sera guide - Marine aquariums

12 Clownfish live together with different anemones in a symbiosis. The fish find shel- ter between the tentacles of the stinging anemone, they are immune against its ven- om. They also raise their offspring in the di- rect vicinity of the anemone. In return, the anemone profits from food not eaten by the fish and from their waste. Yellowtail dam- selfish, cleaner shrimps and sea urchins har- monize well with this main component. Pile up large live rock chunks up to the half aquarium height in the back. Later on, you can plant bright green Caulerpa algae (1) on the uppermost rock chunks. The rapidly growing algae remove pollutants such as ammonium and nitrate from the water. The algae must be harvested regularly as to avoid it overgrowing other organisms in the aquar- ium. Please remove at least a third of the shoots each time. Place flat live rock chunks, which are ideal for growing colonial anemones (2) and small soft corals (3) on them, in front of the large live rock chunks. Add one carpet anemone (4) in a central foreground position, surround- ed by fine bright sand, as an eye-catcher. Begin with adding the colonial anemones when you have added the live rock chunks. You should then add the carpet anemone in the foreground one or two weeks later. Please make sure the animal is not too large when choosing the anemone. We recom- mend only smaller animals with a diameter of max. 20 cm (8 in.). It is important that the anemone did not suffer from an injury during transport and that the oral disc of the animal is intact. The anemone requires an even, sandy place with a flat stone for settling in center position. It is also possible that the anemone attaches itself to the bottom glass pane of the aquarium. The clownfish (5) are added after the anemone has attached itself. Fish of the species Amphiprion ocellaris usu- ally readily accept anemones of the genus Stichodactylus and retreat into the anemone. 2.1 Biotope: Clownfish, anemone 2 3 5 4 1