimp always attempting to clean these guys? Hes always jumping around the tank everywhere to try and get them. <Often small aquarium fish do not allow themselves to be cleaned. Normal behavior all around.> <Chris>

Clownfish/Compatibility 4/23/08
Hi,
<Hello>
Thanks so much for the goldmine of knowledge that is wetwebmedia.com.
<You're welcome.>
I've researched, but believe that my question needs to be met with your truly expert advice. My 75 gallon aquarium currently houses a dwarf Flame Angelfish, a Sixline Wrasse, a Mandarin Dragonette (many copepods present in tank), a Fire Goby, Bali Starfish, and a cleaner shrimp. As for corals: a Colt Coral, Frogspawn, Trumpet Coral, colony of Zoanthids, and xenia. Will a Black Percula Clownfish be compatible with this assortment of life?
<Sure.>
Do you think that it could damage the frogspawn by trying to host in it?
<Won't help much if the clownfish is causing the coral to close. If the clownfish is tank bred, the odds of it hosting in anything are slim.>
I intend for the clownfish to be my last addition, but I'd also like to know your opinion of whether this may be too many fish.
<You are fine here.>
Water quality seems to be great according to my testing kits. I do weekly 10% water changes using Reef Crystals salt mix and no additional dosing of minerals.
<Sounds good to me my friend.>
Thanks so very much. Your opinions are greatly valued!
<You're welcome. James (Salty Dog)>

Clownfish/BTA Compatibility 4/22/08
I recently asked a question about lighting, tank cover and wrasses. The advice was right on! Just wanted to let the crew know that I have 2 ocellaris that have adapted perfectly to a Bubble Tip. The clowns are tank raised. Don't know the origin of the anemone. They took about 2-3 weeks to get together. Have been thriving for about 6 mos. Just thought some of your readers may like to know this.
<Thanks for sharing your experience, Roger. James (Salty Dog)>
Roger

Saddleback clamfish
Crazy Clowns hosting in Clam 3-31-08
Hi crew,
<Good Morning. Yunachin here.>
Is it unusual that my two Saddleback clowns have hosted in my Derasa clam? The clam never closes on them and despite having a giant long tentacle anemone to go to, they choose the clam.
<Not common but not uncommon either.>
Even when my Six-line wrasse is chasing them down (which I don't understand either),
<Wrasse can have little attitudes especially with new fish.>
they could easily attain safety if they go to the long tentacle anemone, but they just try and dodge the Six-line in the clam. They have only been in the tank about a week... perhaps they will figure out the wrasse will no longer nip them in the safety of the long tentacle after some time.
<Hopefully. I would watch them very carefully as clams do have a taste for fish. I have seen many a clam take fish down quickly, if you get concerned you can always move the clam to a spot that they cannot get to right away, then if frightened, they will book to the Long Tentacle. After they take to the LTA, then you can move the clam to wherever you see fit.>
Thanks~Alan
<You’re welcome! –Yunachin>

