How to get them to host?

[kickbxr79]

I have two Occellaris clowns and I just got a Ritteri anemone for them to host in but they are'nt going near it. I also have an Australian clarkii and he has'nt gone near it also. Is there any tips on how to entice them to go to the anemone?

[tlo]

Although I have never tried it, I have heard hanging a picture up of a clownfish in an anemone for them to see works.

Sometimes it just takes a while too. I had a pair of clowns for a year and a half before they started hosting. They chose my frogspawn over my anemone though. Who knows what they think when they decide to find a home :)

[szymek]

I have heard the picture thing as well.. although I never tried it and don't know whether it's true or works. But some folks say that they can learn from watching others.

In general it takes time I believe. When I added two clowns and carpet anemone one went into anemone right the way (slightly bigger - so female) and she would chase the other one away. I suppose the other one was juvenile. However after at least a month the other went into the anemone.

So in general it's just a waiting game and let the nature\instincts do its thing.

[j2quinn]

i would think location has a lot to do with it as well. my clowns prefer a certain spot and do not like to really venture from it.

[szymek]

hmmm... could be.... but seems that clowns prefer the location where the anemone is and they won't leave it. Even when my anemone went on a venture up the overflow he moved nearly 20 incesh during the day when i was at work)box and got sucked into the powerhead. Clowns would not leave its side. (that was couple months ago) Now this weekend again my anemone decided to wonder around and clowns just followed him.

I would definitelly not recommend once you put your anemoney in to move it where you want it. they have have a mind of their own and they will go wherever they feel comfortable and happy. Carpets are known for not moving around much but mine seems to move every month or so. I feed him silver sides, he looks happy\healthy (even quickly recoved from power head incident) and growing like crazy but still moves around quite a bit.

Hopefully Hubert (vaporize) will stumble upon this thread. He's definitelly fellow to talk to when it comes to clowns. (excellent presentatin at MAST Hubert!!!!)


i would think location has a lot to do with it as well. my clowns prefer a certain spot and do not like to really venture from it.

[JMANCANADIAN]

I just purchased a nice Elegance Coral 2 weeks ago and one of my False Perculas just loves it.

It took him about a week of scoping it out, he would just hang around it and touch it with his tail. Then I saw him sleeping in it the other night.

Now hes in there even when the lights are on. If I could only get my other false perc to host it as well! That would be cool to see both in there .

Just goes to show you that clownfish will host all kinds of corals and anemones.:woohoo:

[j2quinn]

I just purchased a nice Elegance Coral 2 weeks ago and one of my False Perculas just loves it.

It took him about a week of scoping it out, he would just hang around it and touch it with his tail. Then I saw him sleeping in it the other night.

Now hes in there even when the lights are on. If I could only get my other false perc to host it as well! That would be cool to see both in there .

Just goes to show you that clownfish will host all kinds of corals and anemones.:woohoo:

remember though, most of these corals have very similiar traits to anemones others are in the same family.

[smp]

I hope you researched the care requirements of that Ritteri before you bought it. They are probably the hardest anemone's to keep. For starters, your tank is probably too small.


That being said. The clowns will host what they want, when they want. It's hit or miss.
Good luck.

[JMANCANADIAN]

Ritteri is doing great! Had it for over a month now:woohoo: .

I was also told that my tank was too small for the mandarin goby ive had for over a year, hes nice and fat and hes always catching something on the rocks.

P.S. - Im not even running a sump. Go figure...

[vaporize]

EVERY SINGLE one of the clownfish out there loves ritteri (magnificant) best and it's almost a dive in. But I will never recommend such anemone (level III) to anybody that does not know how to get a clownfish to 'host' nor any hobbyist for that matter knowing their statistical survival rate in captivity.

Let us know when your Ritteri reach a year mark, we will give you the elite status ;)

As for clownfish hosting, they do learn by watching other clownfish; as stupid as it might sound, "clownfish hosting anemone" does help. MAKE SURE the anemone in the pictures looks exactly or very similar (i.e. do not put a carpet anemone & clownfish for your RBTA & ocellaris). LOL

Sometimes for bigger tanks it's actually a bit harder since they do not get 'the touch' of the anemone. Usually that's all it takes.

[kickbxr79]

I've heard of that trick also, I put up three different pics relatively to scale of occelaris clowns hosting in the same ritteri as I have, its been 24 hrs and still nothing. At first I put the pics around their hangout ( which is also where the anemone is) and they seem scared of the pics and run to the other side of the tank. Now I put a pic on each side of the tank, so I'll see if that helps but they still seem scared of the pics. Also, I have a huge frogspawn and a huge elegance and they have never taken any interest in them or any of my other corals. They usally just hang out in the very corner of my tank.

[Juiceworld]

It just takes time. I had my RBTA for 2-3 weeks befor my Tomatos would go near it. Now the don't leave it.

[John11]

at first my clowns hosted in my xenia colony now they spend most of their time in my frogspawn and every now and them i see them in my goniopora :O but it did take a while...maybe 3 months or so....goodluck

[JMANCANADIAN]

Thought id share some photos of one of my false percs in his new home (elegance coral). I caught him by surprise as he was peeking his head out to take a look in the first shot. hehehe I love percs :bounce1:!

[rayjay]

I know that somewhere online there is a chart showing the types of clownfish that are normally found in the various anemone.
Even with that list, there are always exceptions, but if you place anemone fish in with an anemone that they don't normally go to, then the odds are definitely against it happening.
I'm really curious as to how it came to be a clown "host in", or, a clown "hosts" an anemone, when in fact, the anemone is the host and the one doing the hosting.
When I started it was always the anemone "hosts" the clownfish or the clownfish is "hosted by" the anemone. To me, it would make more sense to say; why doesn't my clownfish allow the anemone to host it.

