[Mattfish]

We've been having problems with two of the dumbest clownfish in existence... They wouldn't get together... Then of course, I had to go out of town for a few days, my wife rearranges the tank, and the first night I'm away, she tells me the clownfish have now taken to the sebae. I always miss the fun.

Naturally, the sebae was the first one we bought, then got several others in a foolish attempt to entice the clowns into one of them...

So the questions are:

• What seems to make clowns bond with a particular anemone beyond genetics? Is it a "scent", some particular symbiotic need I haven't heard about?
• Now that they're loving the sebae, how do we make him grow big and strong? He's barely big enough for the clowns to both fit into, and with more room, more happiness

#2 is the more important question - the tank's healthy, water's good, but we haven't figured out what the anemone likes to eat.....

[mtfabel]

I feed my anemones peices of squid that I bought at an Asian Market. You can get a bag of frozen that has several different things in it. Like squid clams mussels.

[dfurbee]

Mine likes shrimp

[Tonz of fun]

Does brine enriched shrimp work?

[Cela Vie]

Silversides and krill work.

[Mattfish]

We'll try monitoring iodine and dosing where necessary - we just got an iodine test kit, and also the squid, clams, and muscles.

We've tried krill, but the shells and heads are a challenge - these are not the biggest anemones and they have trouble digesting the shells and heads. A friend at our lfs also pointed out to us that this could be a problem. We feed mysis twice a day now, so they get shrimpy stuff.

We've also tried silversides, but no real takers - they seem to eat a little, then spit most of it out.

Deb - what kinds of shrimp - brine? We'll see if we can find some live brine today - we haven't tried that before.

Hopefully between the iodine and the meaty stuff, they'll grow up to be large sticky things with happy little swimmy things stuck to them.....

Thanks.

[Mattfish]

Can't help one more post on this subject - now one of the clownfish is also going into a green bubble anemone about 8 inches away from the sebae, so in and out of two anemones. The other one seems content to remainwith just the sebae.

From nothing to weirdness in less than a week. I'm not sure if I should go away more often, or less......

[gimmito]

Mike, Glad to hear the clowns found a new home ! Checkout clownfishes by joyce wilkerson...a must read for clownfish owners. I saw a used copy on craigslist for 5 bucks. Do you subsribe to aquarium fish magazine? They had a very informative article by pablo tepoot (the maker of spectrum foods) entitled "a closer look at fish nutrition." I believe you had a concern with the use of garlic in your tank...the the article desribes the benefits of its use anecdotally and as a stimulant.

[Mattfish]

We do get an aquarium mag, but have to find out which one, and will put the book on my list - I'm running about 6 months behind on my reading - I thought summer was a relaxing time?

I also need to take a look at what we use and what we ought to - although as simple as possible would be best....

[swinginbeef]

quick question, what type of clowns and how long have they (the clowns and the anemones) been together? How long did it take before the clowns 'figured it out'?

I'm about 2.5 weeks with 2 tank bred false perculas and a LTA and still no dice. I'm wondering if there is a timeframe where I should give up hope?

[Mattfish]

We've got two false clowns, and the first (sebae) anemone came in about 6 weeks ago.

As everyone told me here, give it time. They were right. We kept adding anemones and eventually, we had several, and still no bonding. Eventually, after about 5 weeks or so, the clowns bonded with the sebae. it seems like it can be a short OR long term thing - no consistency of times, so the best plan is to wait. if our experience is any guide, it will happen, probably when you've gotten maximally frustrated.....

Tank bred are a little separated from their need in the wild to use the anemone's for protection, of course, so this may be part of the time factor.

[swinginbeef]

I read somewhere today to try taping a picture of a clown hosting an anemone to the outside of the tank facing inward so that the fish can see an example of what they are supposed to do.

It's so crazy, it just might work!!

[Mattfish]

Someone suggested to us that we put the two clowns into the acclimation bucket when we brought home one of the anemone's - the last one we bought. it seems like that may have helped, although it wasn't the anemone they decided to inhabit.

But now, back from another trip outta town, the two of them are now playing with and living in all 3 anemone's inthe same rock in the front of the tank - a green bubble, a rose, and a sebae. Go figure - from nothing, to now both of them inhabiting all 3 anemone's near each other....

[ishouldntsay]

I read recently a tip on getting the clownfish to host with an anemone that is suitable for it, by placing the clownfish and the anemone in isolation. THe author said it should ork in at most 2 days. I'll see if I can find the source.