Black & White Clowns

[Lyscer]

I have the opportunity to trade a guy some stuff out of my tank for 2 black and white clowns that he has had for 6 months or so and I would eventually like to try to mate them. I think they may have come from the same clutch of eggs though as both of them are the same size and they are both kind of small(1.5"). Would it be a bad idea to mate them if they are from the same clutch of eggs?

 

[mwp]

Line Breeding (sib to sib) in fish can cause problems after generations of breeding. It is one method used by breeders to develop and fix desireable traits. When trying to preserve genetic integrity, outcrosses (two unrelated fish) are much better off, but with Black Ocellaris, the only way to do that would be to take a tank raised fish and breed it to a wild fish (although for breeding purposes two wild fish are usually not considered siblings to begin with and as we know, the chances are kinda slim in the ocean)

The only way to know how the babies will turn out for sure is to try them and see what happens.

Matt

 

[Kathy55g]

You sure about that Matt? The larvae go into the water column upon hatching, but may not actually stray far from the nest. I would think that sibling pairings in the wild are fairly commonplace.

We'll never know until someone does the DNA.

 

[mwp]

It's a "big ocean" Kathy Planktonic larval stages help disperse fish, right? It's probably MORE than a safe assumption that adult pairs did not result from the same SPAWN, and although more likely, still probably safe to say that many pairs in the wild are not siblings....I'm sure it *could* happen though.

When looking at a fish like most African Cichlids where the larvae hang close and may never leave the protection of their reef, I wouldn't be as inclined to make the same statement, yet breeders do consider wild parents to be the best (and most diverse) genetic stock to work with....when fish start getting up into the F3 generations breeders often start looking for some wild fish (or at least unrelated or lower F # stock) to mix with.

FWIW,

Matt

 

[Lyscer]

I think I will give it a shot. Thank you for your advice.