stoneyrok
Community Member
Hi, I've read a lot of ways to get the clownfish to host and I tried many without success. I tried a tablet looping a video of clownfish - now referred to as CF. I left the tablet for a while, but there was no luck there.. I tried a tube and put the CF in the tube with the bottom at the anemone but it took too long to wait to see if they would go out of the bottom and into it.
I finally went to Petco and bought a breeder thing to hang onto the side. It was cheap, and the walls were mesh, so I had some algae growth on it but nothing bad as my tank is completely clear of algae, so I just put my biggest turbo snail on the breeder and he would almost eat it all. A BIG TURBO SNAIL can literally change everything when it comes to algae. No Joke! Just one! (in a 32G BioCube)
I have two CF, so I put the biggest one (female) into it along with the anemone. She is a Mocha Storm Clown Fish (CF). She didn't want anything to do with it at all. So, after about a day or two, I decided I would put my smaller male in there. The smaller male I have is your typical OG Clown Fish.. 20.00 but still cute, right? haha
As soon as I place him into the breeder with the anemone, he went straight for it. I thought perhaps his DNA and motives were more true than the mixed Mocha Storm clown. IDK, but perhaps that is why.
I put the smaller male and anemone back into the main tank after a day or two, and he hosted like mad. I knew the female is the BOSS right? So, after a few days, she decided to give it a try, then tried to take over and kick the male out. Luckily my male is a stubborn and persistent little guy which I love and he would NOT allow her to kick him out. He had to hide from her in it, but he stood his ground.
Now I have both hosting, which is great. Sadly, that anemone died and I got a new one.
I placed it into the tank around 8 pm at night and by midnight they were both in it, and neither tried to force the other out. True sharing...
So, after trying a lot of methods, I just wanted to let everyone know how I had success... Hopefully, that will work for anyone struggling with this.
When they're in the breeder, you can drop a few mysis shrimp or whatever into the anemone and the CF will get interested in taking it away, but really the truth is, once they TOUCH that anemone, their DNA will kick in and they will know what to do.
They now love it, protect it, feed it, keep it clean, and the CF now will literally lay down in the anemone and almost look injured or dead, but they are just enjoying it that much. I was told when a CF rests like that, to them it feels like a massage. Wouldn't that be nice if we could lay somewhere and get a massage? haha - They will even take food and rush it to the anemone's mouth. Sometimes it will eat it and other times it'll let the food go. But, this anemone is sticky as heck, and when I feed the tank with Plankton, it will stick to him and he will eat it, so this one is easier to feed. It's just your basic long tentacle brownish with white tips. In the store, they look kind of bland, but when they are in YOUR tank and settle and open, it's amazing how wide they can spread and open. I think the basic ocean-type anemones are also the ones the CF like the best. Just from my observations. So, my advice is not to try to host the first time with a unique and wild type of anemone.. Just a basic one, and they are pretty! My first one was a weird unique one, and that COULD have been a small issue, but they did host it from the breeder.
Having the CF host is the one really cool goal in a tank, and hope everyone can get theirs to host.
Thanks,
Stoney,
Sorry if this is too verbose. I like to give details.
I finally went to Petco and bought a breeder thing to hang onto the side. It was cheap, and the walls were mesh, so I had some algae growth on it but nothing bad as my tank is completely clear of algae, so I just put my biggest turbo snail on the breeder and he would almost eat it all. A BIG TURBO SNAIL can literally change everything when it comes to algae. No Joke! Just one! (in a 32G BioCube)
I have two CF, so I put the biggest one (female) into it along with the anemone. She is a Mocha Storm Clown Fish (CF). She didn't want anything to do with it at all. So, after about a day or two, I decided I would put my smaller male in there. The smaller male I have is your typical OG Clown Fish.. 20.00 but still cute, right? haha
As soon as I place him into the breeder with the anemone, he went straight for it. I thought perhaps his DNA and motives were more true than the mixed Mocha Storm clown. IDK, but perhaps that is why.
I put the smaller male and anemone back into the main tank after a day or two, and he hosted like mad. I knew the female is the BOSS right? So, after a few days, she decided to give it a try, then tried to take over and kick the male out. Luckily my male is a stubborn and persistent little guy which I love and he would NOT allow her to kick him out. He had to hide from her in it, but he stood his ground.
Now I have both hosting, which is great. Sadly, that anemone died and I got a new one.
I placed it into the tank around 8 pm at night and by midnight they were both in it, and neither tried to force the other out. True sharing...
So, after trying a lot of methods, I just wanted to let everyone know how I had success... Hopefully, that will work for anyone struggling with this.
When they're in the breeder, you can drop a few mysis shrimp or whatever into the anemone and the CF will get interested in taking it away, but really the truth is, once they TOUCH that anemone, their DNA will kick in and they will know what to do.
They now love it, protect it, feed it, keep it clean, and the CF now will literally lay down in the anemone and almost look injured or dead, but they are just enjoying it that much. I was told when a CF rests like that, to them it feels like a massage. Wouldn't that be nice if we could lay somewhere and get a massage? haha - They will even take food and rush it to the anemone's mouth. Sometimes it will eat it and other times it'll let the food go. But, this anemone is sticky as heck, and when I feed the tank with Plankton, it will stick to him and he will eat it, so this one is easier to feed. It's just your basic long tentacle brownish with white tips. In the store, they look kind of bland, but when they are in YOUR tank and settle and open, it's amazing how wide they can spread and open. I think the basic ocean-type anemones are also the ones the CF like the best. Just from my observations. So, my advice is not to try to host the first time with a unique and wild type of anemone.. Just a basic one, and they are pretty! My first one was a weird unique one, and that COULD have been a small issue, but they did host it from the breeder.
Having the CF host is the one really cool goal in a tank, and hope everyone can get theirs to host.
Thanks,
Stoney,
Sorry if this is too verbose. I like to give details.
