saftey question on open brain

[steamboatwv]

Ok, my percs are trying to host my open brain, will they do damage to it, it doesnt seem to mind them at all it doesnt close up of even act like they are there, they dont beat on it they just kinda lay down in it between the folds, if they will hurt it how do i get them to stop..???

[ckusnierek]

They won't hurt it. There looking for a home. it may get upset from time to time but will get use to it.

You may consider an Anemone?

[steamboatwv]

had an anemone that they were hosting till about 2 weeks ago, i know they are looking for a home, i just want to make sure they wont damage it. the anemone unfortunately got way too big for my tank he went from 5 inches across to roughly 20 inches across in 7 months, so I gave him to my brother who has a much larger established tank than I have at the moment.

[ckusnierek]

what type of anemone was it? a BTA I believe does not get that big.

[Twitterbait]

in the end your brain will do better with the clowns. They use it to host in and in return they will bring food down to feed the brain and keep it happy.

[LadyReefNeck]

They definitely won't hurt it. I have Clarkii clowns that host in mine. The one even sleeps on it's side right on top of it over the mouth at night. The brain doesn't mind at all.

These pics are from when the fish were smaller (they are about 2 inches long now).

[Loverotties]

It will be ok!

[steamboatwv]

Originally Posted by ckusnierek

what type of anemone was it? a BTA I believe does not get that big.

It was a sebae, here is a pic of it before it got big lol. this pic was 4 months before i gave it to my brother it grew much faster than i had ever expected it too. when i got it it was only 5 inches across about 7 months ago. but anyhow, thanks for the info i am glad to hear that they wont hurt it, and it doesnt seem to mind at all as of the moment, i just wanted to be sure. I do want to get another anemone for them but need to find out what ones will do as well as the sebae has done for me and not get as big as the tank lol...

[tsunami]

Lady Reefneck,

Is the second pic also an open brain, but with teeth. Very nice.

[jenajet]

yep it will be fine. When my maroon first started hosting my bubble the coral would close up and now it acts like the maroon doesn't exist.

[LadyReefNeck]

Originally Posted by tsunami

Lady Reefneck,

Is the second pic also an open brain, but with teeth. Very nice.

It's a Scolymia Brain. I think it's considered an open brain, just a different skeletal base, so it's probably a different genre. Maybe someone else could give you a better scientific explanation.

[jennmac415]

great looking brains and cute fish hosting in them too!

[Elegance Coral]

I hope I don't get flamed to bad for this.
There is always a risk when allowing clowns to use corals as a host. Most LPS corals are made of very sharp skeletons covered by very delicate tissue. While this relationship has been known to succeed for long periods of time in captivity, all it takes is for the clown to press down with enough force in the wrong spot to cause tissue damage. This damage can lead to infection and the death of the coral. Many LPS corals simply won't expand normally when there is a clown present. This reduces their ability to receive energy from the light like they should. Not all clown fish feed their host. Many will steal food from them only to discard it on the sand bed. The lack of light and/or food can cause a slow decline in the corals overall health and its eventual death. There is a reason that this relationship evolved with anemones and not corals, even though these anemones can be found in very close proximity to corals that look very much like anemones. Anemones do not have the sharp skeletons that can cause these problems.
This is a picture of one of my Elegance corals. The corals expansion continued to decrease as the clown pair used it as a host. This went on for quite a few months. I eventually sold the clowns and the coral came back to its former glory. I believe it is up to the hobbyist to decide if it's worth the risk, but I think we should understand that there is a risk.