Black and White Clown/Long Tentacle Anemone

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artoledo

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Apr 20, 2007
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Miami, FL
HEy guys, its been a while since ive been on here due to knee surgery but im back now and wanted to share a little. I bought a black and white clown and a long tentacle anemone and wanted to know about how long before the clown even gets close to the anemone. This little guy has been a mess since i put him in my tank and i dont know what to do. I bought him friday and the anemone this morning. Any ideas? Also, i bought a Ricordea Mushroom and wanted to know if this thing grows spreads quickly?
 
There is no guarantee the clown will host it. He may decide to host a corner, sand, corals, phs.
What do you mean he was a mess?
How old is your tank?
 
Just as said, there is no guaranty that the clown will host the anemone. I had mine for 6 months and it hosted everything but the anemone until one day I noticed that it was all over it like white on rice.:) I wouldn't sweat it, if it happens it happens...

One word of caution though. As with any anemone, tank conditions should be very stable to house them. If the aquarium is new (less than 9 months), it is not a good idea to have one. Clowns do not need an anemone to be clowns.....
 
I agree that it might not happen. My two clowns totally ignored my BTA and hosted a pagoda cup and a bubble coral. Ended up getting rid of the BTA. Here is my gold stripe maroon with the bubble coral.
 

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roka64 said:
There is no guarantee the clown will host it. He may decide to host a corner, sand, corals, phs.
What do you mean he was a mess?
How old is your tank?

He was swimming up and down for 2 days in the same place. My tank has been running since March. Water is very stable.
 
My tank has been running since March. Water is very stable.
Well honestly thats pushing it for an anemone. There is much more going on than you can test for as far as water quality goes. New tanks just need time for all the processes to stabilize. I would say a minimum of 6 months is best before adding delicate animals such as anemones, etc. Some people would say closer to a year. I'm not saying your LTA is doomed, but your situation is less than optimal at this point.

What are your parameters? Posting numbers for SG, NO3, Ca, Alk, PH, temperature would be best, and any others you have or I forgot heh.

What wattage lighting do you have?
 
MT79 said:
My tank has been running since March. Water is very stable.
Well honestly thats pushing it for an anemone. There is much more going on than you can test for as far as water quality goes. New tanks just need time for all the processes to stabilize. I would say a minimum of 6 months is best before adding delicate animals such as anemones, etc. Some people would say closer to a year. I'm not saying your LTA is doomed, but your situation is less than optimal at this point.

What are your parameters? Posting numbers for SG, NO3, Ca, Alk, PH, temperature would be best, and any others you have or I forgot heh.

What wattage lighting do you have?

SG= 1.025, NO3 = 0, Ca=460, Alk=12, PH=8.1, Temp=74.6
 
Is that the normal temperature of the tank? Most sw or reef aquaria need to be housed in the range of 78 - 82. I'm not sure if thats whats bothering the clown, but I would try to raise the temperature up over the next couple of days.
 
seaham358 said:
what type clown is it and what anemone. Clowns only like to host with certain anemones, they might not be compatable.

He already said it's a black and white clown, which is a breed of percula (not found in nature) and a long tentacle anemone. Also like everyone said before the clown could possibly never host any type of anemone. MY ocellaris clowns happened to host a bta after 3 months of being together and my tomato clowns host mushrooms from the caribbean (there are no clownfish in the caribbean). So they will host pretty much what ever they want to.

Like asked before: What lighting do you have on you tank? and how big is the tank? The tank has only been set up for 3 months?

And depending on your light ricordeas dont really grow "fast" I have moderate light (6.5 wpg) with several different ricordea and it took me 6 months to get one new ricordea yuma.... and it's about -- in diameter. My floridias havent split at all. The new ricordea yuma was natural. I've also cut them to make more.
 
Well long tenticaled anemones (if thats what it truely is) actually is not a host anemone and will eat your clown fish if given the chance :(
 
Well long tenticaled anemones (if thats what it truely is) actually is not a host anemone and will eat your clown fish if given the chance
That is not really true. LTA's are a natural host of a few clowns, although perculas are not one. Clowns will sometimes host anemones they are not found w/ in nature, in captivity, just as they are observed to host all different types of corals. They are immune to the stings of many different animals whether it be corals or anemones(but probably not all). FWIW my clowns will bounce from bubble-tip anemones, to a Sebae, and even brush against and swim through the sweeper tentacles of a Galaxy coral w/ no problems in my tank. I myself don't even like messing w/ the galaxy coral :lol:
 
Lance can you assume its a perc? I can't when trying to give good accurate advice. There are several types that can be in a black and white color. I have seen Clarkies, saddle backs and pers all in the black and white color shade.
And Lance are you sure its really a LTA?
Many times the LFS has misnamed items being sold and many times people have a BTA with long tenticals and called it a LTA

Getting more info or confirming info is not a bad thing Lance when trying to give out advice.
 
