My tomato clown started hosting my BTA

I just installed a new Nova Extreme Pro 6x54W fixture yesterday. My bubble tip anemone appears to like the new lights. It opened really wide today under the new lights to soak it all in.

Up to this point my tomato clown that I purchased the 1st weekend of November had never gone into the anemone. It would often hang out a few inches above it for a while and then go merrilly on its way. Today was different. All day today the clown kept visiting the anemone. It started getting closer than usual and let a tentacle touch it for the first time that I've seen. It then started getting territorial and would occasionally chase away a green chromis, my firefish and my oscellaris clown.

It would still venture away from the anemone and swim around the tank. There always seemed to be an attraction that would pull the clown back after a few minutes. It would get close again and look at the anemone.

Finally, tonight, it started nipping at a few tentacles. Then, it actually went between a few tentacles and came back out, almost like dipping a toe in a hot bath to test the water. It didn't stay for long but contact was indeed made. It kept visiting the anemone more and more over the course of the evening and making brief contact with it. Eventually it stayed longer and started wiggling and twitching amongst the tentacles. It was almost as if the tentacles hurt it a little bit and it was getting used to it. Each stay was short and lasted only a minute or two at a time and then the clown was off swimming around the tank again.

Now, the lights have gone out in the tank for the night. I do miss the blue moonlights my old fixture had. Oh well. The clown is no longer in the anemone. Instead it is swimming up against the side glass of the tank where it has spent every night since I bought it. I wonder if it will eventually spend the night in the anemone.

So, tonight it finally happened. This was something that I wanted to observe ever since I got my first saltwater tank in the early 90s. That tank failed and I didn't pursue the hobby any farther until last October. There is just something about observing a symbiotic relationship like this. Way way cool. I love this hobby.

 

Congrats! But is that a bubble tip?

My maroon clown just started hosting my H. Crispa about a month ago-- it has been almost a year, so of course my first thought was that he was getting eaten :0

 

It is a bubble tip. It seems to lose the bubbles under bright light. It regains the bubbles in the evening when some of the lights turn off. It keeps the bubbles through the night and in the morning when the tank isn't fully illuminated. When all the lights are turned on it stretches out again and loses the bubbles. Here is a picture with partial illumination.


Congrats on your maroon. I was hoping my oscellaris would host it but I gave up after a year and got the tomato.

 

Nice pic.
The maroon hosted a bubble coral for a long time, much to the discomfort of the coral!

 

Isn't it great to see things going the way they are supposed to? Congrats!!

 

I love it. Watching the anemone/clown relationship is the biggest reason why I started my tank. I'm so glad it finally happened.

 

Mine started hosting about two weeks ago in my BTA. It's amazing how much better the tank looks when things go right. I stare at mine for hours.

Congrats!