The good ole' Clownfish <-> Anemone not hosting problem

[HeikeganiGhostCrab93]

Spent good money on a Black Widow BTA about the size of a baseball and two gorgeous long fin Mocha Storm/Snowflake clowns. They could not care less about the anemone! It has only been about a week.. how long does it usually take for them to start warming up?

 

[JoJosReef]

Spent good money on a Black Widow BTA about the size of a baseball and two gorgeous long fin Mocha Storm/Snowflake clowns. They could not care less about the anemone! It has only been about a week.. how long does it usually take for them to start warming up?

Mine took 2 and a half years.

 

[Doctorgori]

mine took a year, maybe longer
Also that chart where this species host that species is more “guide” than hardcore fact …
I have (or just had) a LTA, Carpet and Sebae
in the same tank is Barberi, tomato, percula, and saddleback pairs…
I can’t see any patterns or rhyme nor reason to anything

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

It can take a very long time to get them to host an anemone. You can try and find a video of clowns swimming in an anemone and play it against the glass for an hour each day, seriously, people have said it works.

 

[ReefStable Verified Sponsor]

Ocellaris clownfish can take a day or multiple years. I hear that they take to carpet anemones faster, but I've never tried.

If you REALLY want a clown to host the anemone, Clarkii and Maroon clowns host very quickly. Otherwise, patience and excitement if/when it happens

 

[ravila101]

Mine took about 4 hours

 

[Formulator]

Spent good money on a Black Widow BTA about the size of a baseball and two gorgeous long fin Mocha Storm/Snowflake clowns. They could not care less about the anemone! It has only been about a week.. how long does it usually take for them to start warming up?

It varies widely from fish to fish. Some people get lucky and have them hosting within a week, others take several years or never do. I’ve been pretty lucky myself and never had much trouble. Couple things I did: I used flow to get the anemone to stay in the area the clowns were already hosting (a rock ledge) and rigged an ipad to the side of my tank with a wire clothes hanger playing videos of clownfish and anemones. Within a few days they were hosting the RBTA in the tank.

 

[KevinP]

Ocellaris clownfish in my opinion as I've read in many different articles, they are the hardest to get to pair with Anenomes. On the other hand I have a Tomatoe Clown that cannot decide which 2 LTA'S and pair if Ducan that also tends. But Ocellaris clownfish are the worst. It has been said if you quarantine them together, they will buddy up. Can't hurt.