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View Full Version : RBTA ate 2 clowns in one night


SeaHorse_Fanatic
03-15-2010, 07:19 AM
Could NOT believe it until I saw the evidence. So, some background.

Got a neon orange RBTA from The Real Big Al several months ago and it has been hosting a med. fire clown (from Fraggalrock) for over a month now. Then I added a med. tomato clown. Amazingly, instead of each taking its own anemone (have a large Magnifica anemone in the 120g fish only), the two clowns buddied up in the RBTA. BC Mosaic came over and saw this unusual pairing. That same night, both clowns disappeared and since I had recently added full glass tops over the tank, I could not believe they were gone. Looked behind the tank, in the overflow, all around the rock work. Nada.

Then, 2 nights later, I see that the RBTA was shrivelled up and upon closer examination, saw a small tear in the foot and a sharp red dorsal fin sticking out. Could make out the shape of the entire clownfish through the anemone.

So, has anybody else known of a case where a hosting anemone ate their "guests" (BTA or RBTA). I know carpet nems and codylactus anemones are sometimes fish eaters, but these were two good sized, very healthy aggressive clowns that were gobbled up by my RBTA in one night. The clowns weren't fighting and nobody was picking on them.

Anthony

Sebae again
03-15-2010, 07:37 AM
Do you feed the nem? I feed mine every second day.

SeaHorse_Fanatic
03-15-2010, 07:40 AM
The RBTA is right in the path of all the food that goes into the tank so yeah, it is very well fed. Anybody who knows me knows that my fish/corals/anemones are among the best fed creatures in captivity. I work at home, so I feed my fish min. 3 times daily, usually a lot more. You could probably fillet my juv. Vlamingi tang for instance, its so chubby.:biggrin: