Clown fish getting stung by Zoanthids, advice needed (PICS)

[924er]

Hey guys!

I have a pair of clowns that recently started hosting my zoanthids, especially at night. The female clown literally wedges herself within the coral, while the male just hovers up top. I thought it was cute at first. Fast forward 2 weeks and they are covered in hypermelanin spots all over. The clowns appear healthy, and eat like pigs but they cont to rub themselves on the zoas. I also have frogspawns, torches and hammers but they dont go near them

my options-

1- leave them alone and let them be

2- get rid of the zoa. The ones I have are brown and not attractive unless the blue light is on. Even then, there is a slight hint of pink color but is definitely thriving and growing on the rocks.

I am not looking to add an anemone as I have plenty of euphylias and other awesome LPS I wish to keep.
I have also ruled out black ick as the spots are linear and the other fish in my tank dont have them.

 

[vetteguy53081]

They'll get it sooner or later. Ive seen clowns stung to be later accepted.
For clarity- Clowns are the guests. . . Anemone is the host

 

[James M]

Only option is 1, as they would get stung by ever coral they touch
And pandora zoas are really fast growers and only look nice up high the tank

 

[924er]

Only option is 1, as they would get stung by ever coral they touch
And pandora zoas are really fast growers and only look nice up high the tank

Yeah I can see that. This is my first reef tank and im starting to think these are invasive so I might prune or get rid of them. However, I notice I use too much white light so that could be why they dont look as nice

 

[924er]

They'll get it sooner or later. Ive seen clowns stung to be later accepted.
For clarity- Clowns are the guests. . . Anemone is the host

Is it even possible for a zoanthid to accept the clowns?

 

[A;exr54]

I feel your pain. My clown hosted in my branching hammer. And its sucking on its tips like its an anemone. And i do see tips floating around my tank from time to time. Its upsetting.
I put in a RBTA recently which is doing amazingly well, but so far the clown in not even going near it.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Is it even possible for a zoanthid to accept the clowns?

Rarely
Typical are:
Nems
Hairy mushrooms
Euphyllia
Xenia
Leathers-toadstool
Kenyii tree

 

[924er]

So its been almost a week now, and my smaller clown fish is rubbing against the zoa more frequently. I noticed less black spots so I am assuming they are getting stung less.

Is it possible the zoanthid accepted the clown to host?