How to make my clownfish merge with the anenome

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klubvibez

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Jan 19, 2005
Messages
74
Location
Glendale->Los Angeles->California
I have a wild clownfish thats been in my tank for 2 weeks and today i introduced the anenome. The fish doesn't want anything to do with it. If i put them both in a confined space will this force him to enter the anenome and see what he's missing?
 
I'm pretty sure it is impossible to force a clown to take to an anenome. I've heard of clowns never taking to one no matter the circumstances/efforts of the fishkeeper.
 
Patience.... it can takes weeks to months. It was a first date after all and clowns do have their morals. Besides, what would the other fish say if the clown jumped into the anemone on the very first date? :mrgreen:
 
hahaha JG, that was hilarious. well i was mildly successful. the anemone is a rose bulb anemone, and the clown fish is an oscelaris. what i did was put the anemone in a tall drinking cup and i let it sit there until it fully opened up. i sprinkled some food into it. then i put the clown into the cup. i then used a turkey baster to slowly decrease the water in the cup. the clown began to dive into the anemone and then come out. it would go and wiggle briefly and then come out. this is all i was looking for, i just wanted the clown to know what i feels like to be in it. after that i placed them both back in the tank. sometimes the clown comes and bumps into the anemone and leaves but its obvious he just isn't ready yet. :mrgreen:
 
You sound like quite the little match maker! You'll have to let us know how your little experiment works out.
 
The clown bumping it is a good sign that it will be hosted in the near future. :wink:

As for the anemone and clown drinking glass idea, I would not suggest that. A clown has to touch it for a few days or a certain amount of time to build up the slime coat resistance it needs in order to live in the anemone. You could probably really hurt the clown by doing this.
 
I've read that it is not uncommon for clowns to be consumed by their host anemone in the wild after being away too long hunting etc. and darting back into it. The slime coat has worn off of the clown and the anemone recognizes it for what it is-an easy meal! I would not recommend anyone trying this in the future-you may end up just feeding the anemone your fish.
 
but to clear things up, i wasn't forcing the the clown to touch the anemone. when i reduced the water , there was still plenty of water in there for it to not touch the anemone. were talking a drinking glass thats 8 inches tall. he bumped the anemone by his own free will. i think some of you think i drained all the water so the clown was forced to touch the anemone. this is not the case.
 
My tomato was guarding an anemone so hard when I bought him I just got the anemone also. Dang thing hardly leaves it. And don't stick your hand in the tank like your gonna mess with his house. :roll:
 
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