Maroon Clownfish Loving its Anemone to Death, Overfeeding – 2/20/08
Greetings WWM Crew,
<Hello Mike, Brenda here!>
First I'd just like to say thanks for having such a great site with so much useful information. I've been using it quite a bit since I found it. First I'd like to give a little info on my tank...
36 gallon bow, Almost 7 months old, 50 lbs live rock and 40 lbs of live sand filtration/skimming: Aquaclear 50 running the foam insert and ChemiPure, SeaClone 100
<SeaClone skimmers are not the best. I recommend looking into a better product.>
Circulation: Hydor Koralia Nano 1, Power Sweep 226,
<I don’t recommend power heads when keeping anemones. If you must, they need to be covered to protect the anemone.>
130w PC fixture, 1 65w 10K and 1 65w actinic; lighting period ~11.5 hours
H2O Quality: ph 8.3, SG 1.024
<Gradually increase salinity to 1.026.>
ammonia undetectable, nitrite undetectable, nitrate ~10 +/-
<Nitrates need to be zero.>
phosphate undetectable
Alk ~9
calcium 360
I do a water change every 2 weeks of ~5 - 6 gallons. (I use IO Reef Crystals)
Average temp 78 degrees F
<I recommend targeting 80 degrees F.>
Live stock:
Fish - fed twice daily, alternating between Formula 1 & 2 flake, Mysis and frozen Brine Shrimp Plus 2 green chromis
1 Kole tang
<A 36 gallon tank is much too small for any tang.>
1 Maroon clown
Softies - add DT's plankton every other day, feed the open brain small piece of silverside 2x a week, 2 medium mushroom rocks, an open brain, 1 medium polyp rock and a small crop of pom pom xenia several snails, 1 red leg hermit, 3 blue leg hermits
<Crabs can become predators of coral and anemones.>
and a crop of feather Caulerpa. Hope this wasn't too much....Generally speaking, I think the tank is in good shape. There seems to be an abundance of life in the sand and all my livestock appears to be in good health. Two weeks ago I purchased a medium to large rose BTA from my LFS. It appeared to be in very good shape, no damage to the mouth or base, good color and bubbled up real nice. I drip acclimated over a 4.5 hour period prior to introducing into the tank (I know I should have a Q tank, unfortunately I don't). Placed it in an area in the tank
with several crevices for it to choose from. Over night it moved into one of those crevices and has been there since. It is securely attached and, for the most part, been behaving exactly as I have expected based on the research I have done. It has had an excellent feeding response and appetite. I've been feeding a Silverside every 2 to 3 days
<A whole silverside is much too large. I don’t recommend feeding portions bigger than the anemones mouth. When feeding too large of portions, the anemone will likely regurgitate several hours later, ending up with nothing to eat.>
and the clown also takes it pieces of Mysis and Brine Shrimp mix on the days when I feed those.
<Brine Shrimp is not adequate. There is little or no nutritional value in Brine shrimp unless it is newly hatched.>
My maroon clown (~2" in size) moved in on the anemone within minutes of it being in the tank and been hosting it ever since. Now for my problem/question. In 2 weeks, the clown never gives this anemone any peace.
<This is not unusual for a Maroon clownfish.>
It is in it or around it all day long and even sleeps in the anemone at night. At times it appears to be pressing its body against the anemone's mouth, as if it were trying to suffocate it. Over the last 2 days the anemone seems to be looking very "wilted" and has not been expanding as in the past. Is it possible for the clown to be stressing out the anemone?
<Sure is!>
I know the maroon clown can be an aggressive fish, but I haven't seen or read anything that they could potentially harm their anemone. Could you please give me any ideas or suggestions you may have.
<Your anemone needs to be at least three times (minimum) larger than this clownfish. Maroon clownfish can love their anemone to death. They need to be separated until the anemone is large enough to handle the Maroon.>
Thanks, Mike
<You’re welcome! Brenda>