I just assumed he knows what a lta looks like. And when he said "black and white" clownfish that is the name of that breed of percula, AFAIK there aren't any other clownfish that are completely black/white without any other colors.

I guess I was just assuming that artoledo is knowledgeable and can look at pictures to know what he is buying.
 
I have seen other clowns that are totally black and white and when giving advice I have found it is good to double check. Its just the way i like to do it before giving out wrong advice because I did not ask first..
You can't assume anything in this hobby.. There are so many names for things depending on where your from and what the LFS knows. Some LFS don't have a clue and miss name things all the time where I'm from.
 
Lance M. said:
seaham358 said:
what type clown is it and what anemone. Clowns only like to host with certain anemones, they might not be compatable.

He already said it's a black and white clown, which is a breed of percula (not found in nature) and a long tentacle anemone. Also like everyone said before the clown could possibly never host any type of anemone. MY ocellaris clowns happened to host a bta after 3 months of being together and my tomato clowns host mushrooms from the caribbean (there are no clownfish in the caribbean). So they will host pretty much what ever they want to.

Like asked before: What lighting do you have on you tank? and how big is the tank? The tank has only been set up for 3 months?

And depending on your light ricordeas dont really grow "fast" I have moderate light (6.5 wpg) with several different ricordea and it took me 6 months to get one new ricordea yuma.... and it's about -- in diameter. My floridias havent split at all. The new ricordea yuma was natural. I've also cut them to make more.

I have PC's. It is a 75 Gallon. Lance: I do look at pictures when buying my animals. It is a black and white ocellaris clown.
 
artoledo said:
I have PC's. It is a 75 Gallon. Lance: I do look at pictures when buying my animals. It is a black and white ocellaris clown.

Yeah I thought so. seaham358 just thought that you may have been one of those people that bought something that was mismarked at the lfs. I'm not really sure what you would confuse a lta with. The only thing it looks similar to is a bta but its usually easy to tell the difference.

Like seaham358 asks how many watts is it? You say it's a 75 gallon tank so if it's a standard tank it would be 4' long and 20'' heigh. The majority of pc fixtures I see for a 4' long tank would be 260 watts; however, some are 130 watts and up to 384 watts. IMO the 384 watts (if you have that) would be ok but anything else would be low for anemones and you should consider an upgrade for longterm health of the anemone.
 
Lance M. said:
artoledo said:
I have PC's. It is a 75 Gallon. Lance: I do look at pictures when buying my animals. It is a black and white ocellaris clown.

Yeah I thought so. seaham358 just thought that you may have been one of those people that bought something that was mismarked at the lfs. I'm not really sure what you would confuse a lta with. The only thing it looks similar to is a bta but its usually easy to tell the difference.

Like seaham358 asks how many watts is it? You say it's a 75 gallon tank so if it's a standard tank it would be 4' long and 20'' heigh. The majority of pc fixtures I see for a 4' long tank would be 260 watts; however, some are 130 watts and up to 384 watts. IMO the 384 watts (if you have that) would be ok but anything else would be low for anemones and you should consider an upgrade for longterm health of the anemone.

It is a 260 watt. I was looking into getting Metal Halides. I saw some on ebay that i am interested in getting.
 
You say it's a 75 gallon tank so if it's a standard tank it would be 4' long and 20'' heigh. The majority of pc fixtures I see for a 4' long tank would be 260 watts; however, some are 130 watts and up to 384 watts. IMO the 384 watts (if you have that) would be ok but anything else would be low for anemones and you should consider an upgrade for longterm health of the anemone.

I agree. Right now I have a 55 and 384watts. My anemones chose higher ground to soak up the light.

As for ricordeas... I have some in excess of 5 to 6" in diameter. Orange seems to me to be the fastest growing. Just to give you an example, I got a 1" orange ric from reefrunner in 2005 and today, I have over 32 and most are over 3" in diameter. In the same time frame, I have given away more than 20. I have Purples as well and they are not anywhere the size and amount and I have had them since 2003... There of course are many factors that cause growth and not everyones tank is the same so growth rates would vary....
 
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