Ocellaris Clown and anemones

Will Ocellaris Clowns be hosted by anemones? If so, what type(s)? Should they be purchased in pairs?

Thanks.

 

I would purchase a two juveniles clowns.

Clown anemone compatibility chart.

Clownfish Database

BTA's are always a good choice IMO.

 

You cant really go by those lists. You just never know until it happens really. Ive had ocellaris hosted by condylactis , long tentacle anemones, and sebaes and that list says they arent compatible.

As far as purchasing in pairs, you dont have to. But I think its nice to have them a mate personally. You can get 2 juvis and they will end up pairing at some point but there will be some bickering back and forth deciding who will be the femaile. The dominate one will always become a female. Or you can buy a mated pair and skip all of the bickering back and forth that they do to decide whos the female. If introducing 2 clowns to a system that arent already paired up, actually better to buy 1 clown bigger than the other, so the smaller clown quickly submits to it.

 

occs are some of the pickiest clowns anemone wise, along with perculas. if you have a large carpet or ritteri in the tank its almost a given that it will immediately host. but with a small bta that i would suggest there is no surefire way to make them host, and no way to know if they will host at all.

 

Great information, guys. I'm still 4-8 weeks away from making a purchase, so I have plenty of time to do some research and make a decision.

Personally, I enjoy watching corals grow (that's why I purchased frags in my first tank) and I think I would enjoy the entertainment that the clowns would provide while establishing dominance.

Will farm raised false perculas be hosted, or are they even less likely to be?

 

wild caught tend to be more likely to be hosted by an anemone. captive bred usually dont know what they are doing. and have never seen an anemone before.

 

Do you think there is still a slight instinct there (i.e. dogs chasing squirrels)?

 

While it's always a gamble, you can not breed hundreds of years of evolutionary behaviors out of an animal in decades.

If it becomes an issue there are certain tricks you can try.

 

Seems like my best bet is to go with non farm raised clowns.

 

sorry i disagree with this completely. I agree with cheryls comments. While we have just begun to start captive breeding, certain behaviors will remain in a fish for a long period after never seeing an ocean.

I look at dogs for best examples. My old dog had was born in a barn, grew up in a house in the city, and one weekend while visiting a farm their cows got loose, our dog(a mix border collie) takes straight after the cows and helps herd them back into the pen. This was done purely on instinct even though she or her parents had not been used or trained in herding.

Much like how my captive bred platinum clowns took to being hosted by my elegance coral in a matter of hours, and it took over a year and i had to introduce the elegance and clowns hosting to the other tank before my will caught clowns even took notice of hosting something.

My advice is dont buy the nem with the clowns. Introduce the clowns, if you notice they would like to be hosfted by your corals then i would consider aadding one. But it can be hard for that relationship to be made, qas i said took over a year for one of my pairs to start hosting.