Re: LTA moving around   -02/20/08
Thank you again for your help, James. This site is truly amazing in the amount of info found here. I only whish I heard about it earlier.
<Never too late.>
I do have another question for you about my Tomato Clownfish.
As I said before, the female of the pair likes to waft and dig with her tail all around the host LTA. It would be pretty interesting, if she did not bury corals without regard, cloud up my water, move my sand bed around (which is really bad for me because I have a DSB and the anemone has been moving so she basically ruins the filtration efforts ((denitrification)) of the sand bed), etc...etc...etc...
<Normal behavior, not going to change.>
She is about four inches long and in the past 7 months has constantly gotten darker and darker on her sides.
<Normal.>
She was bright red when I got her so I know she is not a Cinnamon(?) <spell checkers work wonders here.>
Clownfish, anyways I believe she is at least a couple of years old. Last night, since the LTA moved again ( but now to a good spot for him) I have been constantly rearranging for the corals health. So she goes on her usual rampage of cleaning around the anemone, although she has done this for the whole time in my tank and still have yet to see some eggs, and throughout the night I had a rock tumble as a direct result. I lost my 2 big colonies of Acropora in the sand that I had to dig out, and a big rock fell not so much directly on the anemone but close enough to cause damage to my female who was in a slumber at the time I am guessing. I saw the tumble had happened 2 hours before the actinics come on so I turned them on, restacked (hopefully a little safer this time) and turned the
light back off so everything could calm down. During this I noticed my female had some scratches on her side, slime coat issues, and would not leave the cleaner shrimp alone unless he was cleaning her. I also noticed that she will not go anywhere near her anemone the male is still in there and will not leave it no mater what).
#1 Am I getting too worked up too soon about the female? will go back in time)
<Nothing you mention sounds unusual, nature will take it's own course here.>
#2 Should I be worried about the stress factor of this whole episode?
<I would as this behavior isn't going to change. is why anemones and clownfish should be kept in a system by themselves.>
#3 Is there any other way to get her to stop doing this other than taking her out? I have tried strategically placing rock rubble around the LTA so her tail will hit the rock instead of the sand and that seems to work for a while until she moves the rock.
Obviously you cannot train a fish, so I hope this does not seem like a stupid question. Also I know I should not even have the LTA in the system to begin with. Maybe I am looking for an answer I will never get.
<I think so my friend.>
Maybe I should be saying to myself, you created this problem, now you deal with it.
<Bingo, lack of reading/learning before the purchase.>
I just love all the corals that I have and would love to not have to remove anything, but it is pretty much down to this: either pull out the clown/anemone/select corals or shut up and deal with it?
If it is not to much of a problem I was going to list all the corals and you could recommend which to remove so everything is not always competing chemically.
Keep in mind I run a lot of activated carbon 100% of the time to help with the allelopathy.
<spell checker?? Let's not go through this again, please. Forget which corals to move, your best choice is removing the LTA and the clownfish to a separate system, there you will have the benefit of enjoying both worlds.>
large Goniopora, green flower pot, very big (Skelton about half the size of a beach ball and expands longest tentacles almost a foot)
LTA 14 or so inches across
Bali Green Slimmer <Never heard of a slimmer.> (size of a fist)
Turbinaria Sp. about the size of a coffee cup.
Acropora <&%$%^@> yellow with geen <what color is geen, close to bue?> tips (little smaller than a baseball)
Pearl Bubble Coral
15 heads of Frogspawn
F Brain Coral
4 heads of Branching Hammer Coral
Around 100 heads (split in 2 colonies) of Metallic Green Trumpet Coral
Hydnopora <A new family of Hydnophora?> (size of a hand)
rock with 13 orange Rhodactis Mushrooms
piece of Tonga with 20 green Mushrooms (rock also has two half dollar chunks of some kind of hitchhiking crustacious yellow/tan SPS.
1 beautiful purple/blue with green Clam (grows at an amazing rate)
I also have a couple of hitchhiking corals that I have let go but are very small and they include a tiny chunk of toadstool , that I took out months ago, but where it grew its base to another rock that I had to carefully pry off, is now growing. There is also some kind of crusting soft coral (resembles glove polyps or something, but that is about 2'' by 6'' patch). also little tiny chunk of Pocillipora, and this little guy that the best I can come up with is a plate coral (the size of a dime).
<Nope, do search/read here.>
One more question:
Along with those corals I have five fish that I will list so you don't have to revise.
Pair of clowns, female is full grown, 1 ODS Goby, 1 Six-line Wrasse, and a Lavender Tang. I feed 1 cube Spirulina enhanced Brine Shrimp one day, Omega-3 Brine Shrimp the next, and Emerald Entree the following day on a cycle. All by San Francisco Bay Brand (Sally's). Mixed in with that I feed DT's Live Phyto every couple of days, and also alternate between (Sally's) Reef Plankton, and Cyclops.
Does this sound like too much/not enough, or even the right type of food for my fish/corals? (The fish always eat everything in at least 2 min.)
<Might want to mix in some New Spectrum dry food. Am trying a sample out now and the fish really like this stuff. Also consider adding Selcon vitamin supplement to the food every other day. Too many spelling/grammar errors, when to use to's and too's. Queries like this usually go on the back burner, get answered last. Please consider our volunteered time which is minimal, not an 8 to 5 job. Thank you. James (Salty Dog)>

