Coral Hosts For Clownfish

[1entra]

Other than anemones what other corals would make suitable hosts for clownfish?

I have a 44 US gallon tank which has been set up for about 3months and was looking to get a pair of clownfish but was hoping to get a coral for them to host and live in as I am quite fascinated by their behaviour. The tank currently is under 4 x 24W T5 lights but I will be putting up a 150W MH up in the next week or so when I get round to drilling into the ceiling. I'm looking for something colourful and preferably not too demanding or agressive. A coral that is quite hardy and easy to look after. Any suggestions?

All suggestions are appreciated wether they meet the above criteria or not...

 

[Musho3210]

pretty much anything i guess, ive seen clowns host leathers to vegetable clips, xenia to macro algae. Ive seen my clowns cuddle up in my torch coral (gives them pretty nasty stings) and my brain coral (the brain coral hates it).

I would go with maybe a mix of corals and see which one it likes, one of the easier to care for toadstool, frogspawn, torch, maybe some sort of tentecally soft coral, and maybe some large shrooms. If you can find a healthy one, elegances have some pretty high clown hosting rates.

 

[Demm]

well i have 2 clowns that used to be all friendly, and now one died so i got another one and they dont quite like each other.

but regaurdless, one of my clowns always sleep in my torch, no stings or nothing yet. the other one is seemingly in love with my frogspawn.

the most i ever hear about is clowns and bubble tip nems, but there are other things like musho has pointed out.

 

[Lynden]

To be honest a captive bred bubble tip fits that bill perfectly.

I personally am not really a fan of clowns hosting corals, even if the clown does not kill or severely irritate the coral, the clown doesn't receive any health benefits and can actually become more prone to disease by some accounts. If you must, the ones best suited are Cataphyllia, Euphyllia, and Sarcophyton. Xenia/Anthelia can work as well. Do realize that none are built to host clowns as a symbiotic anemone is.

 

[chrissaysyes]

lynden beat me to the punch. Captive bred bta would be your best bet especially with your recent lighting upgrade. But euphyllia would also be a fun addition to your tank

 

[nanocubeking]

My clown hosts in Hammer coral. But I have read that the host in Frogspawn,Torch coral, sometimes Xenia too. They like corals the can hide in maybe Goniopora or Avlepora.

 

[SkiFletch]

Well, my old Ocellaris/Percula hybrids hosted in my elegance coral, and my new Skunk clowns also host the elegance, seems like a good choice. Somewhat difficult to care for. Lynden is corect though, with halide lighting, you could probably put a captive-bred BTA in there and do well. And now would be a good time to do it with few corals in the tank. That way if the nem takes a slight walk, it probably wont run over anything you want to keep until it finds a spot it likes. Please make sure you find a captive-bred BTA though. Survival chances go up greatly when doing so, especially for a beginning aquarist

 

[chrissaysyes]

Make sure you know what to look for when selecting one, nem dye jobs are still somewhat common

 

[1entra]

Thanks for all the input and info guys. I'm not too keen on getting an anemone at present hence the post. I plan waiting till I have a bit more experience under my belt before getting one and hopefully in a bigger tank as well!

I will have a look into the other corals as mentioned. Cheerz