Travis L. Stevens
New member
This will be an attempt at recording the behavior and process of spawning of my Black and White Clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris var.). It all started about a year ago...... *dream sequence unfolds. Fog clears to see Travis deep in thought around some books*
I sat down in front of a large assortment of books to think of my dream tank. Over many weeks of planning I eventually decided that I wanted to focus on breeding fish, but work the tank around the fish. I came to the conclusion that I wanted a Black and White tank. I wanted a variety of pairs of fish that were black and white, and on the top of the list were Black and White Ocellaris. I remember seeing a pair of them years ago in a shop in Tulsa. The price at the time was outrageous, but the pair were definitely adults. The female topping out at a good 3.5". I was hooked on these guys, but never a huge fan of clownfish. I talked a lot with Lori (NewBeReef627) with her breeding efforts, and upon seeing her wide variety of clownfish variants, I began to warm up to them. Eventually, the day came where I found a seller here on Reef Central that was selling 80 juvenile A. ocellaris that he raised, and I actually had the money ready for them. I talked to Lori, and we went in on getting a pair each. On April 3, 2006 we bought the buggers, and had them shipped overnight. One night of tossing and turning with anticipation and $110 later, the Clownfish arrive at Lori's on April 4th. After work I drove up from Perry to Enid, stood bewildered at Lori's livestock, picked up my clownfish, and drove back home to Stillwater. Later on, things fall through and the Black and White tank never comes to be, but now the current tank is being used to hold breeding pairs.
April 4, 2006: The New Arrivals
After careful acclimation and sitting in front of the tank watching them acclimate, they are finally released into my 29g tank. They immediately went and hid, but had no problem with the two Green Chromis that were already established in the tank. Within the next couple of days, I got to inspect them more. They were about 1-1.5" long, and still so young that they had their orange face. That's fine by me, because I knew they would eventually lose it. They stayed together almost constantly which seemed to be a good sign for me.
Mid July 2006: A Change in the Winds
At about this point, I've got to watch my clownfish fatten up, grow, and their face start darken. By this time, the two have started to show differences in size and dominance. You can tell which one is the male and which is the female. The male's face by this time had quickly went from orange to completely black, but the female's face hadn't really changed much.
September 23, 2006: Get the Hint?
This was the day that COMAS went on a behind the scenes tour at the Oklahoma City Zoo's Aquaticus Center. After the tour, my family and I paid a visit to the Gift Shop and saw that they had light up Koosh Balls. I immediately thought of Kevin's (LotR Clown) thread that showed how he took one and used it as a surrogate anemone. So, I thought I would give it a shot since my clownfish never hosted in anything yet, and they were starting to show quite a difference and a lot of loving between them. We get home and later that evening, the fake anemone is complete and I add it to the tank. The Clownfish immediately inspect it, but don't do anything. About a week later I catch the male swimming through the tentacles. As the weeks go by, more and more action starts to happen. Eventually, they pay as much attention to the fake anemone, which isn't much, as they do to a variety of other corals. They often laid in my toadstool, poked their face in my Zoanthids, rubbed up against the Green Star Polyps, and much more. But, no matter what interest in hosting they showed, they always slept in a corner in my tank on the sand. As time progressed, the male and female started to court, shimmy, shake, and show other signs of effection.
Early December, 2006: Finding a Home
They have shown an increase in spawning behaviors between each other and in hosting. My family and I were shopping around Hobby Lobby when we saw a sale running on clay pots. We picked up a couple small pots for plants, and I picked up a few tiny pots for my Yellow Watchman Gobies, and a few plates for my clownfish in an attempt for them to find a place to lay eggs. Weeks past, and I catch the clownfish cleaning the plate. The male was the first to clean and rub on it, shortly followed by the female. Eventually they started to rub on other rocks as well. This started to get me excited. I'm beginning to anticipate a spawn at any time with their behavior.
December 26, 2006: My Babies Are All Grown Up
I catch both the male and the female digging in the sand. The female has nearly lost the orange in her face. Just a little patch on the bottom of the chin from the bottom of the bottom lip to the base of where the gills meet.
December 28, 2006: Change is Good
They've now been rubbing and digging quite often. I'm very surprised by now. But, I had to do some tank maintenance and cleaning. I was afraid that all the commotion was going to deter the clownfish. After getting everything cleaned, I move their plate from a near horizontal layout to an almost vertical layout after scanning across a thread mentioning someone had something like this. After all the maintenance was done, I sat back to enjoy the tank and to my amazement, I see both of the clownfish cleaning and fanning the vertical plate at the same time, rubbing on each other, dancing, and so on like they never did before. They went absolutely bonkers with their behavior towards one another. I guess I did something that they liked! As of this morning, there weren't any eggs on the plate, but who knows what I'll find when I get home. Needless to say, I'm expecting them to lay their first clutch any day now. I look forward to what the future holds, and I'm happy to see that these once little clownfish are now 2" and 2.5" long.
I'll keep everyone updated, and I hope to post and get more pictures soon.
This was the tank back in October. As you can see, we have the nice fake anemone in the middle of the tank. You can barely make out the clownfish. You can see the male at the top of the tank in the middle, and the female is above the pink plate coral facing the camera. You can see the outline of her white stripe and what is left of her orange face. You can also see the Yellow Watchman Goby pair out for a stroll.
