clownfish
Contents:
- Notes and questions on reef inhabitants
by wissler/stsci.edu (Steven Wissler) (20 May 92)
- [M]Clownfish ID
by krogers/javelin.sim.es.com (K. Rogers) (15 Oct 92)
- [M] Anemone/Clownfish
by jward/nebula.acs.uci.edu (John Ward) (3 May 93)
- [M] Anemone for Percula's
by wissler/stsci.edu (Steve Wissler,G10,xxx) (Tue, 4 May 1993)
- (No Title)
by ()
- Re:[M]How do I get clown-anemone together?
by lsmith/kuhub.cc.ukans.edu (1 Jan 94)
- How long do saltwater fish live?
by ddavies/jaba.sim.es.com (Doug Davies) (26 Oct 1993)
- Feeding of A. ocellaris
by jamaro/nmt.edu (Jason J. Amaro) (Wed, 13 Oct 1993)
by wissler/stsci.edu (Steven Wissler)
Date: 20 May 92
Newsgroup: rec.aquaria,sci.aquaria
Some notes and questions about the animals in my reef tank.
The live rock is from Florida (Noyes Marine Life)
1) There was some sort of Nudibranch or Sea Slug ( I can't figure
out the differences) on the live rock. It is light green with
white spots, sort of like a giraffe pattern. The sides have ruffles
on them, sort of looks like a piece of romaine lettuce. There was
apparently one on the live rock, at least I never saw more than one
at a time. Since then new tiny ones have been appearing at about
two week intervals, this has happened four times. I now have at least
20 of them of various size groupings. They seem to be algae eaters.
I haven't found a picture of one of these in any of the books I've
looked in. Does anybody know what they are? How do they reproduce?
Can one lay fertile eggs, or is it possible there were eggs in
various states on the rocks? How long does it take the eggs to hatch?
2) There are about 2 dozen snails of different types, quite an
array of beautiful shells. Are there poisonous cone shells native
to Florida waters? I know some snails are predators and can actually
snare and eat fish. Should I be worrying about any of these guys?
3) There were several small patches of hard coral ~1 inch diameter
when I received the rock. Since then a new patch has grown. It
started as 1 polyp and has since grown to 4 polyps.
4) There are 3 sea slugs of the Aplysia genus (at least they look
similar to ones I've seen in books). They look like they are trying to
mate on a daily basis, but I've seen no little ones yet.
5) My Seabae anemone expelled several clumps of white translucent
material. I looked at some under a microscope. It appears to be
egg masses. Is there any chance these will be fertile and hatch
with only one anemone in the tank?
6) I have to 2 clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris). I've read that
they can change from male to female. Are there any tricks you
know of to get them to spawn? They ignored the anemone for several
days until I stuck a picture of 2 clownfish in a Seabae anemone
up against the glass. They were swimming through the tentacles within
about 1/2 hour. Has anyone else used this trick before? It's worked
twice for me.
Steve Wissler
wissler-at-stsci.edu
Space Telescope Science Institute
Baltimore, Md.
301.338.4899
by krogers/javelin.sim.es.com (K. Rogers)
Date: 15 Oct 92
Newsgroup: rec.aquaria
jjschm-at-bb1t.monsanto.com writes:
>Yesterday, I was at a pet store in town and noticed a clownfish I've
>never seen before. I asked one of the shop keepers what it was, but
>he really didn't have a clue besides "it's a clown". Anyway the
>species is of the "plemnus(?)" variety, not an amphirion(?) based on
>the body shape. The color was much darker red or maroon than the
>common orange color and the stripes were thicker and surprisingly
>vivid yellow.
Premnas biaculatus (spelling perhaps a character or two off). It's a
monotypic genus (I hate monotypic genera). They're commonly known as
maroon clowns. The variety with yellow stripes is very rarely sold,
they usually have white stripes.
> I was so intrigued that I'm considering buying the lot
>(6, 2") and setting up a breeding tank. If anyone could give me a
>better background on these fish or any breeding info on them I would
>appreciate it.
