Clown hosting in frogspawn?

[recoiljpr]

All,

I purchased a frogspawn frag at the swap last weekend that is about the size of a golf ball. My clowns initially ignored it but starting Tuesday the female started sucking on the "tentacles" and rubbing all over it slowly. Now for the past two days, she has stayed by it and seems to be fully "hosting" in it. She's even sleeping in it at night. The frogspawn seems to be fine, except I'm noticing it's not closing up as much at night as it used to.

Will the clown hurt the frogspawn, or the frogspawn hurt the clown? While I think it's pretty neat, I don't want either to be hurt by it.

[ballardjr2000]

i have heard of clowns hosting frogspawn before i think there is a video of it somewhere on youtube. don't be surprised if you see little black spots on the clown though from stings from the coral, doesn't hurt them from what i can tell but just something to watch for other than that i wouldn't worry to much. so did they evict the anenome if you had one.

[recoiljpr]

so did they evict the anenome if you had one.

No, I want a BTA fairly badly! But, my tank is not a year old, and from what I've read here and elsewhere, your tank should be at least a year old before thinking about putting in an anemone. I do have enough lighting (144W on a biocube 29). But, i don't want to get something just because I want it, and not have the environment needed to support it healthily. Same reason i'm staying away from a mandarin even though I think they are cool to watch.

I love this hobby, but man it surely teaches one patience!

[corkyGramma]

I wouldnt go with a bta first, sounds like your clown will go nuts when you do get an anemone. Thanks ballardjr, that's news to me about the burn spots.

[ballardjr2000]

i picked up two clowns that were hosting some corals no anenome just corals in a tank they were healthy but had little black spots so of course before i bought i asked and was told by the LFS thats what caused it so i bought them with-in a week the spots disappeared and i was watching the clowns rub the coral (yellow polops and other softies in the LFS) here they haven't hosted my yellows or anenome and no spots

[Third Coast Tropical]

its not uncommon for them to host in a variety of corals, Xenia, Flowerpot, Brains, Hammer/Frogspawns, Plate, and the list probably continues on. Mixed reviews on whether or not it is detrimental to your corals, probably depends on the nature and species of clown you have.....and i think it ultimately comes donw to the personality of the fish....i have a pair of maroons that have beat up and almost kill an anemone before and have heard stories where clowns have beaten up the corals.....the same marooons then went and hosted with a flowerpot and never hurt the coral........not exactly sure who or what is right.....i would just watch it closely...assess the situation daily.....might have to get the coral out, or go head and purchase an anemone......stay on top of the nitrates and monitor your water closely and the anemone should be okay....regardless,....good luck

[corkyGramma]

Yes but why risk it with such an expensive anemone.

[corkyGramma]

My ocellaris clowns are like cats, they rub up on everything. A year ago, I had to take my frogspawn out of that tank because they kept jumping in it and back to the bubble anemone. I didnt notice any black spots until recently the female has been sleeping in yellow polyps-AHA!

[Sherri]

My clowns have hosted a large colt for years. They get a bit rowdy sometimes and it will shrink down but no damage reports ever noticed. :)

[recoiljpr]

I have ORA tank bred false percs. The female is about 2 1/2", the male is a little under 2". Both of my clowns so far are fairly calm, they will eat mysis from my hands.

The frogspawn still looks okay, but I tried something to see if the female was hosting in it only because it was in her normal spot in the tank. So I moved it to the other side of the tank, and the female followed it. So, it looks like she's attached to it!

As to the black spots, I do see a small one on her, but I will keep watching it to be sure.

As to the BTA, as tempting as it is, I want to wait untill I get my algae scrubber and fuge finished and running for a while. With that timeframe, my tank will be about 6 months old, and with the extra stability from the water, I may feel comfortable enough to consider adding it.

[Sherri]

Mine are quite calm too...will feed out of my hands...they have taken quite good care of their colt...:) Had them since they were babies...6 yrs now. :heart:

[Third Coast Tropical]

Yes but why risk it with such an expensive anemone.


BTA's arent that expensive, and arent that hard to keep if you monitor your system....The price of a medium BTA is similar to the price of a medium frogspawn, if not cheaper....I currently have 4 of the same 29 gal systems that recoil has.....i have 3 BTA's and all are very healthy and have grown....the 4th tank has a LTA in it....all are bonded with clown pairs.....all four of my tanks are less than a year old.....all of my anemones are healthly and eat 1 to 2 times a week.....

