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| From Paul's Reef - Apr 15, 2008 |
The new lights look great. They really don't look that purple to me anymore. instead, everything else that I used to think looked white, like my computer screen as I'm typing this, looks yellow. My bubble tip anemone appears to like the new lights too. It opened really wide today under the new lights to soak it all in.
Up to this point my tomato clown that I purchased the 1st weekend of November had never gone into the anemone. It would often hang out a few inches above it for a while and then go merrilly on its way. Today was different. All day today the clown kept visiting the anemone. It started getting closer than usual and let a tentacle touch it for the first time that I've seen. It then started getting territorial and would occasionally chase away a green chromis, my firefish and my oscellaris clown.
It would still venture away from the anemone and swim around the tank. There always seemed to be an attraction that would pull the clown back after a few minutes. It would get close again and look at the anemone.
Finally, tonight, it started nipping at a few tentacles. Then, it actually went between a few tentacles and came back out, almost like dipping a toe in a hot bath to test the water. It didn't stay for long but contact was indeed made. It kept visiting the anemone more and more over the course of the evening and making brief contact with it. Eventually it stayed longer and started wiggling and twitching amongst the tentacles. It was almost as if the tentacles hurt it a little bit and it was getting used to it. Each stay was short and lasted only a minute or two at a time and then the clown was off swimming around the tank again.
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| From Paul's Reef - Apr 15, 2008 |
Now, the lights have gone out in the tank for the night. I do miss the blue moonlights my old fixture had. Oh well. The clown is no longer in the anemone. Instead it is swimming up against the side glass of the tank where it has spent every night since I bought it. I wonder if it will eventually spend the night in the anemone.
So, tonight it finally happened. This was something that I wanted to observe ever since I got my first saltwater tank in the early 90s. That tank failed and I didn't pursue the hobby any farther until last October. There is just something about observing a symbiotic relationship like this. Way way cool. I love this hobby.
