Carpet Eating Clowns

[Reef GE]

What type of carpet anemone is it ? Any pics ?

 

[Reef GE]

its sleeping now. I’ll send pics in the AM

 

[SAWFISH]

I used to have a pair of clownfish that spent all their time in a green carpet anemone and never had any problems. I bought the clownish and carpet with the tank I had bought, so I don't know how long they had lived in the carpet. By the time I had the clownfish though they were quite big. I think the female was probably around 3 inches and the male was somewhere between 2-2.5 inches. I remember when my tank got ich really bad some of the only fish that survived were the clownfish, I imagine this was due to their thick mucus coats and maybe also the anemone.

Based on your post it maybe sounds like your clownfish were too small to handle the sting of the carpet anemone. I may have also just gotten lucky with my pair. Based on what others are saying this is not a natural host for the species of clown I had. I remember the anemone I had was super sticky, I always wore gloves when handling it and it stuck to the gloves. I could see how a young clownfish might get trapped in the anemone if it didn't have a thick enough mucus layer.

 

[Labora]

In the wild, A. ocellaris and A. percula host only Heteractis magnifica, the Magnificent Sea Anemone, Stichodactyla gigantea, the Giant Carpet Anemone, Heractis crispa, Sebae Anemone and Stichodactyla mertensii, Merten’s Carpet Anemone.

 

[argiBK]

My oscellaris pair has successfully hosted a Haddoni in the past (honestly, they've hosted, and loved-to-death, a few species prior to their current Mag). That BTAs are not natural hosts (albeit nowhere near as aggressive or voracious as a Haddoni) but regularly host non-naturally occuring clown species in captivity also suggests that this was an issue with the clownfish and not the anemone.

My money is on that the two clowns were not quite ready, over-eager, and needed a few days to develop their mucus coatings to successfully host the carpet.

If/when you get new clowns, especially if they're young/small juveniles, it would be worth it to keep them in a separation box next to the anemone so that if/when they do host (or, separate the anemone from the clowns with netting for a few days), they might be more prepared. Otherwise, possibly going for older/adult fish that have proven to host beforehand would be a surer bet.

 

[James M]

P
Picture isn’t working for me

 

[Nemguy123]

That’s crazy I’ve had many huge carpets with very small ocys and I’ve never lost one to being eaten by a hosting carpet :/ definitely a first for me

 

[Reef GE]

My oscellaris pair has successfully hosted a Haddoni in the past (honestly, they've hosted, and loved-to-death, a few species prior to their current Mag). That BTAs are not natural hosts (albeit nowhere near as aggressive or voracious as a Haddoni) but regularly host non-naturally occuring clown species in captivity also suggests that this was an issue with the clownfish and not the anemone.

My money is on that the two clowns were not quite ready, over-eager, and needed a few days to develop their mucus coatings to successfully host the carpet.

If/when you get new clowns, especially if they're young/small juveniles, it would be worth it to keep them in a separation box next to the anemone so that if/when they do host (or, separate the anemone from the clowns with netting for a few days), they might be more prepared. Otherwise, possibly going for older/adult fish that have proven to host beforehand would be a surer bet.

Just curious...how would having the clowns in a separation box next to the anemone help the clowns prepare to host? I thought they had to have gradual contact to develop mucus coatings.

 

[fishface NJ]

I bought my carpet when it was small. Within a year it got to 10-12 inches. My carpet use to do the same with all small fish. I got rid of the carpet

 

[Reef GE]

I bought my carpet when it was small. Within a year it got to 10-12 inches. My carpet use to do the same with all small fish. I got rid of the carpet

Even with clowns?

 

[argiBK]

Just curious...how would having the clowns in a separation box next to the anemone help the clowns prepare to host? I thought they had to have gradual contact to develop mucus coatings.

That's a good point, and it got me sleuthing a bit.

Research says that some species are born with their mucus layer and some require contact to develop it though all species initiate contact to begin acclimating both the fish and the anemone before full immunity is provided: https://asknature.org/strategy/mucus-coat-protects-from-sea-anemone/#.U-KEYPldWSq

From my experiences with my clowns (when they were about 1") when they hosted their first anemone (a Sebae), they dove right in and were perfectly safe, though the anemone had been in the tank for a day or two with the clowns at that point. Some time later they hosted a Haddoni and were perfectly fine (they ended up loving that one to death).

I'm not sure that contact is completely required to begin to develop/strengthen the mucus coat. I think some separation could still help to prevent over-eager clowns from hosting before they're ready. But this is just my hypothesis.

 

[KC's CNC Creations]

knock on wood, i've always had good luck with carpets, even the atlantic variety. also when adding new fish to tanks with carpets, i feed the anemone prior to the addition, this tends to make them less aggressive that first day or so.

 

[sprungson]

My haddoni carpet has eaten an ocellarius before. However my clown was sick.

 

[shred5]

It could be an Atlantic carpet anemone. They do not host clowns and will eat them.

Most carpet anemones will eat any fish that get close enough to them including haddoni and gigantea. I have know allot of people who have lost fish to them but not usually clowns.

For me Stichodactyla tapetum has ate more fish than any other anemone I have owned.