Clown and RBTA???

[pilot_bell777]

I added a Yellowstripe Marron Clownfish tonight and it took to hosting in my RBTA right off the bat.....hasn't left the thing.

Well the Clown looks VERY happy and it is kind of weird but I sware the RBTA looks happier too! LOL

So my question is do I still need to feed the RBTA now or will the clown take care of it from here out?

[BA]

always feed him, there is no quarentee that the clown will feed it, you can feed it silversides, or krill, but i feed mine HEB shrimp..make sure they are bay shrimp and not farm raised...i just cut one shrimp in half...

[Ram_Puppy]

mine has been happy getting a defrosted cube of prime reef frozen food, I had it on hand, so it's working great. I have been using a pair of bamboo ka-bob skewers like chopsticks, I just hold the cube in there long enough for the anemone to get a grab on the food, then pull out. very cool stuff. congrats on getting them together! pictures!

[matt]

Clowns will not feed anemones, except by accident. They don't teach table manners where they come from :-D

E. quadricolors supposed natural diet is crustaceans; mine ate krill. If you get big pieces of shrimp the anemone can get them without the clown stealing them. Once your maroon clown gets territorial about the anemone, hand feeding it can be a challenge!

[wkopplin]

I use those long tongs and feed mine krill too. My maroon attacks the tongs. I have actually seen my maroon drop food onto the anemone before, but I am not sure if it was on purpose or by accident. It looked to be on purpose, but who really knows what a fish is thinking?

[brewercm]

I thought that clowns will tend to feed their host anemone also, I actually saw the same from one of my clowns several years ago. Probably wouldn't expect it to feed enough that I wouldn't feed it myself though. Quite possibly like Matt said though more accident than on purpose but it always would tend to drop some food into the host at feeding time, basically spit it out there, mmmmm yummy.

[pilot_bell777]

I was told that the clown tries to store food on the anemonie and it ends up eating what the clown stores, thus feeding it. But if it still needs to be feed, then it will be feed!

[BA]

sometimes....it's up to your clown, youll have to see.....but i think its best to feed your anemone..it'll grow and be healthy for sure then..then ur not depnding on the clown

[pilot_bell777]

I may not have a clown if the tang doesn't stop!

[BA]

how big is the clown?

[pilot_bell777]

he is about 3 1/2 inches almost 4 I would say.....the tang is about 3 1/2 inches as well.....the tang is tearing his fins though and I am getting worried.

[BA]

wow thats surprising, most maroon are very mean, and can hold their own. if the tang keeps picking on him, i guess pick the one you like the most...and try to give the other a good home..

[pilot_bell777]

Trying to get my fish BA???? LOL....I will give it a couple days and see what happens. I only added the clown last night. Still early in the game. I know I figured the Tang would start something, the clown would hold it's own, and then it would be a little here and there but he clown jsut sits there and takes it.

[BA]

lol....hopefully the maroon doesn't die..i put a maroona nd a perc in the same tank, and the maroon was twice as big as the perc, and the perc nearly killed him!

[pilot_bell777]

I keep waiting for the agressive side of the clown to come out.....and waiting, and waiting.....I hope it stops though....the clown finds refuge in the RBTA and the tang won't come near it, but when the RBTA purges or closes for a little while, the tang see red (and I am not just talking about the color of the clown)

I pray that it will stop cause I really like both and would have a very hard time choosing.....

[BA]

do you have a seperator you could put in the tank?how big is the tank?

[pilot_bell777]

75 gallon and no I don't have a seperator.

[BA]

well i had a problem with my regal tang, he was killing every one, he ended up killing three lionfish, so i wanted a seperator, but didn't want to go buy one for my 100g, so i bought a cheap wall, for babies not to go to other rooms, or blocking off stairs...the cheap gate ones..and cut out the platic to the perfect shape, the maroon can't get thro if you get the right size of holes, and you can cut it to ur tank size with scissors, and it has plenty of flow...

[BA]

just to see if once u let the clown go in the anemone, and get situated for a week or so, then take it out, the clown might fight back then..c/ they see each other thro it, but can't fight

[pilot_bell777]

I am going to the LFS (YEA) after work to try and find something to seperate them.....was figuring the same thing....give the Clown time to settle in and then give the purple time to get used to his presense. Wish me luck!

[Dozer]

I feed my RBTA's silversides, and of course they get the occasional leftovers from the fish eating. The maroons do bring some other food to the RBTA's also, but directly feeding the silversides has made them very healthy in my opinion. 1 has split into 2, and I think one is about to split again. Also, they are under CF lighting and are not even toward the top- they are near the substrate- and are still thriving. I mention that because based on my reading and my brief experience keeping BTA's, I think the direct feeding of them is much more important for this variety of anemone than lighting is. They are thick and healthy and growing. I know other anemones absolutely must have more light, but these seem just fine so long as I feed them and the water quality is good- even under flourescents...

[pilot_bell777]

I've been direct feeding but didn't know if I should (could) stop with the clown or not. I wll keep feeding though.