nem & clown

[mark88]

i've had by bta for about a month now and it seems to be healthy but unfortunatly my tank bred perc doesn't go any where near it! any ideas why it hasn't taken up residence? will he ever?

[M14RSH]

it doesn't help much i know but my 3 clowns took residence in less than a week in my BTA. I fed it a prawn on the second day it was in there and the clowns went and had a look at the prawn had a tug at it and then left it alone. Then a week later i fed it another prawn and they had another sniff around it, since then they have stayed in the nem and when its time to feed it a prawn they go to the other side of the tank until the prawn is gone and then they return. Happens everytime like clockwork.

Martin

[mark88]

are your clowns wild caught or tank bred? any idea if this matters when it comes to taking up residence in an anemone?

[M14RSH]

mine are tank bred too. I dont have enough experience to tell you whether wild or tank bred makes a difference. I would suggest that if non-wild clowns will take up residence then i would of thought wild ones would as well, but on the other side of the coin maybe they dont.

Martin

[angelfishman]

i have a pair of black percs tank bred and they will not go near any of my anemones.i have found tank bred percs never seem to go into anemones,the only captive bred clowns which i have found are clarki and maroon clowns which which will go into most.

[kjh]

I had this problem let them be and there is good chance they will

[fish only]

What i do when i want my clowns to go in the nem, is put them all in a floating bag, and let them be for a hour. There is a much smaller space in the bag, so the clowns come into contact with the nem more often. Most times this works, sometimes it doesnt. I got my percs to go into a carpet nem.

[instantsquid]

Personally, I don't approve of the last suggestion - there is some evidence to suggest that clownfish need to get used to the anemone's stinging, and forcing them to be subjected to it might be considered a little cruel, not to mention potentially damaging the fish. In addition, you've got to get the anemone and the fish into a bag - highly stressful for all parties!

Generally, you are better off leaving nature to take it's course - my first pair of Percs took quite a few months to "discover" the anemone. My second pair moved in within a couple of weeks.

- Ian