Clownfish eggs?

[JeannineC]

I have a pair of clownfish that I bought about 3 years ago. They staked out a place under a power head in the corner of my tank early on and only leave it to feed. I have anenomes but they have always acted like the powerhead was their host, and showed no interest. They often rake all the gravel back in this corner (like a nest?) and sometimes it looks to me like they are mating. I noticed it today and then noticed a wad of something stuck to the glass about the size of a quarter and it looked like possible eggs? But also like they were squirming? The clownfish are hovering over it and covering it and each other with their bodies...laying sort of flatwise.

 

[JeannineC]

Actually I think the female (big one) is laying them and sticking them to the side of the tank and the male is eating them?? Is that common?

 

[griss]

Color of the mass? Should be orange for clown eggs. Yes, the dominant clown will be the females. Fish tend to eat non-viable eggs.

 

[JeannineC]

Sort of off white. But they are white clowns..."blizzard" I think. They've kept that area swept clean of gravel for months but this is the first time I've seen this.

 

[griss]

Got any pictures? As I said, usually clown eggs are orange. White makes me thinks they are infertile or have fungus, which supports the male eating them.

 

[griss]

Clownfish eyes (eggs) | Melev's Reef

melevsreef.com

 

[JeannineC]

I tried to get a picture last night but they were hovering too much over it. It's in the back corner on the back glass and there is some mineral buildup there too and it was hard to see to begin with. Went to try to take a picture today and they were gone...the male is still picking at where they were and they are still fanning that area and hovering.

 

[griss]

@HumbleFish @Dr. Reef would know better than me.

 

[Paul B]

These are clownfish eggs. The orange stuff. They lay eggs about every two weeks.

 

[JeannineC]

Thanks! It did look like that but more tannish. So maybe not. I will keep looking. Is it odd that they live in that corner under the power head? If I put my hand anywhere in the tank the female will come immediately out and bite me. It's kind of fun. But otherwise they stay in that corner except when I feed and they still don't travel far. I had hoped they would get in one of my anenomes but have been in this place fir 2 years at leas

 

[griss]

So, if they are Blizzard clowns, that means they are A. ocellaris or False Perculas. What kind of anemones do you have?

In the wild, A. Ocellaris host in the following:
H. magnifica
S. gigantea
S. mertensii
S. haddoni

They have been know to adapt to hosting in E. quadricolor (Bubble Tip anemones) in captivity.

That said, sometimes clowns are just weird fish that do weird things

 

[JeannineC]

I think they are H. Magnifica. I had one but now three. They vie for the same spot at the top of the tank.

 

[JeannineC]

Also this is my female clown. I'm not 100% sure which one it is.

 

[griss]

I think they are H. Magnifica. I had one but now three. They vie for the same spot at the top of the tank.

Did you only purchase on and it split twice?

I’m not the best at IDing anemones from pictures so, I’ll leave it to someone else to see if they can confirm.

If it split, you’re doing something very right. That species of anemone can be challenging to keep and (while they occasionally split in captivity) I don’t think they do so often.

Also this is my female clown. I'm not 100% sure which one it is.

A. Ocellaris IMO

 

[JeannineC]

Yes it split about 8 months ago and then again last week.

 

[JeannineC]

I've had it a couple years.

 

[griss]

That’s awesome. Usually when people tell me their anemone split I immediately think BTA. I’m pretty sure that’s not a BTA.

 

[JeannineC]

Wow that's interesting. I'm pretty sure they are happy. Before it split the first time it had gotten huge. Was in the same place but in the middle of the day when the lights were brightest he would almost reach the top. I occasionally feed it a little piece of cut up frozen shrimp. Not really that often. I hope someone will tell us what they think it is.

 

[griss]

It’s hard to tell, IME, H. Magnifica (Ritteri nems) have a reddish foot. Your nem looks more of a tan foot.

@Anemone @bradleym any thoughts?

 

[JeannineC]

It's actually kind of purple. One is balled up right now. They do that at night sometimes