Smallest clown

[c0mf0rt]

I'm thinking about going after an anemone and clown... and I want to add as little to my bioload as possible...... what clown stays the smallest and what anemone would be a good host???????

 

[Salttanker]

I would think the Percula would stay pretty small, and maybe a BTA to go with it.

Mike

 

[steve r]

i think pink skunk clowns stay pretty small and are very likely to host. i have seen them host everything. even condy's

steve r

 

[RocketSeason]

I would say pink skunk clown and a BTA too. they do seem to love hosting. If you get a Perc clown, make sure its Wild caught. otherwise it probibly won't host. (which is fine if you dont want hosting)

 

[klam]

Percs stay around 2-3" in size.

I would like to say that captive bred clowns have been known to take hosts. It's just a matter of when and what they choose as a host. Sometimes they take power heads as a host because that's what they've known early on in life and feel safe around it, IMO.


In my experiance I've had a two CB occellaris and two CB percs that have both hosted in my BTA. If heard of many CB clowns taking a host as well.

When buying WC clowns it is hard to determine the age or sex of the clown not to mention the diseases and/or parasites that they might have. If you do go with WC clowns be sure you have them in a quarintine tank so you can treat them with meds if necessary.

 

[Bang Guy]

Percula rarely get past 2.5"

Hairy mushrooms or a hardy LPS would be a better host but go the hobbiest propogated BTA or Rose if you think you really need an Anemone.

 

[lando]

Remember...There is no way to predict if an anenome will host a clown or not. One way to increase the odds is to buy an anenome/clown pair from the LFS. Do not worry too much about bioload from clown to clown. As long as you are not adding an aggressive messy eater, your bioload will increase about the same from fish to fish.

 

[lando]

BTW...Bang Guy is right on. Many clowns will host in hairly mushrooms, torch corals or toadstools. These corals have a much better survival rate in aquariums then anenomes do. My clowns even hang out in my hammer coral.

 

[c0mf0rt]

hmmmmmmmm.... maybe I'll try the clown and see if it will host things I have...

 

[ZoozFishMaster]

If you are looking for a clown that will surely host, go with a clark's clown (4"). In the wild, they will host all 10 natural clownfish-hosting anemones. In captivity they will host condys (which are a bit easier to keep than clownfish hosting anemones), toadstool leathers, hairy mushrooms, etc.

If you're looking for something small, go with percs (2.5"). However, percs are a little more picky when it comes to anemones. In the wild, they will only host the ritteri anemone (h. magnifica), sebae anemone (h. crispa), gigantic sea anemone (s. gigantea), and haddon's anemone (s. haddoni). These natural hosts have a record of being very difficult to keep. However, in captivity mine have gladly accepted a BTA, which is considered by many to be the easiest clownfish-hosting anemone to keep.

A lot of people will tell you that TR percs will not host anemones. This is not true. I have kept TR clowns for a few years now and have experimented with different anemone and surrogate anemone relationships. From my experience a pair of TR percs will glady host. If kept singly, they are less likely to host. Hope this helps.

 

[c0mf0rt]

Thanks for all the great advice... I'm really trying to pick an orange one though..... I think that takes the clarki out....... ahhh!!!!

 

[Bang Guy]

A lot of people will tell you that TR percs will not host anemones. This is not true. I have kept TR clowns for a few years now and have experimented with different anemone and surrogate anemone relationships.

I don't know that any Clownfish will host an Anemone. They're more likely to "Guest". It would look really odd seeing a clownfish swimming around with an Anemone connected to it.

 

[RocketSeason]

I don't know that any Clownfish will host an Anemone. They're more likely to "Guest". It would look really odd seeing a clownfish swimming around with an Anemone connected to it.

Good point, that always sorta bugged me.

 

[ZoozFishMaster]

haha i think youre right bangguy

 

[Bang Guy]

For what it's worth, I've had thousands of captive bred Clownfish. They instinctively use Anemone to hide. IMO this isn't a learned behavior. Perhaps after living without an Anemone for a while they no longer feel threatened and are less likely to go into one.

I keep a BTA in my growout tank so that if someone wants a symbiosis between BTA and their new Ocellaris mine are a lot more likely to live in an Anemone. I'm a big advocate of hobbiest propogated marine life so I use Bubble-Tip Anemone. I encourage my customers to seak out a propogated BTA instead of pulling another Anemone out of the ocean.

 

[ZoozFishMaster]

I highly agree with bang guy...after reading Clownfishes, by Joyce Wilkerson, I too encourage hobbiest propagated anemones. In her book she writes about an anemone that has been documented for about 400 years. Some scientists believe that some species can live over a thousand years! Thats incredible! Its a shame to think that most anemones don't make it past 3 months in the home aquarium.

 

[SeriousDude5]

Percula's are pretty small.

 

[Heineken]

Lando, my perc clowns are hosting in my hammer as well! It's the funniest thing. I'm a little worried though. When the lights go out and the hammer pulls its body inside the exo-skeleton the rough edges of the hammer are exposed and the clowns don't seen to care. They rub up against it as if it were an anemone. They pretty much hang out there all day and night. I want to get an anemone as soon as possible so they have something "real" to host in. My tank is only 2 months old so I know an anemone is out of the question.

Anyway, back to the topic. I'd go with percula clowns and a BTA. IMO the percula clowns look way better.