My Clownfish are using my Elegance coral as a Anemone, is this going to be a problem?

[SINNERMF]

In the last 3 days my Clowns have been hanging out in my Elegance coral. It stays open but is not open as big as it was before they started hanging out in it. Can this eventually be a problem or will the coral be ok if they continue to hang out in it?? Any input will be appreciated.
Thanks,
Mike

[yellowslayer13]

elegance coral are hard they can be tuff as nails but crash without warning i would not let the clowns get to friendly with it

[2OceanLovers]

I have a friend that has a pink skunk in an elegance. The clown has actually been taking care of the elegance for my friend. I think that it depends on what type of clowns you have. The harder they are on hosts, the worse it is going to be on your elegance.

[elegance coral]

I normally try to avoid this subject here in the forums, but you asked so I will give my opinion.
Elegance corals live their lives on top of rows of very thin, very sharp skeletal structures. The polyp itself is very delicate. A clown fish pressing down on top of the polyp, especially at night when the coral retracts, can cause damage. A clown fish can cause an Elegance to not expand fully, depriving it of light exposure. If you want your Elegance to live a long healthy life, don't allow clown fish to use them as a host. There are reasons this relationship does not take place in the wild.

[77railer]

Understandabley there are ups and downs to having clownfish in our tanks...but to say "dont let them do that" is perplexing to me...how does one stop a clownfish from hosting in things you dont want it to.
My clownfish are just plain wierd and switch host on a daily basis...one day its frogspawn...one day its a different forgspawn...then the next day its the goni...advice please...and telling me to remove them is not an exceptable response,lol.

Leroy

[elegance coral]

And with all due respect, this is why I normally try to avoid this subject. People have very strong oppinions on this topic, including myself.
There are many animals we keep that are not appropriate to be kept together. Many people don't know the potential harm that can come from mixing some of these animals. It is understandable for these people to make mistakes and mix animals that harm each other. The only time I have a problem with this is when people knowingly place animals together that can harm each other. If someone knows that clown fish can harm Elegance corals and they decide to place them together in an environment where this harm is likely to take place, I find this irresponsible. We have control over our aquariums and what we keep in them. I believe it is our responsibility to provide each of our animals with the best environment possible, or at least strive for this goal. We would not put two Siamese Fighting Fish/Bettas in the same bowl, then sit back and say there is nothing we can do to stop them from killing each other. Why is it any different to allow clown fish to use Elegance corals as a host and watch the corals health slowly deteriorate? Saying I can't stop this behavior does not work.

Mike posted this question because he noticed his Elegance corals expansion diminishing after the clowns moved in. This is exactly what happens. This coral began to show the bad effects of this relationship in less than 3 days. I believe that saying "don't let them do that" is good advice, especially in this case. What should I have said?

Don't get me wrong, I am not criticizing people that allow this to take place. I have done it myself, more than once. I believe that many people simply don't realize the potential harm this can cause. I kept a pair of clowns in a very large Elegance for well over a year. It took many years and several attempts before it finally sunk into my head exactly how bad this relationship can be.

[oceanarium]

I had a elegance out grow my 4 x 18 x 18 aquarium in 5 years. From a 1.5" specimen to one several inches expanding across 1/3 the tank volume.

I put it down to all the food my percs gave it.

Healthiest elegance I have ever kept.. Huge coralites fast growth.

Since I fraged it about two years ago and the Percs moved over to a sarco its growth has slowed considerably.

My experience only ... but definatively a positive long term one.

[77railer]

elegance coral - I meant no ill will towards your recommendation. Simply put I was looking for actual methods of detering the action of clowns hosting in any given coral wether it be an elegance or a goni..what have you...next to removing the fish/coral is there any possible way to achieve such a goal is my question...

Leroy

sry sinnermf for intruding on the thread

[elegance coral]

I meant no ill will either. I am just used to people going off when I advise against this relationship.

While we can not predict an animals behavior 100% of the time There are ways of greatly reducing the odds of a clown fish using something you don't want them to as a host. Right now I have a Clarkii clown living in a 55gl with two Aussie Elegance corals. The clown has no use for the Elegance corals. The Clarkii has its Hadoni and they have lived together for a long time. The Elegance corals were introduced to the aquarium long after the Clarkii and the Hadoni. If a clown is given a host, especially its natural host, and given time to establish its territory around that host, the likelihood of it moving to a coral is slim. With Clowns like skunks you can place them and their host at one end of the aquarium and any potential coral host at the other. The Skunks may never even go to the other side of the tank where the corals are.

Originally posted by oceanarium
I had a elegance out grow my 4 x 18 x 18 aquarium in 5 years. From a 1.5" specimen to one several inches expanding across 1/3 the tank volume.

I put it down to all the food my percs gave it.

Healthiest elegance I have ever kept.. Huge coralites fast growth.

Since I fraged it about two years ago and the Percs moved over to a sarco its growth has slowed considerably.

My experience only ... but definatively a positive long term one.

The growth rate of Elegance corals after they have been cut in half usually does slow considerably. This is a huge wound that will take massive resources to heal. The wound may close over in a short period of time, but it can take a very long time before the coral returns to normal health and growth.

[oceanarium]

actualy....

I have experience with propagation and grow out of elegance corals. Both in situ and in recirculation systems.

Once the polyps are liberated from within the confines of the head they are free to both grow outwards as well as up wards. usualy the result is growth up to 5 times faster till a head (dome shape) forms.

[elegance coral]

Now your not simply talking about fragging an Elegance. You are talking about drastically changing its environment. The large Elegance corals with the meandering skeletal structures have polyps that are stunted. The skeletal walls rarely exceeds 5/8 of an inch across and the polyp itself does not expand as large as the cone shaped Elegance corals. When a section of these corals is removed and placed in an environment where it has more room to grow and expand, it will. This is a reaction to a change in environment, not a reaction to being wounded. We rarely see these large Elegance corals with the meandering skeletons here in the states. In my earlier post I was referring to fragging the corals we have here like the cone shaped Elegance corals or much smaller frags of the meandering Elegance corals. There is no change in environment after fragging one of these corals.

[oceanarium]

Exactly what I mean... agreed in the near term after such a brutal wound it takes time to recover.. but only a few months the coral in question has been growing for a few years now.

Im not trying to say your wrong.. Just adding my own positive experiences with clown hosting.

If every time some one suggests can it be done and they get shot down and told no it cant! A internet myth begins based on little fact. I am adding a little perspective by passing on my own positive experience.

Obviously your experiences have not been as positive as mine, I dont discount that perhaps all encounters are not as good for the corals health.. but until such time some one conducts a trial on some elegance with hosts and some without we have little evidential proof one way or the other. All we can do is offer our own personal experiences and learn from those others who also try themselves.

I had a bunch of elegance chipps 1/4" x about 4 bits that came off a damaged colony all still entangled in the flesh. I set them aside in a frag tank a pair of Occelaris have taken to the mess for 18 months now. It has formed a solid skelleton and has attached to the aquarium floor about 2'' across now and growing strong. It has out grown the frag mentioned of the other colony that origionaly had a host, pretty good growth in my opinion but time will tell.

[MetalReef9]

Clowns love those LPS.