Black Ocellaris Pregnant or Sick? Now what?

[Chelsey]

Last Friday I went into a LFS (that's not so local to me) where a friend works. In one of their tanks I saw some black ocellaris that are from ORA. They had been there roughly a month and there were 4 in one of the really large tanks they've got. One of the four had a distended abdomen, so based on the pictures I've seen of gravid females I thought it was a go. I chose her(?) and another one...after observing the 4 of them interacting together it was obvious that she was the only female and that the other three were either males or undetermined. I have this pair in a 20 long with a flowerpot and some live rock/macroalgae and sand. I'm planning on keeping them in this tank since the female looks like she's in spawning condition. Here are my questions:

1. How do I know that the female is full of eggs and not internal parasites? Her poop looks normal.

2. How long can she stay "pregnant" before releasing her eggs?

3. How long will it take the undetermined clownfish to turn into a male if he isn't already one?

Here are a few pictures. She eats like a horse and does not appear in the least bit unhealthy, other than that she has had the bloated abdomen for a while and did when I bought her (I thought she was/is gravid )

 

[Premnas]

Do they feed on flake food from the surface? Sometimes they swallow air which can kill them. I always soak flake food in fresh water and then put it in the tank so that it sinks. My friend lost a very large clarkii that always ate flake foos from the surface. She would becaome very bloated to a point where she would have trouble swimming. Even though I warned him about this, she eventually died.

 

[Chelsey]

Nope, I always sink my flake too.

 

[tufacody]

is that eye cloudy in the top right?

 

[Chelsey]

No, it's junk on the glass. Sorry

 

[tufacody]

hmmm, u sure? Quite a coincidence to be exactly over the eye

 

[Chelsey]

I'm completely positive...my glass is filthy with salt creep and in the pictures that I took and didn't post her eyes are clear.

 

[Doris M]

Thanks for the info on soaking flake food. Never heard of that one. You know it's true you never get to old to learn something.

 

[rkelman]

If she is noticeably gravid she could lay in days. I'm not sure what might happen because of the stress of moving I doubt you'll get any viable eggs this time if she is indeed gravid. (which I also doubt sorry) How large are they? Are they displaying any nesting behavior? Do they appear paired? They look small. She could be just a fatty.