Clown hosts elegance?

Ok...those that saw my recent LPS thread intro you saw the elegance I just added. Also added a RBTA, but it's taken residence in a rock nook.

I witnessed one of my clowns today aggressively swimming toward the mouth of the elegance coral. The tentacles didn't seem to affect it at all( I already moved one sps because of the sting). It wasn't biting it or anything, just avidly swimming toward it's center. Is this how they introduce themselves? Not sure the elegance wants to be hosted. Seems like the clown is protective of it whenever the other comes by. Maybe it's just being dumb and taking advantage of it's protective slime coat? Thoughts?

 

clowns will host Elegance corals Nismo

I have had percs ( true or false , Im not sure) hosting Elegance corals

they do need to build up immunity so they brush against it for a while

Steve

 

^+1 if its in you tank they'll host it

 

clowns

Clowns pretty much will host anything that has long tentacles. I have a pair of true percs and they are hosting my pink xenias;D and the xenias doesn't seem to mind.

 

you should take that part "that has long tentacles." that would be a more accurate statement. My lfs's clowns are hosting the powerhead

 

they will host in it. they may also irritate it to death. I have seen that many times.

 

What should I do then? Do I
Look for signs of the coral constantly receding to tell me that it's stressed or should I intervene now? Any success stories of a clown and elegance?

 

success is subjective Nismo

the truth in reality is that Clownfish / coral/ nem relationships are not truly symbiotic
The clown benefits from the protection afforded to it, by staying in a coral/ nem, that other fish wont venture into, because they dont have the built up immunity to the stings

the coral/ nem does not really get any benefit from the relationship
clownfish are more likely to eat the food that the nem has rather than provide food for said nem (quoted from other peoples experiences with Clown / nem combos on this site and other sites)

will the clown do any long harm damage to the coral - its difficult to predict IMO
but many people will have had clown fish hosting many species of corals, long term
and not noticed any detrimental affect on the coral

monitor your coral, is best advice
if its spending to long with either polyps retracted , or its body inflated then IMO
Its not happy with the constant attention and seperation of the clowns or the coral (which is easier in a reef tank) is the best course of action IMO

Steve

 

Thanks for the advise Steve, I will do that. Hopefully its not the latter you mentioned as I love them both.

 

So have I (see picture in my signature below). RIP elegance coral.