Clownfish breeding help

[hkarmy25]

My two started doing the tango, I noticed it last night. I was wondering if clowns change sexes like other marine fish? If not i guess i got pretty lucky that i only bought two common osc. and they just happened to be a pair. ANYWAYS, i dont know too much about clowns, other than my girlfriend loves them, which quite frankly is the reason i bought them. And that i have the capability to keep them. My question is when they start breeding is there anything special i need to do? I noticed one making little indentations in the sand in the corners of my tank and i assume its nesting. I'm really kinda lost. So basically a quick run through of what i should do? i guess?

 

[Tmoriarty]

Clownfish go from inactive male or juvenile to male to female, but never back down the ladder.

The most dominant will become the female and the second the male, keeping more then 2 normally results in issues unless the rest are juveniles when purchased. If your clownfish are still young (if you bought them from a store they most likely are) then you wont see any clutches for the first 1/2 years or possibly never depending on tank conditions.

Males can fertilize as early as 6-9 months (source Donnie) but if you keep normal reef tank conditions of 78 you may not see spawns. In general if your clownfish are of age and you want to see eggs increase temps up to 81-84, increase light cycle, increase feeding and give them a good place to lay eggs (nice flat rock or object like tile/clay pot)

If you want to raise the fry thats a whole different case, I am just starting to breed so I don't have much experience other than reading and speaking to breeders but I can tell you its not something easy, it takes time and a lot of it. If you ever get eggs and don't wish to raise them let them hatch into the tank and they will be consumed by the tanks inhabitants, just part of the life cycle.

Hope that helps.

 

[hkarmy25]

Clownfish go from inactive male or juvenile to male to female, but never back down the ladder.

The most dominant will become the female and the second the male, keeping more then 2 normally results in issues unless the rest are juveniles when purchased. If your clownfish are still young (if you bought them from a store they most likely are) then you wont see any clutches for the first 1/2 years or possibly never depending on tank conditions.

Males can fertilize as early as 6-9 months (source Donnie) but if you keep normal reef tank conditions of 78 you may not see spawns. In general if your clownfish are of age and you want to see eggs increase temps up to 81-84, increase light cycle, increase feeding and give them a good place to lay eggs (nice flat rock or object like tile/clay pot)

If you want to raise the fry thats a whole different case, I am just starting to breed so I don't have much experience other than reading and speaking to breeders but I can tell you its not something easy, it takes time and a lot of it. If you ever get eggs and don't wish to raise them let them hatch into the tank and they will be consumed by the tanks inhabitants, just part of the life cycle.

Hope that helps.

It really does, exp. if i ever decide to start breeding for fry. I know one of my LFS would appreciate it greatly seeing as the clowns they get in are of poor quality and they are always looking for local breeders to cut shipping costs down. I was just asking to make sure clowns were not different from any other species and may show signs of stress leading to disease due to inability to successfully breed. I'm a.... 'clown noob' if you will. Literally just got them to please the girlfriend. Looks like, if they decide to lay eggs, my fish will get some free food!