Don't get 6! These are the feistiest of the clowns. In fact, they
are downright mean when adult sized (3 or more inches). The usual
thing to do with clowns is to get the largest and smallest available.
The big one will turn into a female if it already isn't, the other
will turn into a sexually active male. However, I've heard this
method for forming a pair doesn't work often for maroon clowns.
They're so territorial that the larger will often kill the smaller
before they make a pair. You might try a physical seperator which
still allows for visual contact for a while first so they get used to
seeing each other.
I've also heard maroons are delicate health wise. Make sure your tank
water is in tip-top shape. All in all, a difficult fish to keep which
is frustrating since they're so beautiful and most clowns are easy.
As for breeding - hah. Yeah, there are a few people who have bred
these in captivity. Unless you do some serious research first and
have gobs of time on your hands plus room for green water, rotifer and
Artemia culture you can forget it. Breeding things marine is utterly
unlike freshwater fish; discus and tetras are trivial compared to even
the easiest marine fish which are clowns and seahorses. Just forming
a pair that will spawn if far from a given. And getting them to spawn
is trivial compared to raising the larvae to the juvenile stage. If
you want to see what's involved read:
Marine Aquarium Handbook, 2ed, Moe (new edition just came out)
Reproduction in Reeffishes, Thresher (out of print, check a library)
Anemonefishes, Allen (long out of print but a library may have a copy)
Plankton Culture Manual, Hoff & somebody (sold by Florida Aqua Farm)
In addition there are a bunch of scientific marine biology journals
that are well worth reading. I don't have a compiled bibliography
though. There is the occasional article in the hobby rags. One came
out about a year ago from a guy on the Net (Richard Brosseau) who was
getting some A. ocellaris to juvenile stage on just Artemia nauplii.
You should check out this article. It was in FAMA a while back - I
can't tell you which issue from here at work.
The bottom line is if you aren't seriously dedicated you can forget
the breeding apsect. If you are on the lunatic fringe (like I am) you
go for it. Be prepared for disappointment after disappointment.
--
Keith Rogers
krogers-at-javelin.sim.es.com
by jward/nebula.acs.uci.edu (John Ward)
Date: 3 May 93
Newsgroup: rec.aquaria
In article <34900-at-oasys.dt.navy.mil> pacyna-at-oasys.dt.navy.mil (Michael Pacyna) writes:
>My questions on the green carpet anemone:
>
> 1) What would be the most suitable clownfish for this anemone?
> I want a match that is best for both animals.
>
> 2) Is it possibel or advisable to keep more than one clownfish on
>this anemone, or I am just asking for trouble? Will one just drive the
>other away?
A fellow netter posted this table in April of 1990. I believe that the
work by Dunn was really published in 1981 not 1983. If you want the
real situation I would be glad to look it up. This table (or another
adaptation) also appears in G. Allen's book "Damselfishes of the World".
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In March 1990 FAMA there is an article by Scott Michaels entitled
"Symbiosis on the "Reef" and in the Aquarium: Fish-Invertebrate Partner-
ships". The following is printed without permission.
TABLE 1
Some anemonefishes and their anemone hosts as observed in nature
(adapted from Dunn, 1983)
Anenomefish Anenome Dependency
Species Species On Host
__________________________________________________________________
Maroon (P. biaculeatus) 2 B
False percula clown (A. ocellarus) 4,9,10 A
Percula clown (A. percula) 4,5,10 A
Saddleback (A. polymnus) 5,8 A-B
Orange skunk (A. akallopisos) 4,10 A
Maldive (A. nigripes) 4 A
Pink skunk (A. perideraion) 3,4,5,9 A
Red Saddleback (A. ephippium) 2,5,10 B
Tomato (A. frenatus) 2 B
Red and Black (A. melanopus) 2,4,5 B
Clark's (A. clarki) 1-3,5-10 B
Barrier Reef (A. akindynos) 2,4,5,6,8 B
Allard's (A. allardi) 2,6,10 B
Blue-striped (A. chrysopterus) 4-6,8,10 B
Anenome Key:
1) Cryptodendrum adhaesivum
2) Entacmaea quadricolor -- Bulb anenome, Maroon anenome
3) Macrodactyla doreensis -- Long tentacled anenome
4) Heteractis magnifica -- Ritteri anenome
5) H. crispa -- Sebae anenome
6) H. aurora -- Aurora anenome
7) H. malu -- Malu anenome, Sebae anenome
8) Stichodactyla haddoni -- Saddleback anenome
9) S. gigantea -- Giant or Pacific carpet anenome
10) S. mertensii -- Merten's carpet anenome
Dependency on host: A -- strongly associated with host: rarely found far
from their anenome. B -- loosely associated with anenome; often
found a considerable distance (up to several meters) away from
host.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
These pairings are based on those found in nature. In a captive
environment clowns have been known to associate with other hosts
including coral polyps and even Atlantic anemones.
