Clown nipping at my hammer

I put a new green hammerhead in my tank today and tonight my b/w percula clown is nipping at it. Any thoughts? Is this normal for a new one or for this fish. I obviously don't want it to happen, but is this common for this fish and can I expect him to stop? I haven't seen him doing that with other new corals I've introduced.

 

Are they trying to host it? I never see my clowns touch anything...

 

I don't think so because it hasn't really popped out yet. I wondered about that too. It just kept nipping at it mostly in one spot. I got it in the tank late and it just hasn't "blossomed" yet. I'll know more tomorrow. When they try to host one, do they just sort of nuzzle down into it?

 

Clowns are safe to corals from everything I've ever read. They do like to host certain corals. Funny but I had a chromis that hid inside a Marshall Island Hammer when he felt threatened. But at the same time anything is possible with fish. I have 2 perculas from day 1 and they've never bothered any corals.

 

You could be on the verge of a great discovery!

 

Yeah, mine have never touched anything else either. This is the first.

 

my clown likes to bite and hold on to the tentacles of my hairy shrooms. mainly just one of them and always on the same spot(tentacle).

my understanding is that clowns arent born with the ability to withstand the corals sting(nematocysts), they acclimate themselves to it. a trait that mainly damselfish attain. i believe this is one way the fish goes about it. and then slowly rubbing its body against the coral for short periods before it allows itself to be hosted by the coral or anemone. (not the other way around. clowns dont host. the anemone or coral does the hosting)

 

Oh thanks. That makes more sense. It will be interesting to see if whatever it is doing will not damage my coral.

 

well unfortunately it probably is going to damage the coral unless the hammer fairly large. irritating the coral so much so that it cannot open.

since the hammer is new and will take a few days to fully acclimate to the tank, i would try to protect it from further stress. maybe a small blueberry basket placed over it like a cage might help, or cutting a plastic bottle in half and putting lots of small holes for flow might help protecting it from clown abuse.

 

never seen my clown bite my hammer but it did brush up against for a couple of day b4 being "allowed" to host.