Mushroom and anenome questions

[goodoleboyz250]

I have two questions 1 when u put mushrooms in a tank how long does it take for them to open back up?, 2 when u put a anemone into a tank how long before it eats and how long before the clowns will go into it?

 

[darren24]

Need lots more information. Some general answers are that the clowns may never go in the anemone. What type of clowns and what type of anemone? Also has established is the tank? I am assuming that it has been up for a while if you put an anemone in it as they usually require an established stable environment. Let us know all of the water parameters, lighting, etc.

 

[goodoleboyz250]

its been up for about 8 months and everything is stable, i got a maxi jet, and a 50-50 reef sun 18 watt light.I got 2 percula clowns.Im really new to all this so i need everybodys opions

 

[siege]

We still need more information... What kind of anemone? What size tank? 18 watt is not a lot of light for anything but a small tank, but 2x percula's is a bit much for a 10gal. cube or something like.

If it's a Haitian anemone, chances are your clowns will never mate up with it.

 

[goodoleboyz250]

bubble tip, 10 gallon rectangle aqua.

 

[ubfishy]

not enough light also it is hard to keep your parameters up in a ten gallon system

 

[ubfishy]

 

[showtime305]

You need to upgrade your lights A.S.A.P... The clowns can live in a ten gallon but you really need to keep up with the water quality.

 

[siege]

I'm by no means an expert on nano's, but I should think that 2x clown's are a bit much for that tank, and you're basically maxing out bioload already... You probably should have stuck to live rock, some corals, a shrimp or two, snails, hermits and maybe some seahorses or something, but basically either inverts only, or very small fish only... 2x fully-grown percs would be too much for my 50gal, IMO, much less a 10gal.

As Darren said above, it's possible that your clowns may never mate with the anemone. You may want to consider investing in a larger tank if you want fish... you could always turn your 10gal into a reef-only (no fish) and chain it into the water system of your newer tank, which would make both systems considerably more stable, then toss in a proper refugium under the larger tank and you'd really have something going; I mean, honestly... my sump-box holds more than half your water volume. If nothing else, get a 5gal and set up a refugium just to make things a lot more stable.

 

[xyzpdq0121]

Ya this BTA is doomed under 18Watt lights and when it dies, so will the rest of your tank. Your tank is no place for any type of anemone. I had 380W of PCs on my 55 gal and it could not support a BTA very well.

 

[dsmitchell]

FYI, it took about two months before my clowns went into my anemone. Up until then, they stayed so far away from it I thought they'd never go in. But now they rarely leave -- it is like crack to them. I never really got the anemone to eat without retracting away from the food, but in the end that didn't appear to matter. It's been doing fine for several months living off of the light and whatever the clowns may be doing to help.

As far as mushrooms -- I usually see them open up that day or the next.

Hope this helps,
David

 

[siege]

I have 192w of PC on my 50 gal, and so far my Sebae seems to be doing just fine; *crosses his fingers* let's hope it stays that way!

 

[cgill311]

You can try getting the clowns to host in the anemone by taping a picture of clownfish in an anemone for them to see on the side of the tank.

Do a forum search on this. I recall a few people doing it successfully.

I also agree you need to upgrade your tank size and lighting.

 

[siege]

CGill311;37467 wrote: You can try getting the clowns to host in the anemone by taping a picture of clownfish in an anemone for them to see on the side of the tank.

You're kidding me, right? I really can't see this working, to be honest.

Ok, I haven't seen any research, but it would seem to me that people reporting success with this method would have eventually had success anyway, and that any placement of a picture on the side of their tank is likely to be just a matter of time that happens to coincide with the placement of the picture. They don't really see the way humans do, and they're highly attuned to a number of other senses that we can't even begin to explain or account for, and, well... Fish aren't that smart. I certainly can't train my cat to be nice to my roomies cat by showing her a picture of two cats snuggled up together - the image is completely meaningless to her, as it would be to a dog or a parrot or... A fish.


I could, of course, always be wrong, but I'd want to see real research on this working, and not a few fishkeepers who've reported coincidental success. Obviously, it, at the very least, is "reef-safe" and certainly can't cause any harm, so at least there's that.

 

[xyzpdq0121]

It works... I have done it once. You can also take a clown shaped vegie clip and set it near the anemone and that will sometimes work too. It works based on the fishes curiosity and territory instincts.


Other times, you isolate the clown and the anemone in tight areas and they have no choice but to meet eachother.

 

[siege]

Ok, putting it in terms of attracting the fishes curiosity to get it within range of the anemone, that I can see. I suppose even basic visual pattern recognition of another clown to get it to come investigate the region of the anemone is sensible, but I doubt that seeing a picture of a clown in an anemone has the kind of meaning to a fish that it would to us... Anything else is anthropomorphizing the fish. A static image can't have any meaning to them, really, any more than it does to dogs; have you even seen a dog or curl up around it's owners picture when they aren't home (no you can't show them the picture and claim them getting excited is a result... they're just happy you're interacting with them, and take their cues from you)? I think what you're really relying on there is just the fishes curiosity of "what the hell is that new thing over there that wasn't there 5 minutes ago", and less a "what's that clownfish doing here!" They wouldn't interpret a static 2d image as being another fish and anemone... Its's just a new thing that doesn't make sense to it. Now, your clip is another story. It's brightly colored, 3 dimensional, looks a lot like another fish it is instinctually territorial towards, and it actually moves, even if just a little bit.


Just my $0.02

 

[judochop]

Pictures of animal behavior has worked in alot of ways. I know two captive raised gorillas that would not mate until video monitors were set up showing other gorillas mating in the wild. Gorilla porn.... Freaky huh?

 

[cgill311]

siege;37498 wrote: ...but I doubt that seeing a picture of a clown in an anemone has the kind of meaning to a fish that it would to us...

If it works, it works. It doesn't really matter why.

 

[showtime305]

<span style="color: black;">Ok. Here's my story. When I first introduce my mated pair of False Percs to my tank they did not take to my anemone. They loved the anemone in the tank they were in previously but didn't seem to like mine. After about 1 months of no hosting, I found the picture method and decided to give it a try. I had a picture taped to each side of my 72g Bow and the anemone was smack in the middle about 2 feet away from the pictures. A couple weeks went by with no luck and I ended up taking a trip out of town at the end of the third week. The first thing I do upon returning from a trip is a head count of fish and corals. My clowns were normally on the sand cuddling, but they were not in place. I began to look around the tank and found them snuggling very tight with my anemone. I was verrrryyyy shocked and happy at the same time. Did the picture method do it or was it time?</span>

 

[siege]

CGill311;37501 wrote: If it works, it works. It doesn't really matter why.

True enough, there's no debating that. If others have had success, I certainly can't knock it in that regard. As wth most things, I'm just curious as to the why's and how's (I drove my parents crazy when I was a little kid, if you can imagine). There are still a LOT of unknowns about the relationships between clownfish and anemone's and how/why they form the relationships they do. I'm obviously not a degreed marine biologist, but I do find it odd that this would actually work as advertised, and have to wonder if theres not a bit more (or less) to it.

As for gorilla's, thats more akin to comparing apples to mushrooms, and isn't really a valid example; gorilla aren't fish, and are attuned to a completely different set of senses... Additionally, they have the capacity for something approaching thought and learning, as well as the ability for symbolic interpretation, an ability only demonstrated in some primates, humans, certain parrots (Grey's and Eclectus, in particular) and perhaps dolphins, to some degree.