clownfish foods for breeding!

[fishieness]

okay, so i have had a pair of ocellaris clowns for about a year, and the person before me had them for about two suposedly. they have never bred in my tank despite that being the reason why i got them and i am wondering what everyone is feeding their clowns including brands of food.
i have been feeding a m ixture of:
formula one frozen
prime reef frozen
san fransisco bay frozen squid
" " mysis (i mainly feed this to try to get them going, but i dont think it is the most nutritious brand)
and cyclopseeeze

i also feed with selecone at least once a week.
during the weekends, i feed them twice a day, but only once during the weekdays because i leave before the lights come on and done get home until about 6 pm.
so i am wondering what frozen foods you are all feeding them

ive fed them baby brine numerous different times, and i think i jsut have to keep hatching them and get them to eat that for a few days in a row like WIlkerson (ive red that front to back about two times by the way, and nothing seems to work) recomends, but i know many people have gotten their clowns to breed just on frozen.


also, i cant seem to get my dKH above 5-6. could this be a factor why they arent breeding?

 

[JJFly]

Though many disagree, I've had more success with Formula One Flake Food. The fish eventually get to the point of feeding from my hand which minimizes tank fouling. Feeding from a floating station helps too.

 

[fishieness]

thanks. ill give it a try. i do have a bunch of flakes. the only dry foods i have are some nori, the formula one flakes, and some life spectra pellets. ill try the flakes. but i thought there were a lot of phosphates in the flakes?
i have also never heard of anyone who have gotten their clowns to breed feeding flakes. haha. but good to know
thanks for the response

 

[catdoc]

Mine started breeding on a diet of mostly flake (Prime Reef and Formula One) with the occassional snack of cyclopeeze. Once they started spawning, I was afraid that the egg production would deplete the female, so I boosted them with a more regular schedule on a few frozen foods (homemade blender mush and Rod's Food).

I can target feed the maroons by hand-feeding flake/frozen since they'll eat right from my hand. Like JJFly said, that allows you to feed the clowns more aggressively without excess food fouling the tank.

 

[fishieness]

thanks. ill definatly do taht a lot more form now on
i just fed them for the 2nd time today and the female is fat -fat -fat!

 

[catdoc]

Maybe they have been spawning but the eggs are on the back of the rockwork? My female tends to get her mouth a bit ragged right before she spawns--she is so aggressive about cleaning the nest site that she ends up cutting her mouth on the rock. The male then tends the nest so isn't seen as much. Just some things to watch for. Oh, and the female also gets pretty territorial when she's guarding the male/nest.

 

[mwp]

I noticed there's almost no herbivorious components (veggies) in the diet you're currently feeding...clowns are omnivorous, so perhaps consider the use of Formula 2 as well. Personally, I like pellets as a great food base...they're much more "dense" than flakes and don't create as much waste...the fish can actually "bulk up" on pellets -> great for saturation feeding.

Matt

 

[fishieness]

thanks. ill get some formula 2 also. i try feed them some nori sheets every once in a while. but they take on bite, realize what it is, and then dont touch the stuff
but ill definatly get some formula two.


and ive been watching for eggs on the back. they have moved a bit though around the tankf rom host to host, and the one they are in now doesnt have a lot of prime space for eggs because there are fraggs everywhere. im gogin to try putting some of a clay pot up against a rock and see what that does. before they were hosting some anthillia and they loved the clay pot i put next to it. they were cleaning it often, but never layed eggs for some really odd reason... they have always been a little territorial, but nothing like biting. only a lot of swishes when my hands are around. and her lip has always been a little peeled back so it is white. but i am pretty sure that is from rubbing it up against the glass while begging for food 24/7 haha

so ill add some more space there and feedthem some formula 2. any other suggestions?

thanks again for your help everyone.

 

[fishieness]

quick little update:
i have yet to be able to go get some of the formula two pellets. tomorrow hopefully
BUT, yesterday i completly stuffed both of my clowns. i usualy always tuff them, but i have never seen myfemale this fat and it was all with dry foods isntead of frozen so unlike what probably usualy happens, she was stuffed with food and not water. anyways, when i got home, about 21 hours after i fed them last, her belly did look larger than usual. and then today she didnt eat a lot. she did pick at some food, but usualy she is killing everyone to get the food that they are after. she nibbled on some pellets, and only took a few bites of frozen. then she stopped eating. but besides that and her fat belly, she is acting normal. i also say the male moveing some sand around the tank. which i never have seen before...
getting ready for a spawn?!

 

[Kathy55g]

Could very well be....

 

[fishieness]

so nothing came of it that time... but, today i did notive a LOT more activity as far as clearing away sand from their area and a lot of swipes, a lot of mouthfulls of sand being taken around the tank. i also just saw the female do a "practice" or a shake that i have sene the male do many times, but never the female. she did it right over the rock they have been clearing.
just wanted to update without another of my 5 "why wont my clowns breed?!" threads