Yuma Mushroom Anemone and Clownfish, comp.    2/17/08
Hello
Hi Jennifer, Mike I with you here>
I have found a Yuma Mushroom Anemone and have fallen in love...I have a 30 gallon reef tank and am looking to get a Picasso clownfish. I have several feather dusters and also some button polyps. I have heard of Clownfish taking to different things in place of their usual hosts, so I am wondering if a Clownfish would take to the Mushroom Anemone?
<Very likely, they are quite imaginative when choosing a home. Any of the animals you mention could be adopted>
Also, is it too big for a 30 gallon?
<Don't quite follow you here. If you mean the Yuma, then no. If you mean the Picasso, then no again. Do clarify if I have picked you up wrong>
Thanks. keep up all of the fabulous information
<Tis our pleasure! Thanks for the thanks!>
Jennifer
<Hope that helps you out, Jennifer. Mike I>

Possible Clown Hosts? -01/29/2008
Good Afternoon,
First let me say thank you for all your help with this hobby, I have found this site to be an excellent one for information and have speedy
replies on questions asked.
Here is my Question:
I am very interested in purchasing a BTA just to adore the relationship it has with clowns. I find it a beautiful sight to watch.
However after reading more into it, I have noticed that Anemone's in Captivity don't have a long life span, 11 months if you're exceptionally
lucky but most likely 3 months.
<Hmm... depends on the anemone, how you care for them, etc.--lots of factors here. True, they are not easy to keep, but they are not so destined to die as are some other common marine inverts sold to aquarists. I know of people who have kept anemones quite well for years, decades even. So it is possible.>
I know on this site you don't go agree with anemone purchase in captivity and after reading your info I understand and agree.
<Again, not necessarily. It depends on the anemone and the system it's intended for. Many people have lasting success with bubble tip anemones for example (so long as they are well placed and cared for).>
Since I do want to have a place for my Clown to host is there anything else you could suggest to have this same effect? Is it possible for a clown to host in a Torch Coral or any other Coral?
<Yes, but it's not usually good for the coral.>
Would this damage the coral?
<Most likely, in some way/to some extent or another, yes.>
I would appreciate any information you can give in hopes to have this type of symbiotic relationship with out having to take a perfectly happy
anemone from its home.
<If you're looking for a Cnidarian to host clowns, I would suggest a bubble tip anemone that has been propagated in captivity. Some of these anemones split quite frequently in captive systems. Your best bet might be to get one of these captive "born" anemones.>
I presently bought a clown fish and asked for them to keep it in there anemone tank so he will be use to the relationship of hosting.
<Do extensively research bubble tip anemone care. Here's a place to start:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/cnidaria/anthozoa/bubbletipanemones.htm>
Please Help
Thank you,
Trying to save the wild anemone: Ashley
<De nada,
Sara M.>

Possible Clownfish Host, Alternative to Anemones – 1/26/08
Good Afternoon,
<Hello Ashley, Brenda here!>
First let me say thank you for all your help with this hobby, I have found this site to be an excellent one for information and have speedy replies on questions asked.
<Thank you! Glad you find it helpful.>
Here is my Question:
I am very interested in purchasing a BTA just to adore the relationship it has with clowns. I find it a beautiful sight to watch.
<Yes, it is a beautiful thing to watch.>
However after reading more into it I have noticed that Anemone's in Captivity don't have a long life span, 11 months if you are exceptionally lucky but most likely 3 months.
<Anemones are successfully being kept alive for many years in captivity. It is really not an issue of luck. If you have a healthy anemone, proper equipment and environment you should have no issues keeping an anemone alive and healthy for many years. A lot of research and planning will help you a lot.>
I know on this site you don't agree with Anemone purchase in captivity and after reading your info I understand and agree.
<I don’t agree with purchasing wild captured anemones. I do recommend purchasing propagated anemones.>
Since I do want to have a place for my Clown to host is there anything else you could suggest to have this same effect? Is it possible for a clown to host in a Torch Coral or any other Coral?
<Yes, anemones can host a Torch Coral, mushroom coral, leather coral, and many more.>
Would this damage the coral?
<No, but there is no guarantee that the clownfish will host even an anemone in captivity.>
I would appreciate any information you can give in hopes to have this type of symbiotic relationship with out having to take a perfectly happy anemone from its home.
<How long has your tank been set up? What equipment do you have on it? How big is your tank?>
I presently bought a clown fish and asked for them to keep it in there anemone tank so he will be use to the relationship of hosting.
<What species is the clownfish?>
Please Help. Thank you,
Trying to save the wild anemone: Ashley
<You’re welcome! Brenda>

