Clownfish Killing Anemone?

blkhawk10 · Aug 6, 2013

I bought a bta the other day and it was looking good and getting acclimated. I came home today and it was shrunk and receeded, but I noticed that my clown keeps messing with it and I think the clowns the problem...what should I do?

FishLipz · Aug 6, 2013

Could be. Do you have a place in your sump or a quarantine tank to put the clown until the anemone settles in?

Ms. Mermaid · Aug 6, 2013

How big is the bta? What type of clownfish are they? And how big are they? Opps almost forgot how long has the tank been setup for?

blkhawk10 · Aug 6, 2013

Should I put my clown in my sump? How long will the anemone take to get settled in? If it does does the clown have a chance to do it again? The clown is about 2-2 1/2 inches and the nem was about 3...I got a gold stripe maroon...the tanks been up for over a year now

FishLipz · Aug 6, 2013

Ahhh. Maroons are notorious for being very hard on anemones. I like to give my anemone a week or so to get settled in before adding a clown. The clown will most likely do it again because the BTA is their natural host and it already showed an interest. In a perfect world the anemone would be at least twice the size of the clown to lessen the stress.

Wcjamison · Aug 6, 2013

Anemone can take a beating. Check your water parameters.

uall8up · Aug 6, 2013

FishLipz said:
Ahhh. Maroons are notorious for being very hard on anemones. I like to give my anemone a week or so to get settled in before adding a clown. The clown will most likely do it again because the BTA is their natural host and it already showed an interest. In a perfect world the anemone would be at least twice the size of the clown to lessen the stress.

+1 My maroons are very violent with any nem I give them.

blkhawk10 · Aug 6, 2013

So should I put the clown in the fuge and let the anemone get acclimated or get rid of the anemeone? I don't want it to die!

Reef Fever · Aug 6, 2013

I have a female clarkii who beats the crap out of anemones. She now lives without one since she obviously can't handle the urge to rub the poor things to death lol

Ms. Mermaid · Aug 6, 2013

Yep maroons are rough on the nems. You could put the clownfish in the fuge and feed the bta so it will grow. What type of bta is it?
I had a pair of clownfish that would not let my gbta alone so both gbtas ended up dieing. I now have rbtas and they are getting really big plus I got rid of the mean clownfish and got some true percs and they love their rbtas and I put a couple very small gbtas in with their babies and they are learning fast. Hosting with the gbtas. Simply amazing.

FishLipz · Aug 6, 2013

That's a personal choice. Nothing gained if you don't try. Besides, if you take it back to the store there's no guarantee it goes to someone who will care for it any better.

Trex · Aug 6, 2013

For a maroon and E. quadricolor, would like the anemone to be 2-3 times the size of the clown. In your case would like the anemone to be 6-9 inches across.

kes · Aug 10, 2013

maybe it was dying already? not sure, never heard this before

TampaJoe · Aug 12, 2013

I had the same problem with my Mccullochi pair. The larger female was very ruff on the 3" RBTA I put in there and I was worried but I just let nature take its course and the RBTA split a few times to survive I guess and now I have 3 RBTA all is well. They can take a beating.

ClownSchool · Jun 23, 2021

My 2.5” Clarkii female is brutal to my gbta and after 30% water change 24 hours earlier, the anemone is very distressed. From introducing it to my tank, she has been digging into it non-stop.
The anemone went from 3-3.5” across, to being shrunk up to the size of a wine bottle cork.
I’ve been assuming the gbta was having trouble in a newish tank (4 1/2 months established), but with great water parameters and after reading this, I’m thinking it’s the clown.
For some reason though, it seems to bounce back after a water change, so...this has been a confusing challenge.
Also, after pulling a stromatella off a live rock for identification and finding they’re part of the cuc you want in a tank, I dropped it back in just to have the clown catch it and immediately feed it to the anemone, so it could be something it ate???? I don’t know....