Feeding Schedule

[Camona2333]

Hello everyone,

I am planning on getting 6 Bubble-tip anemones and 4 Clark's clownfish for my saltwater aquarium and I have been trying to find on the Internet what kind of feeding schedule would work best for my anemones and clownfish, but everyone says such different things that I got lost. I was wondering if anyone here has had that combination of organisms (or at least a bubble-tip anemone with some type of clownfish), and if you have or know a lot about the anemone and/or the clownfish, I was wondering if you could give me some advice for:

-what to feed the clownfish and the anemone
-how often to feed the clownfish
-how often to feed the anemone (should I feed them together?)

Thank you!

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

First couple of questions for you:
1. How large is the tank?
2. How long have you had the tank setup?
3. What is your lighting?

That is a lot of anemones for a single tank. Anemones will roam around the tank looking for the spot they like and once they find it they will settle down. The problem is, you don't really want them running into each other as some tend not to play very nicely with each other. The other thing to keep in mind, just because you have a clown fish and an anemone in a tank together is no guarantee the clown will host in the anemone. They usually do, but not always. My clowns have completely ignored my BTA.

As for feeding, it's not absolutely necessary that you feed the anemone however they do benefit from occasional feedings of meaty foods like krill and mysis. My anemone gets fed a whole large krill once or twice a week. The clowns will need to be fed daily. I have my fish on a feeding schedule that sees them fed 2 times a day. Once shortly about an hour after the lights come one and once in the evening. The fish are given New Life Spectrum pellets in the morning, and then usually a frozen blend of meaty foods in the evening that consists of mysis, brineshrimp, squid, and plankton.

[Camona2333]

My tank is about 110 gallons (it's 48x16.5x26 inches (26 inches is to the top of the water level)) and it has been established as a reef tank for about a year and a half now. I am going to get a 500W metal halide lighting system (yes, I know 500 Watts is still kind of a small amount of wattage for this big of a tank and yes, I will have the system installed before I get the anemones).

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

500w of Metal Halides will be just fine on that tank. You will be able to grow pretty much everything. With that small of a footprint you may want to rethink the number of BTAs for that tank. I'd start with just one or 2 and let them get established first.

[unleashed]

I agree with goldbarb. Also, I would recommend that your tank is setup for a year or so before adding any anemones.

Also, I would recommend just a pair of clarks clowns. Clarks clowns are one of the most aggressive clowns you can buy and I would doubt that a pair will tolerate another pair

I got rid of my clarks pair yesterday because of aggression......

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

I agree with goldbarb. Also, I would recommend that your tank is setup for a year or so before adding any anemones.

It has been. A year and half actually.:ssmile:

[The Wedge]

Don't anemones clown and split like crazy...I know people that have had anemones take over the whole tank...they don't play nice with corals...

[Camona2333]

Ok, so this tank is actually for an experiment, so the set-up is going to be this - the tank is going to be divided in half (not length-wise; it will be almost like two square tanks...but they're in one tank). I'm going to put 3 anemones on one side and 3 on the other and all of the clownfish on one side. My ideal thing with the clownfish is that one pair will bond with one anemone and then the two others will bond with the other two anemones separately...I guess that makes 4 clownfish, but you get the idea. I picked Clark's because they associate most commonly with BTAs and all anemones for that matter and I wanted to make sure they all picked an anemone. unleashed, you were saying that they're really aggressive...should I just get another species that also hosts w/ BTAs? If so, which one would also be very likely to associate with my anemones?

[travie]

Not that it pertains to your question, but what are you trying to test with this experiment? And what is the point of the 3 anemones on the other side without clownfish? I'm just wondering.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Ahhh, now it all makes sense to me. I would recommend Percula Clowns, they do pretty well with hosting. While they may not host in them in nature, they will in captivity quite readily. Wild caught Ocellaris also do well with hosting. If you want another good option for a host in a BTA, then Amphiprion ephippium - Fire Clown (aka Red Saddleback) is also an excellent choice.

[unleashed]

then Amphiprion ephippium - Fire Clown (aka Red Saddleback) is also an excellent choice.

And another very aggressive species of clown :ssmile:

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

True. LOL But if all 4 are purchased as juveniles then there shouldn't be a problem as only one will become the female and one will become the breeding male and the rest will remain "sub-dominant" males.

Actually, what is likely to happen if 2 pair up in 1 anemone and the other 2 in another then you will have 2 females and 2 breeding males in 2 separate colonies in a small space. That could be trouble no matter what species of clown you get.

[Camona2333]

Thanks for all the information. I will most likely change to Perculas and reduce it to one pair and 2 singles.

As a response to an earlier post - the point of my experiment is to see how much the clownfish help the anemones in terms of growth in a laboratory setting. That's why I have the anemones without clownfish - to compare the growth of the anemones with clownfish to to see if the ones with clownfish grow faster.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

... reduce it to one pair and 2 singles.

Well, they are never really singles. Unless you get them already paired up then you are very likely going to end up with 4 Clowns in the same anemone and have a typical colony instead. Percs and most other Amphiprion species are found in colonies, not just pairs in nature.

[Camona2333]

Well, I need the clowns to associate with the three anemones that they are supposed to and not just one anemone. I can't just have one anemone with four clownfish...any ideas on how to do that?

Also, does anyone have a response to the feeding schedule goldbarb suggested on page one? Does that seem right? That was what I tried to establish in this thread, after all, lol...

[Camona2333]

One last thing...can anyone suggest a good brand of food for the clownfish (flake or otherwise) that has worked really well with clownfish you have had or a brand that you have heard is really good for clownfish, etc.?

[labnjab]

One last thing...can anyone suggest a good brand of food for the clownfish (flake or otherwise) that has worked really well with clownfish you have had or a brand that you have heard is really good for clownfish, etc.?

New life spectrum marine formula is a great food for clowns, or any marine fish at that

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

I have always used New Life Spectrum with my Clowns and they are doing extremely well.

As for how to achieve 4 clowns in 3 anemones, that's a bit more difficult. The only way you can ensure that is by purchasing a single clown already hosting in the anemone, and keep all 3 of those anemones separate. As I see it, this experiment requires 4 separate compartments and not just 2. If you put 3 anemones and 4 clowns in one compartment then there is no way to guarantee you will get the result you are looking for, however separating the anemones to be hosted in will make a big difference. I really would recommend purchasing your clowns and anemones already paired up.

[Camona2333]

Do you know of any places where you can buy clowns that are already paired with anemones? Because I haven't seen anything like that on the Internet...

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

I see it frequently in my LFS. I would think that is where you would have to obtain them.

[Camona2333]

I'm sorry, but I have no idea what an "LFS" is. What is that?

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Sorry. LFS = Local Fish Store

[Camona2333]

Thanks...lol it makes sense now ^_^. I'll check out the fish stores in my area.