Clown Attacking Anemone?

[bollands]

i have recently bought a large anemone and it has been moving round the tank loads since when i got him, the two common clowns seem to love him but they seem boisterous and attack his mouth by ramming into it and they sumtimes suck on the tentacles but it doesnt look dammaging and after some of this behavior he disides to close up. is this normal, is he getting used to the clowns? is there a problem?

 

[kj23502]

Yea it's normal to an extent. New nems move about until they find a spot they like. Some clowns pick their nems. I've been reading about it.

How should I expect my anemones to behave in my tank?
Anemones are for the most part sessile invertebrates in that they typically don’t move
unless they have a reason to. Movement is the single best indicator of whether your
anemone is healthy and happy – if located properly in a healthy reef system, most
anemones won’t move for years. If your anemone moves around, there is something
wrong. In most cases, researching an anemone species beforehand will give you a good
indication of where in your system an anemone will be most happy, and you can prepare
a site for the anemone ahead of time. Additionally, anemones will go through cycles of
expansion and contraction, where they will puff up very large, and then shrink down to
almost nothing. This is their way of balancing internal water chemistry and flushing
wastes out of their system. Some anemones will expand and contract as often as once a
day, but anything more than this is a sign that something is annoying the anemone. For
the most part, the anemone should remain fully inflated almost all of the time, and
definitely during the daylight hours when the light is brightest. If an anemone spends too
much time contracted, there is something bothering it.

How do I get my anemone to stay put?
Anemones only move because they are unhappy with their environment. Any
environmental factor can have an impact, but the most common are:
1) Water quality (not good enough)
2) Lighting (wrong kind or too little)
3) Water flow (too much or too little, but often too little)
4) Security (not deep enough sand, or not a good safe rock location)
You need to go back to the basics and make sure you are providing the best possible
environment for your anemone based on researching the species need. Once you get your
tank “dialed in”, your anemone should stay in one spot.

Will my BIG clown hurt my LITTLE anemone?
Clownfish are often rough on small or newly introduced anemones. Make sure to obtain
large enough anemone if you have clownfish in the tank. General rule of thumb is that
your anemone diameter should be at least twice the length of the clown, and even larger
if you have two clownfish. If you have a small anemone and a big clown, there is a good
chance the clown could stress it until it dies.

My clown appears to be biting tentacles off my anemone – what should I do?This behavior has been noted from many aquarists and has not been explained. Some
clowns tug and pull on tentacles, and on occasion will vigorously rip off tentacles or
tentacle tips. Larger anemones can recover from this abuse more easily than small
anemones. You may try feeding your clown more frequently to see if this reduces the
incidence of biting. However if the clown continues to bite and the anemone is stressed,
you may have to remove one or the other from the tank.

All of this is from the RC Anemone FAQ's. To read more go here and click the nem FAQ.

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