Recommendations wanted for clownfish anemones & tank pic

[chwkreefer]

Hey all,
Some time down the road I would like to get an anemone for my breeding pair of common clowns.

What are your recommendations?

I have had these clowns for probably 5 or 6 years. Is there a good chance that they won't take to an anemone? They have never had a surrogate host. I just would like to see them in an anemone instead of bobbing up and down in the corner where they spawn every two weeks.

If you need some specs of my tank to make your recommendations, well here ya go. The tank is a 150 gallon reef which has 2 - 400 watt radiums, 1 - 175 10k, 200lbs of live rock and a diy spray injection skimmer.

Oh heck, I might as well show you what my tank sort of looks like. I uploaded these photo's just so you get an idea of my tank. This is just after it was set up in September. There is only one halide on at the time of the picture and my buddy was just getting used to his new digital camera. I didn't really want to post these shots. I wanted to wait until my tank matured a little and my friend got his camera figured out. When I get some new and better shots, I'll post them.

If you are wondering what the white/yellow stuff is, well it's polyurethane foam that I used to cover my overflow.


http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/500/1280024-med.jpg?9523

http://www.canreef.com/photopost/data/500/128100_0021-med.jpg?2852

[EmilyB]

Are those true percs?

http://biodiversity.uno.edu/ebooks/intro.html

[chwkreefer]

These are the common clowns AMPHIPRION OCELLARIS

Are those true percs?

http://biodiversity.uno.edu/ebooks/intro.html

[EmilyB]

You never really know with clownfish. Especially if they are in love with a powerhead or something. :biggrin:

You could try removing them into a separate tank with the anemone to encourage bonding, if they didn't take to it.

That said, there are other types of corals they may host in as well. Whatever you do, don't get a sebae. They get HUGE and UGLY. :wink:

[chwkreefer]

You never really know with clownfish. Especially if they are in love with a powerhead or something. :biggrin:

Exactly, that's why I like to get some feedback from those who have experience with Clowns and anemones.

You could try removing them into a separate tank with the anemone to encourage bonding, if they didn't take to it.

That probably would be a good idea, but . . . . I don't want to move them to another tank.

That said, there are other types of corals they may host in as well. Whatever you do, don't get a sebae. They get HUGE and UGLY. :wink:

There's a tank I manage that has common clowns that are in love with a colt coral. A friend of mine has three common clowns that live in his Frogspawn. I used to have colts, sarcophytons, and frogspawn in my tank, but my clowns showed no interest at all. So maybe there isn't a good chance of mine bonding with anything. OK so Sebae is not going on the list.

So before I go off and purchase an anemone and just go by what the "books" say, I would first like to get some input from those of you with experience.

I know that most carpets are listed to be a host for common clowns, what is the opinion of long term success with keeping carpets? I really like BTA's but I'm not sure that would be too good a match for common clowns. Well, I'll sure be looking forward to the comments and suggestions.[/b]

[robbyville]

Well firstly I would caution you on the carpet anemone. Many have had great success with them and many have not. Most usually you hear stories about how they eat any fish travelling by, plus they get big and can be hard to care for.

That being said, there are some great success stories with them as well, especially in a large tank such as yours (Beautiful by the way :biggrin: ).

Many oscelaris, including my own take to a common BTA. I have a pink tip which has split a few times. Very easy to care for, and once my clowns decided to host I was able to stop feeding the anemone with no problems. I now have the original and the clone, both getting quite large on opposite ends of the tank, although I am told that they can be kept together with no problems since one is a clone of the original. The clowns bounce from one to the other, they spawn underneath one of them but I imagine that is more due to the shape and smoothness of the rock.

My suggestion would be for a BTA since they are nice and easy. It took my clowns about 1 month to finally start to host. They originally hosted in another coral but they aggravated it so much that it started to die, I removed it prior to introducing the anemone and gave it to my old LFS.

HTH,

Rob

[chwkreefer]

Thanks Rob for the reply. Your points on the Carpet and the BTA's are noted.

What kind of clownfish do you have?

[Delphinus]

In my opinion, BTA's will be fine for what you're looking for. Of the hosting species of anemone they are possibly the least demanding.

Carpets need to be a careful choice. For one, saddle carpets (S. haddoni) are fish eaters. Secondly, they can be fussy.

With the possible exception of sebae anemones (H. crispa) none of the natural symbionts for A. percula or A. ocellaris are ideal "first anemone" choices because they are high-needs, high-maintenance, and exceptionally large, and tend to have dismal survival records in captivity. It can be done, but meeting their needs must be a high priority.

[chwkreefer]

In my opinion, BTA's will be fine for what you're looking for. Of the hosting species of anemone they are possibly the least demanding.

Carpets need to be a careful choice. For one, saddle carpets (S. haddoni) are fish eaters. Secondly, they can be fussy.

With the possible exception of sebae anemones (H. crispa) none of the natural symbionts for A. percula or A. ocellaris are ideal "first anemone" choices because they are high-needs, high-maintenance, and exceptionally large, and tend to have dismal survival records in captivity. It can be done, but meeting their needs must be a high priority.

Thanks for the recommendations. I have never had an anemone in the 13 years of reefkeeping but from what I've read you are bang on with the comments I have read regarding the natural hosts for the ocellaris. I know some people debate this issue of carpet anemone's being difficult but I would rather stay clear of them and go with something that is easier to keep and whose outcome is more predictable and optimistic. Having said this, I still would be tempted to try keeping a carpet if someone could provide me with good first hand tips on keeping one.

Has anyone on this board kept carpets and if so what are the main points to consider when keeping one?