Condylactis Anemones and Clownfish – 12/27/07
Hi.
<<Hello>>
Got a Condy anemone from the fish store.
<<Okay>>
This is my first.
<<I hope you did a bit of research on the genus/species first>>
I've heard many different opinions on this....are clowns and condos compatible?
<<Sometimes…sometimes not… Though I must admit to hearing more “success stories” than not re this association these days>>
I have maroon clown.
<<I hope it is a big Condylactis>>
Will either be a danger to the other?
<<Is always a possibility…but may very well be fine (How’s that for straddling the fence?). Truth is, it’s an unnatural association…but I “have” heard of it working>>
Do hermit crabs eat anemones?
<<The smaller commonly available and so-called “reef-safe” species shouldn’t be a problem>>
Also, I'd like to keep species from the same ocean, as you say.
<<Ah well, a commendable pursuit…but you have already failed this by mixing an anemone endemic to the tropical Western Atlantic Ocean with a clown fish (clownfish are not found in the Atlantic at all)>>
Any sites that list fish/inverts by origin?
<<Indeed there are… An excellent resource is fishbase.org for your finned finds, and some purposeful hunting on Coral Search at http://www2.aims.gov.au/coralsearch/coralsearch.php will help with corals... Other organisms of interest can likely be tracked down as to ocean/region/origin with some time and effort spent making keyword searches on the NET in general>>
Thanks!
<<Happy to assist. EricR>>

Re: Was Tang M I A/ Mixed Clowns, now: top-off water systems, mixing clowns/anemones in a large system
Hi Bob
<Ian>
Thought I would let you know that it appears as if the MIA Yellow Tang is being allowed back into the community although he is still being chased on occasion. It has taken a month but it looks like things will get back to normal.
Two questions if I may.
I store my RO in a 200 litre drum about 3 metres above the sump. Would it be possible to link in a small 5mm diameter tube at the base of the drum and feed directly into the sump with the end of the pipe at the max level I want.
<Yes>
As the water evaporates and the level drops it would allow the RO feed to top up. I would imagine the small diameter would not exert enough pressure to simply empty the drum.
Somehow I do not think this will work... sounds too simple, what do you think?
<Mmm, there are devices... some relying on floats, others that are mechanical in other ways (e.g. drip infusion bottles in medical applications), even tools that measure spg et al. that would be of use here. Am sure you don't want to suffer having all the water feed into the sump, overflow onto your floor... Please read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/h20makeupfaqs.htm>
I have a rather large Clarkii Clown, at least 80mm plus a smaller Cinnamon Clown of about half that size. They seem to get on fine as long as the Cinnamon does not get close to the Clarkii's Carpet anemone. I would like to introduce a few other species of Clown, namely the true Percula and the Tomato clown.
<I see from below... that this is a very large system... You may get away with this>
I have managed to find one of each so far and am looking for another two and then possibly some other interesting specimen. I am housing them together in the refugium and I want to introduce a bubble anemone for all of them. I assume they will all get on together?
<Maybe... there are a number of possible outcomes here... with the dominant Clown (the Clark's) "hogging" all host anemones... possibly killing the BTA... it floating about causing trouble... Do take care to assure the new anemone is VERY well established (perhaps a plastic "cage" arrangement over it for a month or so) before exposing it here in your main system>
After a month or two I plan to introduce them all into the main display tank and place them as far away from the Clarkii as possible. The Clarkii is at the one end of a 2.5 metre tank which has about 2500 litres of water. I was also thinking of introducing them inside a largish see through plastic box for a week or two to get everyone accustomed to them.
<Worthwhile>
I really do not want to go to all this trouble and expense( The true Percula costs the equivalent of $100 and it is only about 15mm long!)
<Wow!>
to simply have the Clarkii make a meal out of them.
Sorry to drag this out but basically do you think this will work or should I simply keep them in the "specimen" tank?
<Mmm, if it were me, mine, I'd go the latter route... better to have just the carpet and one dominant clown (plus possibly a small, male mate...) in the large system>
many thanks
Ian
<As many welcomes. Cheers, Bob Fenner>