Help!! My smaller clown eating my flowerpot...what to do

[zayn]

Hi,

All of sudden after the feeding today, my clown started going at it... Here are some pics of the action...


Why is it doing that? How can I stop it? What should I do? I tried to scare it away but it keeps coming back to it and tried to bite/tear away at the flower petals. I am really worried!

 

[mray]

My clowns were doing the same to an injured ric. I let the ric heal under a clear cup and the clowns left it alone.

 

[m'akoyPINOY]

the clown is not eating your flowerpot!i think he's hosting it coz' my clowns do bite my anemone all the time and i don't kn ow why?

 

[mray]

To make it clear, my clowns were actually eating my ric. About 1/5 of it was gone.

 

[zayn]

No..he's really trying to tear away the petals...

 

[jhale]

he or she is cleaning it, the same thing they do for anemones. the only thing you can do is find something else for it to host, like an anemone otherwise one of them will have to go. by the way gonioporas are not a good choice for your reef, they have a horrible survival rate. good goni info here http://www.goniopora.org/index.htm

 

[boardryder]

Read up on how clowns mate and lay their eggs, because that's what it looks like.

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

I have a feeling the male is making bed for the female to do her thing:tongue1:

 

[Rtam3185]

I have a feeling the male is making bed for the female to do her thing:tongue1:

Haha Making baby Nemo

I have the same pair in my tank. The flower pot coral and my clowns hosting it. At first it seemed as if she was nipping at it, but after a while the flower pot seemed to accept it's host and began extending out again. But if you say the clown is trying to tear off a pedal....that would be a big problem. My clown never went as far as to tear..only brushed it with her mouth.

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

Haha Making baby Nemo

I have the same pair in my tank. The flower pot coral and my clowns hosting it. At first it seemed as if she was nipping at it, but after a while the flower pot seemed to accept it's host and began extending out again. But if you say the clown is trying to tear off a pedal....that would be a big problem. My clown never went as far as to tear..only brushed it with her mouth.

From my observation, I think they work on the coral in two different manner, one is to clean it and then the other is to "train"(including feeding) the coral/anemone to do certain thing like retract the polyps so that the female can lay eggs on an area where normally shadowed by the coral/anemone when the coral is extended. I have not seen what his is doing but I have a feeling from his description that the clownfish(especially when he says smaller clownfish) is making bed for the female(bigger one).

 

[Rtam3185]

That sounds likely. I believe mine was just cleaning a spot for herself since it was the larger one to swish around the flower pot.

 

[marki24]

like mentioned above you will need to pick and choose.