Breeding Clown Fish

[Oliver]

Hi everyone, I am about to buy a mated pair of Ocelaris clown fish and was just wondering how hard they are to breed. I will also have a lawn mower blennie, a blue tang and a fox face in the tank.

Thanks for your help, it is greatly appreciated

[stephenray75]

if they like their new home they will spawn every month or so. of course when the eggs hatch all the other fish will eat their babies.

[kcmo lawman]

Due to the recent events of my coral banded shrimp (little ******!!!) :mad2 my tank is now a little more empty than it was before. It seems my coral banded decided on going on a killing spree. It killed my fire shrimp, my emerald crab, and my cleaner shrimp. It is now back at the lfs where I got it. Now I am down to 2 perc. clowns and 1 yellow tailed damsel, 3 hermit crabs, 2 starfish, and 2 snails. With there only being 1 other fish besides my percs do you think that if they mate the eggs would survive?

[wastememphis]

You would have to make special arrangements to keep the eggs. They will be tiny and could get sucked into the filter.

[mogurnda]

The hatchlings will be planktonic for a few weeks, so they won't survive in a tank with filters/skimmer/powerheads. Plus, you will need to have rotifers on hand to feed them.

If you're serious about rearing them, Frank Hoff wrote an excellent book, called "Conditioning. spawning and rearing of fish, with emphasis on marine clownfish."

[Oliver]

cheerz guys, I will give it a try and see what happens. So when/if I see the eggs, do I just scoop them up and put them in a smaller tank??

[mogurnda]

The eggs will be stuck to the substrate, probably a rock. Trying to remove them from the rock will kill them. There are two options:
1. Give them something like a flowerpot that you can remove from the tank.
2. Wait for hatching night (mine took about 8 days), and use a flashlight to attract the larvae and scoop them into a jar.
Whatever you do, use water from the main tank for the brooding tank. The larvae are very sensitive to changes.

[ooja3k]

I know this thread is way old... But will inverts eat the eggs? Especially peppermint shrimp?

[Reefscape]

If they can get access to them yes..certainly...very nutritional..

Niko

[ooja3k]

THe clowns should be able to ward off the peppermints lol

[Richard_a]

If i was a peppermint shrimp, i would eat anything i could put my "hands" on!

and that includes eggs of any size and color!

wouldn't you? :drool:


Ritchie from TheReefTank (http://www.thereeftank.com)

[-Nemo-]

is there a thread on "how to" breed clownfish? i've been looking and seem to be having a hard time finding one :(

[tsdpurdue]

Your best bet to go buy a book. Any information you find will prolly just be basic information. Clownfishes is a really good book that goes into great detail.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=4852
Hope this helps. There are other books as well, this is the one that helped me!!!!!! Good luck!!!!

[firstlight10]

Nemo,
I am raising clownfish as a side project. If you want to PM me your e-mail address I can send you some of the feeding protocols and other useful information.

[Robert04]

Due to the recent events of my coral banded shrimp (little ******!!!) :mad2 my tank is now a little more empty than it was before. It seems my coral banded decided on going on a killing spree. It killed my fire shrimp, my emerald crab, and my cleaner shrimp. It is now back at the lfs where I got it. Now I am down to 2 perc. clowns and 1 yellow tailed damsel, 3 hermit crabs, 2 starfish, and 2 snails. With there only being 1 other fish besides my percs do you think that if they mate the eggs would survive?

My coral brand shrimp is so docile i find this very strange.. I have hermits emerald crabs snails etc and he dosnt bother them at all.