Duncan coral and clownfish

[DeadDuck]

Hello,

Yesterday our allardi clown started swimming amonst our Duncan coral. I think she's "hosting", but since I've never observed this behavior before, I'm not sure. She seems to be swimming among the tentacles and brushing up against the "head".

The coral's diameter is about half the size of the fish, so I'm wondering if the fish is abusing/damaging the poor guy. Should I be concerned?

Thanks!

[SLove1104]

Hmm... maybe with the fish being that size...

I too have a 1 1/2" perc hosting a Duncan colony but my Duncans seem fairly large enough in comparison to the little guy and I've had no problems at all...

Do the Duncans look irritated?

[DeadDuck]

Right now the Duncan looks ok, but she's only done this twice (that we've seen). When I saw her doing the samba on it last night the coral was retracting it's arms.

We only have one Duncan at the moment. (Well, technically a second polyp has appeared, but it's very small)

[SLove1104]

Are you planning on getting any anemones? I know it's not mandatory for a clown but when it starts irritating corals it may be your only way to go...

I myself have a GBTA and an RBTA... My three clowns aren't satisfied with just those two that they also bug my Duncans... I don't worry much though since mines got about 15 heads and growing...

I would suggest maybe buying a BTA (if money permits of course ) if not then just watch closely and if the Duncan seems aggravated, separate the two before it kills the Duncan...

[DeadDuck]

My wife and I were hoping to get an anemone, but we're constrained by the fact that we have no experience and that the tank is pretty small. (17 gal) We're still new reefers: Tank is only about 10 weeks old.

I'm not sure if either of those are a factor, but some folks at the LFS have cautioned us about anemone's being very particular about tank conditions and, if they died in a violent manner (ie, powerhead), they could kill everything in the tank rather quickly.

[Lyfey]

Wait on the Nem, my clowns host my small duncan and my duncan actually likes them. The clowns are believed to bring back food for the nems so I would see them doing the same for a hosted duncan. I have had zero problems. My duncan started as 1 head about a year ago and now has a single stalk but around 10 heads. about the size of a tennis ball with full polyp extension, maybe a tad smaller. Clowns are roughly 2 inches, I only see the smaller of the two clowns hosting though..

just my .02c

-Chris

[Sohal Tang Tim]

I Have the same thing happening...
My duncan is only 4 heads...not very big ...a large FRAG really....

The clowns are black onyx gorgeous and about 1 - 1 1/4 inch size

Is the Duncan in trouble>? They are feeling the duncan steady swimming in its tentacles....

The duncan does not seem upset YET....but...the fish is the same size as the whole frag basically...

I am thinking GET A BUBBLE TIP FAST.
?
Thx
Tim

[aromano]

My clowns host in my duncan . Duncan colony is about 6 inches across and no issues after at least 4 years together.

[Sohal Tang Tim]

Maybe if my Duncan was twice the size I would be ok but I went out and picked up a flame anemone for them...that should get them away from the Duncan and if not I will maka em a noffer dey canna refusa. lol

Tim

[UKMarineGuy]

My clarkii hosts my Duncan's but she's not that big so doesn't really irritate them, a larger fish could possibly affect them, just keep a close eye, if they stop coming out then time to move it.



My cheeky one hosting mine...

Cheers,


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Sohal Tang Tim]

I bought a RBTA and used the Duncan to lure him into it...

Safe Duncan..clowns went into the larger RBTAnemone :-)

Thx guys

Thanks for the pic!

Tim

[Lmax8rn]

I have three clowns that host my frogspawn, Duncan, octospawn and elegance. They swim from colony to colony depending on their whim at the moment! None of the corals seem to mind at all but my colonies are large.