Will my tomato be happy without an anenome?

[saltyrich]

I'm debating getting an anenome for my tomato clown. I've got a 55 gallon tank, 300 watts of VHO lighting, and real good water quality. I'm only considering either a bubble-tip or a long-tentacle. I'm leaning towards the long-tent. because they don't seem to wander as much as the bubbles. But what about host"corals" for my tomato? Please help me make a good decision.

 

[mlm]

Your clownfish (if tank raised) does not even know what an anenomie is. It will adopt and be happy with somthing else in the tank. Some even adopt powerheads and other man made objects. Mine used my frogspawn sometimes but for the most part it just swims around the tank.

 

[saltyrich]

mlm; What are the care requirements for your frog spawn? I just saw some at the lfs this morning.

 

[blackdog]

I had my tomato for about four months before I got a bubble-tip anemone last month. He acted differently before he had a host. He tended to roam the tank more, and at night hovered under various rocks. As my ricordea started to get larger, the tomato would often cozy up to the ricordea, rolling around on it like he would in an anemone. The ricordea did not appear to appreciate the attention, though I don't think it was actually being damaged.
About four weeks ago I decided to indulge my personal desires instead of the conventional wisdom here and I brought home a bubble-tip anemone. I tucked it in a protected area on the sand and let it be for a couple days. The morning of the third day I checked the tank and was greeting with this rewarding sight:

Since then, the anemone has tripled in size and plumps its tentacles regularly during the day. However, it still doesn't have the

[hr]
like tips. I have heard sometimes they just stay roundish. The anemone never moved from the spot I originally placed him. Recently I moved the anemone higher up onto a rock and it has also stayed there without roaming. Either I have a very mellow aneomone or he has found life acceptable both locations I have placed him.
Now that he has a host, the clown tends to hang out within around a foot of the anemone. It's hard to tell the actual mood of a fish, but he certainly appears to love his bed. The one thing that was odd and frustrating at first was when I fed the tank. Not only did the clown not bring food back to the anemone, but if I fed the anemone, the clown would forcefully grab it away, even if there was plenty of food still floating around in the water. Sometimes he would grab it away and just let go of it and let it float away. Then ten minutes later he would snuggle up in the anemone, like an abusive boyfriend who doesn't even remember what he just did. Happily, I haven't seen this behavior the last ten days or so. When I shoot some food onto the anemone, he closes right up and the clown leaves him alone until the food is gone.
I think if you have a good established tank, you should go for it. I find that my clown acts completely differently now that he has a home -- much more like he would in nature.

 

[hunterdaddy]

I have always heard that clowns become more agressive when they have anemoes (spelling). I got a colt the other day and the guy I got it from had a gold banded maroon clown who lived in it. Mine dosent even seem to notice it is there. /shrug
But then again I have a clump of culerpa that my naso wont touch.

 

[anthony812]

my clownfish adopted a powerhead, its so sad to see your clownfish follow the powerhead when you move it , it really sucks i think your clown will be fine and as the other guy said a captive raised clown has never even seen a anemone. If you want to make it happy i think getting 2 clown fish would be good so they can be a pair female/male but it will be happy alone too . If your willing to get a anemone and know you can take care of them i suggest you should get a bubble tip since its the hardiest of all the anemones. But warning to you anemones no mater how hardy there is still a risk involve because it could die on you. There are many reasons it can such as poor handling in the fish store or shipping stress,anemones are slow to tell you they are dying. So if one ever dies on you siphon the remains out dont try to grab it with your hand and bring it out of the tank. If you do that it may burst and all hell will break loose in your tank with toxins from the anemone. Hop this helps . So make up your mind carefully if you aren't willing to take a risk dont raise a anemone because they are harder to raise. You should a certain type of corals like sacros, frogspawns and many other corals because a captive raise clown will accept those too and they dont have the risk as with the anemone