clown hosting on frogspawn coral

[justjuice]

i would like to keep a anemone for a Black percula clown that im planing on buying but do not have the experience to keep it alive so i looked into alternatives and ran into a few succses storys of them hostong on frogspawn coral i also read that frogspawn is easy to take care of does anybody have any personal experience or info that they can share

[soymilk]

mines hosting a hammer right now lol. It should be fine. But its sorta just random as to what they will host. My other 2 onyx clowns host a maxijet1200, they aren't too bright.

Funny story,
When I was starting out, I wasn't as bright as you. I ended up getting an anemone for my clowns to host. After a few days they would not host the anemone no matter what I did. Frustrated I went online and someone mentioned taping up a picture of clowns hosting anemones around the tank. So I printed a bunch of pictures of clowns in anemones, and went to go read on the internet. After 2 hours I came back and wudda you know. I have two clowns sitting in an anemone.

I don't know if it was really the pictures that did it, or pure random luck. But i thought that was cool as hell.

[rage]

From what I read, clownfish have to be taught to host.
Wild caught clownfish of course learned how from their parents. These days many clownfish are captive-bred. If they have not been shown by another clownfish, they wouldn't know how.

[snookfish]

In general it's not always good for the coral that gets hosted by clowns. I say in general, because the stories I've heard is that eventally the coral can't take that much rubbing against and will slowly die. However, i have personally seen a clown host a big colony of Xenia and it did it no harm. frogspawn is fairly hearty coral and may be o.k. However, it does have a skeletal structure and may on occassion get ripped against it's skeleton as the clown swims among it, it may not. The easiest solution is a Green Bubble Tip anemone. They work and don't get too big for most aquariums and are at least if not easier to take care of than Frogspawn coral. I've had good luck with GBTA's and the good news is that over the span of a few months they tend to split and then you have 2 so you can either have more for hosting or sell/trade it.
There are 2 types of anemones in the wild that clowns prefer, both get fairly big especially for an aquarium. Carpet and Magnificent anemones. look them up and you see 2 things, 1 they get very big (like 3 feet) and 2 are real hard to take care of given thier size and sensitivity to water parameters.

I've never tried the picture thing, but my curiosity has gotten the better of me. so now I'm going to replace the clown that went carpet surfing and see if after a month or so that if it's not hosting I'll try the picture hypothesis!

[justjuice]

the picture idea sounds like a good plan i will try it if i do decide to get the clown. the Bubble-tip anemone was actualy my second choice but was leaning more towards the frogspawn because it seemed easier to take care of but did not know it could get hurt by the clown....

snookfish what did you mean by "are at least if not easier to take care of than Frogspawn coral."

[soymilk]

Honestly, if I had to do it again. I wouldn't have gotten the anemone. Sure it looks great, but it sure was a huge learning curve for me at the beginning. The anemone requires a lot more care than the clownfish or torch/hammer/frogspawn. Let your tank settle in for a few months and then maybe. I went off on an impulse and bought the anemone. I then had to upgrade my lights, do several water changes off the bat, and invest in a skimmer.

Suggesting an anemone to a new tank is almost a death sentence. A clownfish doesn't have to have a home. It'll make anywhere it's home.

[justjuice]

i guess i was right i will stick with the the corals for now but which of the three would best for a begginer like myself torch/hammer/frogspawn

[rage]

That is correct, my clown fish does not host anything and he is very happy.
I have RBTA, frogspawn, ...

Hammer, frogspawn are easy. I don't have torch but I heard that it is not too hard either.

[soymilk]

I had the best luck with torches. But technically they are all part of the same family. So whichever you can find cheapest lol.

[justjuice]

sounds good i guess ill get the black clown at city pets during the anniversary sale. could i buy both the clown and coral the same day or should i space it out a little

[justjuice]

how bad is the sting on these corals

[soymilk]

To you or the fish?

My fish doesnt seem to mind it. I see the sting marks yet they still host the hammer. I think hammer n frogspawns sting is not as potent as my torch. But I have nothing to base that on. Just obsevations.

[justjuice]

to myself worst case scenario will it leave a red mark on my hand... will i lose a finger lol and yeah i read that the torch does have the worst sting.

[Darbex]

I am tempted to find out just so I know. But skeered. I almost touched my torch on accident. I know bubble coral doest do anything because I hit that on accident and didnt realize it until I saw it move. My clown hosted a Leather.

[rage]

I just found out something interesting I thought I would share.
I have had a clownfish for maybe a year, 2-3" long, never hosted anything. I have RBTA and other corals that it can host.
Yesterday, I bought a second, a little smaller. Instantly, the bigger one came by and danced the clownfish dance with the new one. Shortly after, she would play hide and seek in/ out of a frogspawn. The new clownfish, dumb as dirt, would host a Monti cap nearby for hours.

My guess is, it's not that one clownfish that teaches the other the trick, it's the pairing/ mating instinct that causes clownfish to host.