anemone vs coral host

[paca444]

I have read that corals have a much higher survival rate than anemones and they obviously don't roam- damaging other tank inhabitants. My clowns are currently hosting a 7-8" goniopora flowerpot coral. I have heard mixed reviews about this particular coral and it's tolerance for clowns and captivity in general. But sfsg. Any opinions?

 

[perfectdark]

If you speaking in general terms regarding corals vs Anemones surviving in your tank? Then yes I agree corals are hardier and dont fail as eaisily or as quickly as an anemone can.
However as far as a host goes, that depends on the type of clown that is hosting and the type of coral it chooses. There are people who have clowns hosting hammers, shrooms, and even zoa's with no issues. But more so than anemones they are much more suseptable to harm because of the clowns manner of hosting. Aggressive hosts like a maroon clown can eaisily kill a coral, as they can eaisily kill a small anemone because they are such an aggressive host. But hosting aggressivley IMO can harm a coral quicker than it can harm an anemone. Hope this helps.

 

[paca444]

I have heard the opinion that clowns will close coral polyps to death from several others as well. I have also heard that many corals adapt to the constant stimulation. I just don't know why the author Joyce D Wilkerson would suggest that approach instead of the natural one if it normally didn't work out for the coral. In my particular case I have a pair of false perculas that don't seem to bother the coral too much.
So what do most of you do? Just have a FOWLR? Or do you try to leave plenty of LR space for the anemone to roam and just hope for the best?
One more question, I know that it's always a risk that the anemone will eat other fish in the tank. But how much of a risk is there with most clown hosting anemones?

 

[perfectdark]

Originally Posted by paca444
I have heard the opinion that clowns will close coral polyps to death from several others as well. I have also heard that many corals adapt to the constant stimulation. I just don't know why the author Joyce D Wilkerson would suggest that approach instead of the natural one if it normally didn't work out for the coral. In my particular case I have a pair of false perculas that don't seem to bother the coral too much.
So what do most of you do? Just have a FOWLR? Or do you try to leave plenty of LR space for the anemone to roam and just hope for the best?
One more question, I know that it's always a risk that the anemone will eat other fish in the tank. But how much of a risk is there with most clown hosting anemones?
Its still a risk. If I were to guess the reason behind using a coral over an anemone is because an anemone is not reef safe and there is no guarantee that a fish will host one.
I personally rolled the dice, I have a reef tank and a RBTA and it is working out well.

 

[aquaknight]

Some coral are better choices then others. You want to avoid them hosting any LPS corals. The clowns will kill them eventually. Softies, like a large toadstool, or my favorite, Xenia make great hosts. The catch is that it's near impossible to get a clown to pick the host you want.

 

[nycbob]

ur clown migth kill the flowerpot if he keeps hosting it.

 

[paca444]

That's the thing. All I can get is "might"s. But I guess that's all the truth out there to get- It is a possibility.
I guess the next step to take would be to be on the watch for any early warning signs that the coral is distressed. I can think of two signs at the moment:
Loss of Zooanthellae
Less extention of polyps
What are some others that might be looked for?

 

[nycbob]

u will slowly see lost of polyps on the flowerpots, meaning the base of the coral will show more and more, until no polyps r left. in this hobby, nothing is definite. thats why people write MIGHT.

 

[paca444]

Thank you.
Btw, I thought I made it pretty evident that I realized that some things you cannot be certain about in this hobby. But there are plenty of things that you can have a large possibility of (eg. nearly any fish of any species will be eaten if it is the same size as an angler/ frog fish. One would think that it wouldn't eat a lionfish of the same size. It can and has (it was pretty cool), but there's a possibility it won't in every single case.
I was just looking for some somewhat accurate percentages.