Clown Breeding, it must be spring

well 1 of my 2 pairs of False Percs started spawning last week, and have been holding a clutch of eggs for 5 or 6 days now. We are hopping for a hatch tomorrow or the next day.

so then I started wondering about my Maroons, since I Just noticed the smaller male is actually a Gold Stripe.

Well today they were sitting on a clutch of eggs, albeit a small one. I would say they must have around 100 - 200 eggs in their clutch, where the False Percs have probably in the neighborhood of 400 - 500 maybe.

So before to long here I'm going to have more clown fry than I know what to do with which should be a lot of fun.

I've never heard of the full moon thing, thats pretty interesting. I wonder, err rather hope, that the next full moon my 2nd pair of False Perculas will start spawning! That would be great.

I have no idea how old any of the fish are. The 2 pairs of false percs were pairs I bought through ORA, the Maroons were different. I bought one very large one, about 3" and one that was about 1" and just stuck them together in a 29gal. tank. Risky yes but it went more smoothly than I could have ever imagined.

I think it was more a matter of them getting used to their new tanks, the tanks getting stable, and I guess the right time of year. But who knows really (well i'm sure there are people that know, but I don't).

Here is another question though, do copepods pose any threat to newly hatched larva? We have tons of Pods in the parents tank, and since the baby tank water atleast in part, is coming from that tank there are some in that tank too.

Any thoughts on that?

the majority of the water is newly made saltwater, but a good gallon or two comes from the parents tank because we are going to scoop the fry out as they hatch. Relocating the substrate the parents have laid eggs on will be neigh impossible, atleast for the false percs.

So with each scoop of water that comes out with the fry I am sure some pods and such will end up coming with it. I'm not too concerned but I thought it might be worth asking.

I was hoping for a hatch last night, but there was nothing. Perhaps tonight! The water temp runs at about 80 degrees and I've read that the temp change change the hatch time from 6 to 9 or so days. I think the warmer the water, the sooner the hatch, but too soon and your fatalities will rise. We are at 7 or 8 days now, since we don't know if they laid the eggs thursday or friday, but they are looking very dark.

Thanks for your help buddy.