Question!!! Duncans

[the_noooob]

Hello all, i have my first problem since starting my tank 5 months ago. ive had my duncans for about 3 months and they are growing insanely big. i used to have 2 heads now i got about 6, Butttttt my two clowns are now nipping at it and my duncans stay closed now. i saw this happening yesterday for the first time. i dont want to get rid of the duncans nor the clowns. what can i do???? any help will be appreciated. Thanks!!

 

[Clink51]

how often are you feeding the tank? maybe they are hungry? my clowns nip on my blasto whenever i fall off on feeding them

 

[the_noooob]

every other day, i am feeding them pellets.

 

[Spartanwarrior]

the every other day feedings are such a fallacy to tank health. it's so much better to feed way less in volume but more often, like 2x a day. there are ways to combat the potentially higher nitrates/phosphates (skimming, dosing, reactors, socks, etc) but there is no way to combat starving tankmates. Your corals will thank you for it

 

[the_noooob]

but after so many months?? im lost lol.. i feed pellets and mysis, all of a sudden to just start nipping...

 

[Spartanwarrior]

its so hard to diagnose why an animal does something without jumping to the obvious conclusions. maybe its getting too large and looking imposing/appetizing to them? Do the clowns have an anemone to host? If not, they could be testing the Duncan for hosting?

 

[the_noooob]

i have a long tip anemone, and they both host it, i also have a bubbletip and they also host it.

 

[Ryno]

The clowns may be looking for a place to spawn. when my clowns are spawning the male will pick an area and then clean it by picking at it. Make sure that they have plenty of other places that are more appealing as a spawning site. Caves and flat rocks etc.. you could also try putting in an anemone as they may also be trying to host in the duncans.

 

[the_noooob]

i currently have a long tip anemone and a bubble tip. long tip gets hosted the most. Closest to the duncans.

 

[theMeat]

yup, clowns can do damage, especially maroons. While all clowns can be pretty picky about where they nest. Took my mated pair about a year to finally pick an anemone over toadstool.

 

[the_noooob]

ugh frustrating. i think ima have to get rid of the clowns. lol smh ahhhhhh

 

[the_noooob]

ttttttt

 

[Clink51]

when send this to the top without first adjusting feeding. try it and see what happens. otherwise it could be mating. outside of that, nurtients? lol, i dont know. pretty sure its Feeding

 

[the_noooob]

fed the tank twice yesterday, morning and almost at light down. still nipping the duncan, i made sure i moved the duncan to another place. this morning duncans are fully after 2 harsh days, i took a solo plastic cup made some holes and covered the duncans so that the clown wont nip at it.

 

[johnsonpics]

I had my Clown do the same thing. It eventually hosted in the Duncan, but after a few weeks the Duncan grew tired of it and closed up. I had to move the Duncan in the tank, but now is happy and the Clown has forgotten about it.