Purple bubble anemone won't find a place

[Zotch]

The anemone does the hosting

 

[davocean]

Yeah lta and it sometimes takes a minute to years for clowns to find their nem. It will come in due time one day you’ll look in the tank and bam they are in it. Your nem loves the sand make sure you turn your pumps off or it will just get blown around.

If they are given a natural match hosting happens very fast, often immediately.
My clowns were in their mag before I even pulled my hand away while placing nem in tank.

 

[RJinPV]

I'm surprised they went into BTA faster than LTA for you.
Some people go a year or more w/ BTA's and occs or percs

They ignored the LTA for months. They adopted the BTA within about a month. The female first followed by the male a few days later. The LTA was on the sand and the clowns hung around the top of the tank. I placed the BTA on a rock near the top. Maybe they just had more opportunity to see it and try it out because it was closer to them. The tank is 24" tall.

 

[RJinPV]

I remember seeing a compatibility chart when I was trying to get an anemone to host my Ocellaris clowns. So I started looking for it. This is what I found. I'm not sure how accurate it is but this is why I gave up on the LTA and got a BTA: https://www.fishlore.com/clownfishanemonechart.htm

 

[davocean]

I remember seeing a compatibility chart when I was trying to get an anemone to host my Ocellaris clowns. So I started looking for it. This is what I found. I'm not sure how accurate it is but this is why I gave up on the LTA and got a BTA: https://www.fishlore.com/clownfishanemonechart.htm

Not correct on that list, percs and occs are not a match to BTA in wild, but glad you got lucky, and I'd guess it's placement helped as you mentioned.

Maroons are natural to BTA I know.

 

[BradB]

I have 4 ocellaris, 2 BTAs and a mag. The 2 ocellaris I added first went straight for the mag - literally under 10 seconds. But I've had ocellaris before that died after being beat up a few days (I had more aggressive fish) and never tried the mag. The other 2 ocellaris are much smaller, and would prefer the mag, but the first 2 keep them out. I was hoping for all 4 in the Mag, or 2 pairs. But the smallest clownfish chose a montipora as his host for the past year, despite dozens of more anemone-like hosts available. The 2nd smallest ocellaris is fine with a BTA.

Almost 20 years in this hobby, clownfish do funny things, and some take a very long time to find a host.

I also disagree with the comment that BTA's are better than mags for new hobbyists.

Mags need:
1) Very bright light
2) A huge tank
3) Medium/High flow
4) Antibiotic treatment on arrival (not needed if buying a used nem).

So obviously a little more prep work than winning a beta at the fair and then looking for a suitable container. But I wouldn't hesitate to recommend someone go this route even if they never kept saltwater as long as they were serious and knew everything involved. BTA's are much more finicky, and I've seen many beautiful BTAs never thrive and eventually die in my tank despite what should be near perfect conditions (although some have thrived in the worst conditions my tank has been in).

IMO the hardest part of any anemone is the initial introduction period, once it is thriving, it tends to stay that way. Mags need a lot of preparation but are nearly a sure thing, BTAs need less preparation, but are always going to be a gamble.

 

[davocean]

I have 4 ocellaris, 2 BTAs and a mag. The 2 ocellaris I added first went straight for the mag - literally under 10 seconds. But I've had ocellaris before that died after being beat up a few days (I had more aggressive fish) and never tried the mag. The other 2 ocellaris are much smaller, and would prefer the mag, but the first 2 keep them out. I was hoping for all 4 in the Mag, or 2 pairs. But the smallest clownfish chose a montipora as his host for the past year, despite dozens of more anemone-like hosts available. The 2nd smallest ocellaris is fine with a BTA.

Almost 20 years in this hobby, clownfish do funny things, and some take a very long time to find a host.

I also disagree with the comment that BTA's are better than mags for new hobbyists.

Mags need:
1) Very bright light
2) A huge tank
3) Medium/High flow
4) Antibiotic treatment on arrival (not needed if buying a used nem).

So obviously a little more prep work than winning a beta at the fair and then looking for a suitable container. But I wouldn't hesitate to recommend someone go this route even if they never kept saltwater as long as they were serious and knew everything involved. BTA's are much more finicky, and I've seen many beautiful BTAs never thrive and eventually die in my tank despite what should be near perfect conditions (although some have thrived in the worst conditions my tank has been in).

IMO the hardest part of any anemone is the initial introduction period, once it is thriving, it tends to stay that way. Mags need a lot of preparation but are nearly a sure thing, BTAs need less preparation, but are always going to be a gamble.

Pretty much agree w/ everything here.
If multiple pairs are not from same clutch then there could have been some aggression that changed the pattern some, and why the smaller chose other than mag.

 

[laverda]

I have 4 ocellaris, 2 BTAs and a mag. The 2 ocellaris I added first went straight for the mag - literally under 10 seconds. But I've had ocellaris before that died after being beat up a few days (I had more aggressive fish) and never tried the mag. The other 2 ocellaris are much smaller, and would prefer the mag, but the first 2 keep them out. I was hoping for all 4 in the Mag, or 2 pairs. But the smallest clownfish chose a montipora as his host for the past year, despite dozens of more anemone-like hosts available. The 2nd smallest ocellaris is fine with a BTA.

Almost 20 years in this hobby, clownfish do funny things, and some take a very long time to find a host.

I also disagree with the comment that BTA's are better than mags for new hobbyists.

Mags need:
1) Very bright light
2) A huge tank
3) Medium/High flow
4) Antibiotic treatment on arrival (not needed if buying a used nem).

So obviously a little more prep work than winning a beta at the fair and then looking for a suitable container. But I wouldn't hesitate to recommend someone go this route even if they never kept saltwater as long as they were serious and knew everything involved. BTA's are much more finicky, and I've seen many beautiful BTAs never thrive and eventually die in my tank despite what should be near perfect conditions (although some have thrived in the worst conditions my tank has been in).

IMO the hardest part of any anemone is the initial introduction period, once it is thriving, it tends to stay that way. Mags need a lot of preparation but are nearly a sure thing, BTAs need less preparation, but are always going to be a gamble.

I have never kept a mag so I can’t comment on that. I have kept many BTAs and find them very easy to keep. Perhaps you could not keep them due to incompatibility with your mag. Many experts say you should not keep different types of anemones in one tank. Some even go so far as to say you should not keep different strains of BTAs in one tank. I have 3 different varieties of BTAs in my tank for years with no apparent issues.

 

[BradB]

I have never kept a mag so I can’t comment on that. I have kept many BTAs and find them very easy to keep. Perhaps you could not keep them due to incompatibility with your mag. Many experts say you should not keep different types of anemones in one tank. Some even go so far as to say you should not keep different strains of BTAs in one tank. I have 3 different varieties of BTAs in my tank for years with no apparent issues.

I have had many anemones over the years and generally agree bta are easy to keep. With or without a mag, I've had thriving BTAs at most of the past 20 years. But my point was the BTAs I have lost, I have very little explanation. An BTA may wonder forever or hide under rockwork and then die from not enough light, and another added shortly after thrives immediately.

I only had 2 mags, and the first not for very long, so my sample size is small, but I have heard the same from other people. The Mag I have now is exactly where I put it 4 years ago, and never gave me cause for concern