Oscellaris Clown hosted by Colt Coral

[Poisson]

I have a pair of tank-raised Oscellaris clowns that are totally uninterested in a beautiful rose anemone. Suddenly, my female has been in the colt coral and she rarely leaves...colt coral doesn't seem to mind. Is this OK? Will she eventually "discover" the anemone?

 

[nodoubt471]

colt coral is a common anemone substitute for clowns, and the should both be fine but that is bizarre that they wont host the anemone. when did you get the anemone, recently? how long have the clowns been in there? i wouldnt really worry about it though, just let them do their thing and in time they will figure everything out.

 

[Poisson]

The colt coral was added long after the anemone and the clowns were added just before the anemone. I suppose the hosting behavior is a learned thing and since the clowns are tank-raised, they've never been taught how to hang out in anemones. I'm just bummed that the one clown "discovered" the wrong host! Maybe the other clown will venture over to the anemone! Thanks!

 

[lando]

the rose BTA is not known to host the occelaris in the wild. It is just a mater of chance if they do in the home aquarium. When I had an occellaris it took to my BTA in no time for some reason. Now I have a pair of true percs and the BTA hosts them as well. However, my percs seem to like my torch coral and hammer coral better. They pretty much make the rounds, spending time in my BTA, torch coral, hammer coral and hairy mushroom. I have recently had one "head" on my torch coral die for some reason. I am not sure if it is related to the clowns or not. The rest of the coral looks great. I would not worry too much about it...Lando

 

[seafan]

Clowns will host anything with nematocysts..LOL.