Any way to stop my clowns from continually spawning?

[Mark9]

My female clown is now laying eggs every 12 days, usually the day after the current eggs hatch.
It was cool in the beginning, but this non stop egg laying is now becoming a bit too much.
The 2 clowns basically live under a rock tending the eggs. The female will swim out occasionally, but the male, never. Food has to drift by him for him to eat.
And, after doing the research, I doubt i'm ever going to attempt to rear the fry.
Is my only option removal of one of them?
I've had these fish from the beginning, don't really want to let either one go.
Any way to get them to stop spawning so much?

 

[D-Nak]

I'm sure you know that breeding clowns are happy clowns. Making them "less" happy could stop them from laying eggs. For example, when my anemone died, my pair stopped laying for months and only recently started up again (they have a new nem to call home, but they've had it for a month or so). If you can move around the rockwork, it could disorient them a bit.

 

[Mark9]

Thanks for responding.
Fact of matter is, happy clowns have led to unhappy wife.
She feels it is cruel to have them continually laying/guarding eggs.

 

[mcozad829]

Maybe have a wedding for your clowns... after a few years of marriage the spawning will slow greatly just saying.

 

[D-Nak]

Thanks for responding.
Fact of matter is, happy clowns have led to unhappy wife.
She feels it is cruel to have them continually laying/guarding eggs.

Happy wife = happy life.

However, the truth of the matter is that clowns really don't have anything else to do. Breeding, if nothing else, keeps them busy.

Maybe have a wedding for your clowns... after a few years of marriage the spawning will slow greatly just saying.

OMG I totally LOLed. Thanks for making my day. I've been married for 14 years and have three kids.

 

[mwilliams62]

They only stop if you separate them and or move them from tank to tank. That will slow them down for a few months. At least that is what mine did. I moved them from the DT to their very own tank and it took them about 2-3 months before starting back up again.

 

[rhdoug]

Why would anyone want to stop them from doing what comes naturally??? That is what they are designed to do, they make baby clowns all their life...unless something stops them. I think it is cruel to intervene and make them stop. Mine have been quite happily spawning non-stop for nearly 8 years. They seem quite happy and well adjusted. For fish.

 

[billsreef]

Could try setting winter time conditions...short photoperiod, about 9 to 10 hours of light, and lower water temperature in the mid 70's.

 

[Lou Young]

What kind of clowns are they?

 

[Mark9]

What kind of clowns are they?

Ocellaris, although the female is way darker than the male.

pictures

 

[rhdoug]

Wow, your female is a lot darker than mine. She's a beauty!

 

[DasCamel]

Maybe have a wedding for your clowns... after a few years of marriage the spawning will slow greatly just saying.

+1

Works every time!

 

[tannersmith2000]

Perhaps one of the most baffling posts I have encountered on RC when the opposite of this topic is so much more desired among hobbyists.

 

[Xtremeclownfish]

Cruel is when the female is laying eggs and they are eating the eggs! If he is not rearing them why not try to find a solution to her stop the spawning, relocating them is only a temporary fix, but eventually they will start again. Lowering your temp and reducing your lights my affect the rest of your inhabitants that are already comfortable with the current setting. Best recommendation trade them with a breeder someone who will rear the eggs that way Mr. & Mrs. Nemo will have there offsprings.

 

[woodnaquanut]

...someone who will rear the eggs that way Mr. & Mrs. Nemo will have there offsprings.

You seem to have a rather anthropomorphic view of CF sex and parenting. In the wild they do protect the eggs but once the eggs hatch they are just food to anything - including parents - that can catch them.

 

[Xtremeclownfish]

But these clowns are not in the wild.

 

[billsreef]

They still have the same instincts

 

[woodnaquanut]

They still have the same instincts

And they will never raise the babies. They are not Cichlids.

There are not many fish that show any parenting skills past the eggs hatching. Most don't even parent the eggs.

 

[tannersmith2000]

My female clown is now laying eggs every 12 days, usually the day after the current eggs hatch.
It was cool in the beginning, but this non stop egg laying is now becoming a bit too much.
The 2 clowns basically live under a rock tending the eggs. The female will swim out occasionally, but the male, never. Food has to drift by him for him to eat.
And, after doing the research, I doubt i'm ever going to attempt to rear the fry.
Is my only option removal of one of them?
I've had these fish from the beginning, don't really want to let either one go.
Any way to get them to stop spawning so much?

Mark if you like, I could come by and take these clowns off your hands so you all do not have to endure the agonizing torture of watching these fish spawn in your tank. I will even do it for free.

 

[stifrk]

Maybe have a wedding for your clowns... after a few years of marriage the spawning will slow greatly just saying.

I see what you did there... lol