John.
--
John Ward UC Irvine, Department of Redundancy Department
email: jward-at-uci.edu or jward-at-uci.bitnet
[Referring to a 5 minute observation routine] "Anyone unwilling to invest that
much time and effort twice daily to assure the well being of his fish should
sell his equipment and take up an alternative pastime devoid of responsibility
towards living creatures. He clearly has no business as a fish keeper."
-- Dr. Paul V. Loiselle "The Cichlid Aquarium"
by wissler/stsci.edu (Steve Wissler,G10,xxx)
Date: Tue, 4 May 1993
Newsgroup: rec.aquaria
by
The behavior is natural, but I believe (at least from personal
experience), that it helps for the clowns to "see" other clowns
doing the same thing. Both times I have bought clows and
anemonies seperatly, the clowns ignored the anemonies for weeks, until
I put a picture of the same species of clown in an anemone up
agains the side of the tank. WIthin an hour the clowns "found"
the anemone.
Steve Wissler
wissler-at-stsci.edu
by lsmith/kuhub.cc.ukans.edu
Date: 1 Jan 94
Newsgroup: rec.aquaria
I had similar trouble getting my perculas to go into their anemone. I had
bought a large sebae anemone for two percula clowns and they consistently
ignored it. I then bought them a large carpet anemone and they ignored it!
I had given up until I did some aquarium rearrangements....I put the
two perculas in a 10 gal tank with the two anemones (they were in 55 gal)
and lo and behold! they went in the sebae anemone!! and still live there
when I returned them to the big tank.
It could be a coincidence but....
-LSmith-at-KUHUB
by ddavies/jaba.sim.es.com (Doug Davies)
Date: 26 Oct 1993
Newsgroup: alt.aquaria
I had a tomatoe clown for 9 years. I don't know how old it was when I
bought it, but I recently sold it back to a fish shop (didn't want it in
my reef) and it was still doing fine. Here's a possible 10+ year account.
-Doug
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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INTERNET: ddavies-at-jaba.sim.es.com | -Jurassic Park Moral
by jamaro/nmt.edu (Jason J. Amaro)
Date: Wed, 13 Oct 1993
Newsgroup: rec.aquaria,sci.aquaria
Hi everybody
I recieved a few requests on the proper foods for A. ocellaris and I
have compiled a short list of things to look for when purchasing and
growing foods.
The proper foods for A. ocellaris
Meaty mixes of clams, shrimps, lobster, and fish are prefered as
long as we have a algea mix included in the frozen prepared foods.
Things to look for are: The addition of vitamins A, E and C. Also the
addition of chiton will increase the egg quality of A. ocellaris.
Astaxanthin and canthaxanthin carotenoids are great for color
enhancement (as is crab meat), be very careful about foods for
freshwater fish which include testosterone. The best foods are live, but one must be wary
of "brine shock". This is a condition which is produced by the feeding
of brine shrimp only ( I don't know how to identify this condition).
Tom Frakes of Instant Ocean recommended Ocean Nutrition Prime Reef.
Well this is all I have :). Martin Moe Jr.'s book "Beginner to Breeder"
has some great advise about the "proper feeding all fish.
Thanks
Jason J. Amaro
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