New member to the tank

[schippy]

I just got this great carpet anemone from my LFS. It is doing great but my clowns won't go near it. How long till they start to call it home? I have included a pic of my tank. Any comments or suggestions??

 

[schippy]

The tank

 

[overanalyzer]

What kind of clowns?? It might not be a natural host for the clowns you have. Also - carpets tend to eat other fish ...
I'll have to see if I have that link somewhere that lists out hte clownfish/host ....

 

[jim672]

You've probably heard the old saying,"You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink"? Well, substitute clown for horse and carpet anemone for water and you have your answer.
Seriously, there doesn't seem to be any way to tell what, or if, a clown will adopt an anenome or coral. My clown adopted my hammer coral, for example. You just have to wait an see what the clown wants to do.
By the way......great looking CA and very nice tank.
Jim

 

[schippy]

They are:
Percula Clownfish
Amphiprion ocellaris

 

[nm reef]

There is no way of knowing if or when they may host with your carpet. But it is a very healthy looking carpet!

 

[hairtrigger]

That is a great looking carpet. Awesome. In my experience, clowns will drop food in a carpet, but generally don't host them... as in roll around and sleep in. Carpets are serious carnivores. The one at the LFS I used to work at ate big, big fish. Including a clown that got too close. Carpets are amazingly sticky, especially when they are hungry. So if a clown is just trying to frolic, it may get mistaken for a meal... get stuck to the "carpet," which will then fold over and swallow fore mentioned clown.
This may not be the case all the time though.

 

[spsfreak100]

It really depends on the personality of the fish. Some fish may host in the anemone, while others will pay little to no attention to it. As jim672 was stating, you cannot force the clowns into the anemone.
Also, do you know if these clowns were captive breed?
Graham