[JMANCANADIAN]

Heres another pic guys/gals, both false percs are hosting the elegance coral now! Next task is to get them to spawn! :bblink:

JMAN

[kickbxr79]

just an update for anyone who's wondering if that photo trick works. I've had three pics of clowns hosting in the same ritteri as i have, relatively to scale and still I have not seen any promising results. My clowns have not even gone near my ritteri

[Ken_Baird]

EVERY SINGLE one of the clownfish out there loves ritteri (magnificant) best and it's almost a dive in. But I will never recommend such anemone (level III) to anybody that does not know how to get a clownfish to 'host' nor any hobbyist for that matter knowing their statistical survival rate in captivity.

Let us know when your Ritteri reach a year mark, we will give you the elite status ;)

As for clownfish hosting, they do learn by watching other clownfish; as stupid as it might sound, "clownfish hosting anemone" does help. MAKE SURE the anemone in the pictures looks exactly or very similar (i.e. do not put a carpet anemone & clownfish for your RBTA & ocellaris). LOL

Sometimes for bigger tanks it's actually a bit harder since they do not get 'the touch' of the anemone. Usually that's all it takes.
I would like to request a dual elite status please.
Yes the Ritteri is challenging but, my first Ritteri I had for 6 years, it got sucked in to the overflow twice (thats when I built an over flow guard) I did lose it after the tank crashed (very sad day) also lost my first Mama clown shortly after as she went in to a frenzy looking for the Ritteri and went down the over flow (I had removed the overflow guard)
I'm at 14 month's with my current Ritteri it has only gotten sucked in to the power head once (think I would know better problem corrected) But it has fully recovered and now spans 14" across when fully out, I have found you need to build a "perch" for them. a rock that is not close to the glass and has steep sides close to the water surface (8-10") with good flow, With the "perch" they will stay still as long as you keep them happy and full, I feed a few Krill or small shrimp every few days, If I wait to long then it will start to go for a walk down the rock, then I know to feed.
As for hosting the clowns, I have had over the years, sometimes they will jump right in (I had one clown that didn't acclimate it self dove head first in to the Ritteri and it ate him, silly bastard (hope I can say that)) others it did take a few days to a week or so.
Have your clown's tried at all to acclimate them selfs with the Ritteri?

[pdhenderson]

How long have you had the clowns /anemone?
do not expect overnight results, they may even host in it when there is no human traffic. I have had percs / BTA's that never hosted. Not all clowns will host.
Wait and see. Keep the pictures up.

[vaporize]

[QUOTE=vaporize;297855]EVERY SINGLE one of the clownfish
I would like to request a dual elite status please.

You know to qualify for elite status that calls for:
:ttiwwop:

[Ken_Baird]

OK. Forgive the picture quality as I'm not great at this.....

As I need to reply to the challenge LOL
I only have this to offer, this was 2hrs after my 10K's shut down and she is at about ~9" across also as you can see I fed her yesterday and she is busy.... well you know!
The top Clown is my Female (2" long) as a side note this female was my male from my first breeding pair, when the female went down the drain as stated below, I added a juvenal after a year and another year later these two are now breeding.
I will try tomorrow to get a shot when she is in full form.

Ken

[Carant]

Ken,

Beautiful anemone! Looking forward to more crappy pictures ... :bwink:

Please create a new post ... Bragging Rights - Show Off Your Saltwater Tank!!!

Then we can all learn more about this beautiful animal within your experience.

Thanks,
Bruce

[Ken_Baird]

Ken,

Beautiful anemone! Looking forward to more crappy pictures ... :bwink:

Please create a new post ... Bragging Rights - Show Off Your Saltwater Tank!!!

Then we can all learn more about this beautiful animal within your experience.

Thanks,
Bruce
Thanks for the compliment, Don't mean to sound cocky, but the pictures just don't come out like the real thing.
Anyway the clowns Spawned again tonight and thought this picture may help kickbxr79.
You could try one of these pictures to show your clowns what it is all about. :hihi:

[Cuebald]

I'm wondering... has there been any luck getting them to host?

my larger clown hosts in my hand when its in the tank.... but if I put it near the anemone.... the clown books it!

its really funny though... my hand is in the tank... and the clown chases EVERYTHING away from it... lol

[frankthetank]

I did the picture thing, it worked after 3 weeks. I can confirm this. And it was a black and white picture I had to color myself, lol. But they got the idea.

[kickbxr79]

UPDATE: The picture experiment had absolutely no effect! Also, the Ritteri anemone was not my first choice. I had been looking for a Rose bubble tip for about a month and a half ( nobody had one anywhere, not even online!). So I went with my second choice, the Ritteri. Anyways, to make a long story short, I was telling the good folks at Aquatic kingdom my problems and they were very accommodating. They finally got some Rose tips and let me switch. I took the opportunity to try a new experiment, I bought a small plastic terrarium and put it in my tank with my clowns in with the anemone. 24hrs later...SUCCESS!!! There diving in and having a great time! I'm going to leave them in there together for about a week, so that they get really attached to each other then i'll release them into my tank to find a permanent home. To anyone who is having problems with hosting I think this is 100% the most surefire way.

[d.t.i1501]

I ve also tried and no luck Maybe someone will share thier secrets

[vaporize]

I ve also tried and no luck Maybe someone will share thier secrets

try video yet?

[Ken_Baird]

Just thinking out loud, clowns host for protection, correct?
What would be their most feared predator?

Maybe putting a picture of a predator up may get them to go for cover!

[Sea MunnKey]

There's always this misconception that ALL Clownfish will have this "Magnetic Pull" to an Anemone ....


Paul