Breeding False Clowns

[BellevueSenior]

Hey, im a senior in high school and for a class project im breeding clown fish and i could use any advice. I have two 20 gallon tanks (Long) and then a 5 gallon tank...The main tank has 4 clowns (Trying to get a mated pair)..It has some live rock..A heater and then a sponge filter. Also a water pump...Then the other 20 has 2 sponge filters and a heater...I'm keeping the water at about 80 degree's and the salinity level is 1.023 last i checked earlier today. The 5 gallon tank will either be a larvae tank or maybe for rotifers. Not really sure. I'm kind of on a limited budget so I am trying to get things for relatively cheap. I'll post a few pictures of the set up i have (The 5 gallon tank has no water or filter yet, but i'll be using a small corner filter so the fry cannot get sucked up into it.) Not really sure how to do the whole rotifers thing. I've looked around and found a start kit for like $50 dollars. I've seen the whole frozen rotifers..Not really sure how they work...Any one can throw some input on that? I think thats about it for now...




http://i402.photobucket.com/albums/pp103/Earthsmight/Twotanks.jpg
^^^ Image of the two tanks..Its not anything super..Seeing as how its kind of expensive.

http://i402.photobucket.com/albums/pp103/Earthsmight/Clownfish.jpg
^^ My 4 clown fish. Just put them in today...So have to wait for a mated pair..And then i'll add a clay tile...I have the book by joyce..I've read the breeding parts and etc..

 

[BellevueSenior]

Also anyone suggest using pulverized spirulina for the false clowns

 

[billsreef]

[welcome]

Just to warn you, it can take quite awhile to establish new pairs and get them breeding. Feed them frequently with a variety of high quality foods. Spirulina flake is fine as a small part of the feeding regimen, but you also want some good high protien dry foods and meaty frozen foods such as mysis, cyclop-eze and some of the mixed foods. When it comes to the rotifers, read the sticky thread in this forum on culturing microfoods

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=135137

 

[jkrentz2515]

I would suggest removing 2 of the clowns from that tank. The 4 of them will kill eachother off until their are 2 anyways. The general rule is 1 pair per tank.

 

[BellevueSenior]

I moved them today. So there are now 2 in each tank. Monday I'll take in a tile and set it up so later on down the road they have it. Think i should seperate the other 2 and just have one pair mating? or try and get both of them to mate? and see how it goes?

 

[jkrentz2515]

How old are these clowns? It can take years if ever for them to start mating.

 

[BellevueSenior]

There are two smaller ones that are maybe 6 months old or so...And then the two bigger ones who had been at the local fish store for a bit that had just been those two in the tank...They are not a mated pair yet but ones reasonably bigger than the other. Have not noticed the signs of them pairing. They stay close but not so close that they resemble a mated pair. (I'd guess them to be roughly a year old or so if not older)

 

[billsreef]

They typically don't spawn till around 12-18 months old at the earliest. You might want to try checking around your local aquarium club to see if anyone has an already producing pair that they might be willing to part with for a worthy cause.

 

[BellevueSenior]

Alright, I'll check around and see what I can find. I've also gotten in touch with this local guy who sets up fresh and salt water tanks and maintains them and has been doing it for like 20 years. He started at my age doing the same thing I am doing. He's helped me out a lot. He's also a teacher in the area and has helped a good bit with his experience from past times and so on.

 

[BellevueSenior]

Today I noticed the bigger two. The smaller one of the two was dancing in front of the female and doing some stuff that I've read about in the Joyce book. So tomorrow i plan on putting in a couple tiles in different area's of the tanks. What i plan on doing with the smaller five gallon tank is putting up a black sheet around it. So the fry are not trying to get to the light through the sides...Supposedly they can kill themselves running into the side of the tank? Anyone got some information on this? It would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

http://i402.photobucket.com/albums/pp103/Earthsmight/Fish037.jpg
This is my set up before i added 5 gallon fry tank.

http://i402.photobucket.com/albums/pp103/Earthsmight/Fish033.jpg
Tank one and two older clowns.

http://i402.photobucket.com/albums/pp103/Earthsmight/Fish050.jpg
Another picture of the older two.

http://i402.photobucket.com/albums/pp103/Earthsmight/Fish056.jpg
Tank two with smaller younger clowns.

http://i402.photobucket.com/albums/pp103/Earthsmight/Fish051.jpg
Close up of smaller two fish.

http://i402.photobucket.com/albums/pp103/Earthsmight/Fish057.jpg
Another picture of bigger two.

http://i402.photobucket.com/albums/pp103/Earthsmight/Fish059.jpg
Yet another picture...

 

[rkelman]

Here you go. Now we can see the pics in the thread.

This is my set up before i added 5 gallon fry tank.

Tank one and two older clowns.

Another picture of the older two.

Tank two with smaller younger clowns.

Close up of smaller two fish.

Another picture of bigger two.

Yet another picture...

 

[rkelman]

"Today I noticed the bigger two. The smaller one of the two was dancing in front of the female and doing some stuff that I've read about in the Joyce book."

That is submission. He's just telling her she's the boss. While its a good sign I wouldn't break out the cigars just yet.

"So tomorrow i plan on putting in a couple tiles in different area's of the tanks."

I wouldn't be in too much of a hurry on the tiles. I think you are a ways away yet. They should have a "home" setup where they kind of hang out. That's where you want the tile.

"What i plan on doing with the smaller five gallon tank is putting up a black sheet around it. So the fry are not trying to get to the light through the sides...Supposedly they can kill themselves running into the side of the tank?"

The black around the larvae tank is to keep the sides dark so the fry aren't always trying to swim through the glass. They sometimes will just stay on the glass and not eat. Thus starving to death.


I love your idea for a project. But I think you should have started with a known breeding pair. How long do you have before you have to have results?

 

[BellevueSenior]

Probably by May...but if they do not breed then its okay. I'll still get an A+ ..Yea the mated pair were kind of expensive. I figured it'd be a lot cooler to get a few and let them pair off and go from there. To see what they do before hand and etc. I think it will be cool and very rewarding in the long run. I'll be setting up a brine shrimp hatchery sooner or later. Most likely later seeing as how I still have a bit before eggs. Also i'll be doing rotifers most likely. I'm going to ask around local university's and etc to see if any of them do that type of stuff.

 

[BellevueSenior]

Noticed today they are biting at the clay tile i put into the tank. So hopefully things will start picking up here soon. Anyone have like a general idea on how much bubbling should be happening in the fry tank if any at all?