[corkyGramma]

BTA's arent that expensive, and arent that hard to keep if you monitor your system....The price of a medium BTA is similar to the price of a medium frogspawn, if not cheaper....I currently have 4 of the same 29 gal systems that recoil has.....i have 3 BTA's and all are very healthy and have grown....the 4th tank has a LTA in it....all are bonded with clown pairs.....all four of my tanks are less than a year old.....all of my anemones are healthly and eat 1 to 2 times a week.....
I don't know why I thought he was talking about a rose bta. Your right greens start at $20 bucks and are the easier anems to keep. Hope he has a second tank just in case.

[ballardjr2000]

yeah i have a BTA white with rose/purple base its doing great in my tank and its less than 6 months old i just watch my tank like a hawk

[AustinReefClub]

My tank is about 4 months old now, and I have a GBTA and clowns in it. The GBTA eats once to twice a week and has more than doubled in size. It's definitely doable, and a lot of fun. Just stay on top of your water conditions.

[ballardjr2000]

yeap mine is cool and fun just wish my clowns will host it.

[Third Coast Tropical]

yeap mine is cool and fun just wish my clowns will host it.


What species of clown is it?

[recoiljpr]

Here is a pic I took just a little while ago of "Clownie" (My 5 year old named her) hosting in the FS.

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb220/recoiljpr/recoilclownfrog.jpg

I was able to chase her away for a minute to get a shot of it without her on it. It looks healthy enough to me. Any of you "salty dogs" see anything I'm missing?

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb220/recoiljpr/frogspawn.jpg

[sharkboy]

i think that some of this depends on the size/health of the coral and even anemone as far as determining the long term success....generally speaking the larger and more established the anemone/coral and smaller/less aggressive clown is probably better situation...

[ballardjr2000]

my clowns are false percs

[RICKY81]

from a personal experience i don't think either or will be hurt (fish/frogspawn)... i currently have two clown fish and they host on a frogspawn and it seems like the frogspawn actually enjoys it... it has gotten really big and opens up to the size of a softball with only 2 heads....as a matter of fact when i feed them they rush and dump food on the frogspawn, my fish have also hosted on open and closed brains, hammer heads, and torch, that i have had in the past..... but overall it should be all good..

[recoiljpr]

So the clown won't leave the frogspawn alone. It's starting to deflate now, I think it's a combination of the size of the frogspawn and the size of the Clown. I tried moving it 4 different places, Mrs. Clown followed it everywhere. The last time I tried moving it, she "protected" the frogspawn and nipped at me.

So, it looks like I may have to trade it out unless anyone has any other ideas? I don't have any other reef tanks, so that's not an option.

[ballardjr2000]

you have a qt tank you can move the frag to or a fuge will work till it gets bigger

[recoiljpr]

you have a qt tank you can move the frag to or a fuge will work till it gets bigger

It only has the normal lights that come with the walmart 10 gallon setup. I wouldn't think that's enough light to keep it alive and healthy. I'm not sure I want to invest the money to upgrade the filtration and lighting on the QT for the frogspawn. I'll have to think about that one.

[ballardjr2000]

well for a 10g going with the whole 4w per gallon lighting etc etc. stuff you would need a 40w bulb i think on the blue side would be fine for fitration saying as how you wouldn't have much of a bio load i don't think you would have to up your filtration. since corals don't put out a lot of waste i think the filter could handle it. it would be lighting i think that would be the biggest question

[Zarathustra2]

If you are seeing it deflate now get that clown away. I had a large hammer coral that i lost due to some clown overloving. Got to the point that i fragged a 4-5" wall hammer down to about an inch and had it under a plexiglass tent which the clowns flipped over so they could get to it and wallow in its last little piece. I think they knew they were doing bad too cause when i busted them wallowing in this frag they just looked up at me like "what, i'm a clown, I host and can't help it."

Now these same clowns are hosting in different parts of the tank. One is hanging out in a feather duster (very wierd) and the other is hosting in a green frilly mushroom and all seems to be fine.

[sharkboy]

so did the coral make it? what did you end up doing?

[recoiljpr]

so did the coral make it? what did you end up doing?

It's doing fine for now. I moved it into a bit more flow and that seemed to make it perk up after a day. The clown is still hosting in it, but it's not deflated anymore. I'm keeping my eye on it though!