New anemone. My 2 percula clowns not going near it.Is this NORMAL

jrcastro · #1 08/08/2005, 05:17 PM

Just got a long tenacle rose tip sea anemone its about 3-4 inches in diameter. I have had it for 5 days & my two clowns dont want to come near it. is this normal? I dont have any other anemones so i thought they would get along fine with the new anemone.Its a 29gallon tank a have.

nasotang · #2 08/08/2005, 05:34 PM

Are they currently hosting in anything else (Hammer, gsp, mushrooms)? If they've already got a home they may not want to switch. Otherwise it maybe an issue with flow in the area where the anemone is.

You could try feeding near the anemone so they get used to that area.

AriZonaD54 · #3 08/08/2005, 06:18 PM

Give it time. Its like children learning to ride a new bike. Some pick it up quick.. others take forever

Sidenote- They may never learn to ride the bank. :/

clystubb · #4 08/08/2005, 08:29 PM

If your Clowns are tank raised this may never happen. Tank raised Clowns have never seen anemones before therefore they dont know what they are for. If they are not tank raised this could take up to 6 months. Im not saying that all tank raied Clowns will never host an anemone. Just be patient.

Rivalpc · #5 08/09/2005, 10:22 AM

My tank raised havent gone near my anemones yet and its been a year, nor does it host in anything else. The clarkies or Sabea on the other hand couldnt care less about what they host in and I often find them going from one thing to another on different days.
I all really depends on the fish. I have seen some Tank raised host and other not. ride it out and see what happens

MCary · #6 08/09/2005, 11:00 AM

Some clowns are specific to what type of anenome they will let host them.

http://www.carlosreef.com/AnemoneFAQ.pdf

Entropy · #7 08/09/2005, 11:18 AM

You have to match the clown to the anemone as mentioned, and even then you are not guaranteed success. I did manage to get a pair of ocellaris clowns to host in a RTBA, but I lost them both. I not have a clarkii (natural clown for a RTBA) and it swam right in and has rarely been out of it since.

jedimike · #8 08/09/2005, 11:29 AM

I read that you can also put one of those cheap (like from Petco) vegetable clips that look like a clown near the anemone and the clowns will think it is real and will host in the anemone.

New Coral Adict · #9 08/09/2005, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by jrcastro
Just got a long tenacle rose tip sea anemone its about 3-4 inches in diameter. I have had it for 5 days & my two clowns dont want to come near it. is this normal? I dont have any other anemones so i thought they would get along fine with the new anemone.Its a 29gallon tank a have.

I had a similar problem with my colwn..and a friend recommended i switch to a bubble tip...so after i took his advice..within 24 hours my clown was happier than ever..and he will only leave it now to feed.

jrcastro · #10 08/09/2005, 03:09 PM

thanks guys. anymore input would help

tunaluver · #11 08/09/2005, 03:20 PM

i had the same problem with my clowns. so one day at the lfs i saw some clowns in the tank that were loving their anemone so i brought them home and they went right in it. my other clown got the picture then it seemed cuz they took to it then too

jenlovesty · #12 08/09/2005, 05:44 PM

I am not necessarily recommending this, but this is what a lfs did to get tank raised clown to host an anemone.

They got a small container with holes in it. Say a in tank refugium. Placed the anemone and clown in the small tank for a day and voila, clown had no other choice. But this may cause too much stress on the clown.