Is my clownfish trying to host on my BTA?

[tanked_life]

Hi guys, I have a BTA that i have had for probably about two months and my clowns have shown no interest until now. My black percula lately has been rubbing up against the column of the nem, sometimes he even puts his face near his tentacles, only his tail really touches the nem and when that happens the nems tentacles quickly shrink up. Is he getting ready for hosting? Thanks.

[Gagonzalez]

Sounds like it. Clowns can start to Host at anytime. I had a pair of clowns that only the male clown hosted an alveopora but it took him 6 months to do it. Don't really know why it takes so long sometimes. Maybe someone else can chime in on why. Either way, one of 2 things will happen. One, the nem will eventually recognize the clown as itself and won't retract when he goes in or........Two, the nem will eat him. Scenario two is unlikely but it does happen, so just FYI. Good Luck.

[LefkoNJ]

I had a similar experience but with my female maroon. The pair wanted nothing to do with my anemone for months, then out of no where pop there she is. She beat the daylights out of the male for a few weeks then allowed him in. They never really fed the anemone and fought me off trying, lost 2 anemones that way. Now with the current RTBA i have they feed it all the time and it actually split a few weeks ago. Crazy.

[tanked_life]

Thank you guys for the response I just want to know!

[ray72484]

How do you know when the clown is feeding the nem. If it does not feed it than how and what do you feed it

[Wifi]

Originally Posted by ray72484

How do you know when the clown is feeding the nem. If it does not feed it than how and what do you feed it

Clowns will bring food back to their nem and eat it there. Do they actually feed it? It may seem to but could be the tentacles reacting if food is large enough that it triggers a response from nem. Some food from clownfish might be leftover from clown eating. As what to feed and when is really up to you and your system. What type of lighting you have? How large of a tank do you have to support it and also your parameters.
As for actual food, I feed mine raw shrimp, and scallops probably twice a month and let nem get the rest from the lighting. I am doing this with a S Gig.