clown fish breeding?

[threeiron333]

I have 2 false percula clown fish that I have had in my 12 gallon nano reef for over 2 years. I have euphyllia that they use as a substitute host anemone. I noticed today at feeding that they are very guarded and won't stray to far from their home. I took a closer look and there are what appear to be eggs stuck to the side of crevice near the euphyllia. My questions are: Have the fish actually spawned and is there any possiblity that I might help them to raise their young. If so, can someone let me know what I might do to prepare such as live feeds, etc.. Thank you.

BTW, there are no other fish or shrimp in the tank, only cleaner snails and hermits. I also noticed the fish pushing away any of them that get too near the supposed eggs

 

[mwp]

FWIW, the eggs will be bright orange (Renee thinks a big batch is just about as pretty as any coral) There's a picture of my pair with eggs (also using a Euphyllia as a host) on the Onxy Perc Breedling log thread.

Matt

 

[threeiron333]

I can't see the color of the eggs very well because it is in a crevice that doesn't get much light. It is similar to your picture in terms of texture but it is not as dense. But I think the spawning may have happened as much as 3-4 days ago, because they have been behaving more cautiously the last week or so. Could it be possible that much of the eggs have already been lost?

 

[mwp]

I don't know. If they're in a "crevice", I'd have to ask, is the crevice large enough for the fish to enter? If not, then they're not eggs. My male is pretty vigilant about tending the nests so far, he periodically mouths the eggs and hangs very close to them, not even leaving them to chase down food.

It takes 8 days or more for the eggs to hatch...I guess keep a lookout for eyes...in my percs they seem to show up 2 days prior to hatching.

Matt

 

[Kathy55g]

Eggs can be orange or yellow depending on what you feed Mama. They can spawn in rather tight corners.

Mine decided after I moved the powerhead in their tank, to move the rock they spawned on. I like this arrangement, as now I can see the eggs better. The eggs get a better flow of water, too.

 

[threeiron333]

Crevice is definitely large enough. Actually the male does definitely go into the area and is from time to time pecking at the eggs. It almost led me to believe he was trying to eat his young. I guess what you described makes a lot more sense. I am totally clueless in this area.

 

[jake levi]

Have you got a separate larvae tank available? A 10 gallon ? You'll need some foods too, kind of short fused for rotis unless you get some liquid culture overnighted to you. You can lay in some otohime, check the thread here on that,

if this is their first spawn and you lose it they will probably do it again in a month and then perhaps as often as twice a month therafter.

For for your own info see if you can shine a flashlight into the crevice, by now they should be yellow-orange and maybe even showing eyes,

 

[threeiron333]

Jake:

Thanks for the advice. I don't have a separate larvae tank, but I am going try and be better prepared for the next time - this was a totally unexpected event. It sounds like I need to do some reading on the threads in this forum.

 

[Fishboy42]

Congrats on the spawning. If you're up for some reading, have a look at these threads:

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

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=240158

Hope this helps,

Matt

 

[Kathy55g]

And Joyce Wilkerson's book Clownfishes!
Good luck.