I sat down in front of a large assortment of books to think of my dream tank. Over many weeks of planning I eventually decided that I wanted to focus on breeding fish, but work the tank around the fish. I came to the conclusion that I wanted a Black and White tank. I wanted a variety of pairs of fish that were black and white, and on the top of the list were Black and White Ocellaris. I remember seeing a pair of them years ago in a shop in Tulsa. The price at the time was outrageous, but the pair were definitely adults. The female topping out at a good 3.5". I was hooked on these guys, but never a huge fan of clownfish. I talked a lot with Lori (NewBeReef627) with her breeding efforts, and upon seeing her wide variety of clownfish variants, I began to warm up to them. Eventually, the day came where I found a seller here on Reef Central that was selling 80 juvenile A. ocellaris that he raised, and I actually had the money ready for them. I talked to Lori, and we went in on getting a pair each. On April 3, 2006 we bought the buggers, and had them shipped overnight. One night of tossing and turning with anticipation and $110 later, the Clownfish arrive at Lori's on April 4th. After work I drove up from Perry to Enid, stood bewildered at Lori's livestock, picked up my clownfish, and drove back home to Stillwater. Later on, things fall through and the Black and White tank never comes to be, but now the current tank is being used to hold breeding pairs.
April 4, 2006: The New Arrivals
After careful acclimation and sitting in front of the tank watching them acclimate, they are finally released into my 29g tank. They immediately went and hid, but had no problem with the two Green Chromis that were already established in the tank. Within the next couple of days, I got to inspect them more. They were about 1-1.5" long, and still so young that they had their orange face. That's fine by me, because I knew they would eventually lose it. They stayed together almost constantly which seemed to be a good sign for me.
Mid July 2006: A Change in the Winds
At about this point, I've got to watch my clownfish fatten up, grow, and their face start darken. By this time, the two have started to show differences in size and dominance. You can tell which one is the male and which is the female. The male's face by this time had quickly went from orange to completely black, but the female's face hadn't really changed much.
September 23, 2006: Get the Hint?
This was the day that COMAS went on a behind the scenes tour at the Oklahoma City Zoo's Aquaticus Center. After the tour, my family and I paid a visit to the Gift Shop and saw that they had light up Koosh Balls. I immediately thought of Kevin's (LotR Clown) thread that showed how he took one and used it as a surrogate anemone. So, I thought I would give it a shot since my clownfish never hosted in anything yet, and they were starting to show quite a difference and a lot of loving between them. We get home and later that evening, the fake anemone is complete and I add it to the tank. The Clownfish immediately inspect it, but don't do anything. About a week later I catch the male swimming through the tentacles. As the weeks go by, more and more action starts to happen. Eventually, they pay as much attention to the fake anemone, which isn't much, as they do to a variety of other corals. They often laid in my toadstool, poked their face in my Zoanthids, rubbed up against the Green Star Polyps, and much more. But, no matter what interest in hosting they showed, they always slept in a corner in my tank on the sand. As time progressed, the male and female started to court, shimmy, shake, and show other signs of effection.
Early December, 2006: Finding a Home
They have shown an increase in spawning behaviors between each other and in hosting. My family and I were shopping around Hobby Lobby when we saw a sale running on clay pots. We picked up a couple small pots for plants, and I picked up a few tiny pots for my Yellow Watchman Gobies, and a few plates for my clownfish in an attempt for them to find a place to lay eggs. Weeks past, and I catch the clownfish cleaning the plate. The male was the first to clean and rub on it, shortly followed by the female. Eventually they started to rub on other rocks as well. This started to get me excited. I'm beginning to anticipate a spawn at any time with their behavior.
December 26, 2006: My Babies Are All Grown Up
I catch both the male and the female digging in the sand. The female has nearly lost the orange in her face. Just a little patch on the bottom of the chin from the bottom of the bottom lip to the base of where the gills meet.
December 28, 2006: Change is Good
They've now been rubbing and digging quite often. I'm very surprised by now. But, I had to do some tank maintenance and cleaning. I was afraid that all the commotion was going to deter the clownfish. After getting everything cleaned, I move their plate from a near horizontal layout to an almost vertical layout after scanning across a thread mentioning someone had something like this. After all the maintenance was done, I sat back to enjoy the tank and to my amazement, I see both of the clownfish cleaning and fanning the vertical plate at the same time, rubbing on each other, dancing, and so on like they never did before. They went absolutely bonkers with their behavior towards one another. I guess I did something that they liked! As of this morning, there weren't any eggs on the plate, but who knows what I'll find when I get home. Needless to say, I'm expecting them to lay their first clutch any day now. I look forward to what the future holds, and I'm happy to see that these once little clownfish are now 2" and 2.5" long.
I'll keep everyone updated, and I hope to post and get more pictures soon.
This was the tank back in October. As you can see, we have the nice fake anemone in the middle of the tank. You can barely make out the clownfish. You can see the male at the top of the tank in the middle, and the female is above the pink plate coral facing the camera. You can see the outline of her white stripe and what is left of her orange face. You can also see the Yellow Watchman Goby pair out for a stroll.
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I'll be getting rid of the orange ocellaris I have for some black and whites when I set up the 150 and would really really prefer captive bred and raised ones. I actually would prefer all my livestock in that tank to be captive bred by me, and eventually that'll be what i end up with....so many years down the road. So hurry up! LOL
