OC clowns and RBTA?

miaminemo · #1 03/27/2006, 09:38 AM

So I decided my next experiment in reefing would be to try and keep 2 pairs of clowns.. (i know its risky..)

Ive had my Sebae clowns for some time now, and for the longest time they shared time between my GBTA and my RBTA..

However, they seem to have decided the GBTA makes a better home.. and now the RBTA is lonely, and often looks unhealthy as it isnt getting fed, etc.. (id hand feed it, but its often down in the rock structure where I cant get to)

So this weekend I bought a Powder blue tang (great deal through Tangey) to replace my naso that died a month or so back.. and 2 little OC clowns he had..

The 2 sebae are pretty large in comparison, and luckily they dont seem to mind the 2 new friends..

but what concerns me is neither of the new clowns have gone anywhere near the rbta.. Normally clowns take right to RBTA's right?

Should I just give them time, or is there a known issue with RBTA and OC Clowns?

Will

cadams · #2 03/27/2006, 10:05 AM

RBTA is not a natural host for OC. But sometimes they will go into it in an aquarium.

That being said ... I had that same combo for 4 months and never got it to work. swapped the OCs for maroons and it was wonderful ... though maroons are prolly not a good addition to your current setup due to their excessive agressiveness.

I've seen RBTAs and percs match up with better success than OC and RBTA.

Treg · #3 03/27/2006, 10:12 AM

Normally clowns take right to RBTA's right?

Not necessarily. A lot do but not all will.

I think the natural host for the ocellaris is the Ritteri/Magnificent anemone but there is a pretty good chance the will take to a BTA too. No guarantee, but a good chance. Give them some time.

miaminemo · #4 03/27/2006, 11:16 AM

ok, im a little soft on my clown info.. the difference between perc's and OC clowns is...

I was under the impression they were the same thing..

Treg · #5 03/27/2006, 11:24 AM

Perculas have a different body shape and cleaner looking eyes.
The nose on the Perc is kinda pointy where the OC is really rounded, kinda smashed in looking. Usually Percs have more black also

miaminemo · #6 03/27/2006, 11:27 AM

unfortunately when i bought them, they were identified as percula clowns.. no true or false label..

oh well.. i guess its time for the 'lets wait and see what happens' aquarium test..

Treg · #7 03/27/2006, 11:30 AM

Also Perculas are suppose to be collected from better locations like Solomon Islands vs OC from Indonesia. Usually means the wild coughts are healtier... A lot are captive bred tho.

Dorsal Spines are another way, Ocellaris have 11 spines and true Percs have nine/ten.

Treg · #8 03/27/2006, 11:33 AM

Got a pic?

Heres an OLD pic of my Wild cought SI true percs.

cfishrun · #9 03/27/2006, 01:07 PM

Were the clowns tank-bred or tank-raised? If they were, and they are still juveniles you may not be able to distinguish between Ocellaris and True Percula. Either way, if captive raised, they generally don't take to anemones. However, with the Sebae clowns in there, they may have an opportunity to learn.

miaminemo · #10 03/27/2006, 01:37 PM

they are definitely juveniles..

Didnt say if they were wild or tank raised.. said they were $15 each and that was a good enough description for me.. half expect my female sebae to be unhappy with them..

sebae's spend 90% of their time in the GBTA though, so maybe they will figure it out.. or even if they hosted in the leather that would be cool too..

last night they both swam at the top of the tank.. i think they are scared

tangey · #11 03/27/2006, 05:20 PM

The clowns were tank raised. At least thats what my wholesaler advertised them as. I am glad the clowns are doing good.

tangey · #12 03/27/2006, 05:38 PM

Also the clowns were listed as tank raised percula clownfish. Hope that helps

cfishrun · #13 03/27/2006, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by miaminemo
last night they both swam at the top of the tank.. i think they are scared

Those species usually do stay near the surface, especially when they're young; they'll actually breach the surface every so often. Try teaching them to eat flake out of your fingers before it even hits the water, it's pretty funny to see. Is your tank open-top? If so, be advised, I've seen some jump (especially at night - I think they have nightmares

).

itZme · #14 03/27/2006, 05:42 PM

My pair swim at the surface every time I am around. They are looking for food because they are little piggies. My wife was holding a flake just above the surface and one of the OC will actually stick its head out of the water to get it. I have fed the tank when my friend was over and he is a fellow reefer. He said he has never fed as much as I did that night so I know they are not going hungry, they are just ALWAYS looking for more food.

I had a larger OC that took right to my GBTA and the smaller one seemed to just stay near it or under it but not actually in the tentacles until a few weeks later. Some people say that you can print out a picture of a clown hosting in an anemone and tape it near the BTA and yours might learn from it.

It's worth a shot I guess. Mine love that anemone now and don't even like it when I feed it. They try to chase the turkey baster or tongs away.

If it said "tank-raised percula clowns" they are probably not ocellaris . Wikipedia.com says this" This species can be mistaken for the similar species called False Clown Anemonefish due to its color and pattern - the easiest way to tell them apart is the fact that percula has 10 spines in the first dorsal fin and ocellaris has 11."

Good luck!

-- Kevin

kellzbellz · #15 03/27/2006, 06:05 PM

another possible explanation that i've heard is that clowns have to build up a tolerance to the anemones by building up their mucus that protects them from the anemone and allows the clown to go undetected. it's more of a theory as to why clowns spend very little time at first with the anemone, sort of testing it out and lightly touching the tentacles, slowly building mucus and a tolerance of being ever so slightly stung. it's in one of my texts from one of several bio classes, so it should be a fairly reputable source.

kellzbellz · #16 03/27/2006, 06:07 PM

forgot to add the main point, being... over time (months even) the clowns may eventually host and it may not be immediate

miaminemo · #17 03/28/2006, 08:53 AM

So a "tank raised percula clownfish" is not an ocellaris.. is this usually a true or false percula?

The eyes on these guys look like the one on the picture above.. just little black dots..

the only thing bothering them are the pair of green reef chromis.. who have never bothered anything before..

amazing how intricate the dynamics in a tank are..

cadams · #18 03/28/2006, 12:27 PM

false perc and OC are the same. then theres true perc, wild caught. and true perc, captive bred/ tank raised. there are many claims that there is noticable differences betweeen WC and TR percs. TR percs are becoming much more common these days.

TR seem to have a little less black the WC IMO. but theres always exceptions to this rule, and you can get the occational onyx, TR, perc.

genetics is fun