Clown Fish Laying Eggs

[Jetziel]

My Clowns laid eggs again, this time in the new tank. Last time they laid the eggs behind a rock, this time around right in the front of the Rock.

Is there a way i can save these eggs when or before they hatch? If so what does it require? what would they eat? how long till they hatch?

 

[RGS2]

Congrats on them laying eggs. It takes ALOT of work to try and raise the fry. Google it. My clowns have laid eggs on the glass like clockwork every two weeks for two years. I've never seen them lay them or ever seen them hatch. Always happens in the middle of the night.

 

[fishchef]

You will need to remove the rock the eggs are on to a separate system. You'll need to research every thing else. Ours used to lay all the time, but we never did anything. They would all get eyes and overnight disappear.

 

[Turbosreef]

I have a mated pair that lay eggs as well. I had no idea they were eggs until I watched the clowns protect a rock, then I saw the eggs tried to save some in little net but they never hatched

 

[Jetziel]

So i did some research and it does not seem all that hard once you get the clowns to lay on a removable rock, i might just try the tile trick on the next round of egg laying. The rock they are currently in is a 20lbs live rock that towers to almost the surface of the tank, no way i can get that thing out lol

my LFS has the live food i would need and everything else i would need like the air stone, air pump, dimmable light, heater and small 5gal tank i have already.

thins could be a new thing for me to get into.

Have any of you built any interest in raising clown fish fry?

 

[Nina51]

mine laid a couple of weeks ago and the eggs disappeared. not sure what ate them. she laid another batch a couple of days ago in the same spot. most of them disappeared but there are still a few left and the male is tending to them.

never had any interest in raising fry, too much work. they're just extra fish food. LOL

 

[Member No. 1]

Mine lay all the time. I've never tried to raise them. I do have Banggai fry that are a little over 3 weeks. It was the first brood.

Here are my clowns laying.

<iframe width="1280" height="720" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/f-rLKLuXTPc?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[rhdoug]

You are very lucky if your store sells rotifers in the amount you will need to raise the fry. It is more difficult than you probably realize, but it is also a very rewarding experience. Here's a video of some gold stripe maroons that I raised in 2004 and 2005. I kept one of the babies that you can see at the end of the video, I lost him last year when the heater failed on a very cold night.

Good luck with your project!

 

[ca1ore]

There's a fish breeding forum here.

 

[davocean]

It's a fair amount of work to do it properly, most of us just enjoy the free fish food.

 

[Shawn O]

I read somewhere that the female will eat the eggs if she deems them unviable. Not sure how true this.

 

[davocean]

I read somewhere that the female will eat the eggs if she deems them unviable. Not sure how true this.

I'm not certain how true this is, normally it is advised to let the first few clutches go as they usually are not very desireable quality/health wise, yet I have never witnessed either the female or male clowns eating these.

 

[Shawn O]

I either read it or saw it in an ocean documentary somewhere. May not be true. Can't see why either parent wouldn't if they weren't going to hatch. Fish food, right? I may even be confusing it with jawfish but pretty sure it was clowns.

I suppose if one was going to setup a bare bottom tank for the clowns to lay eggs and rear in you could video it 24 hours /day. More trouble than I'd ever go to, though.

If I come across the source again, I'll post it. It was just something that stuck in my head when I read or heard it.

 

[Member No. 1]

The female does appear to "pick" at the eggs, and I see fewer and fewer. The male will sleep on top of them, and they both defend the spot vigorously, and I don't see any other fishes near the spot. So with this, I would agree, she does eat the eggs.

 

[davocean]

Most of what she is doing is keeping them clean, that is common, you'll see both of them constantly cleaning as long as the eggs are still there, and you'll know when they are about to spawn next(about every two weeks) when they scrub that area again.
My new clowns just spawned last night as well, cheers!

 

[d0ughb0y]

For starters, I can tell you this is an extremely hard task to do, and that is an understatement. Everything is easier said than done. I know because I have tried it before, so I salute those who have done this successfully.

There is a fish breeding forum here as someone pointed out. That is the best place to get the info.

If your clownfish lays eggs now, it will lay eggs again a few more times, like clockwork. The number of days between laying eggs and hatching etc are all described in the other forum, and it is amazing that it all happens exactly like clockwork.

The furthest I have reached is I think 12 days then the clownfish fries died.

Having said that, I'm not going to ever do this again. Good Luck!