clownfish mating rituals

[jer1198]

what type of behavior do clowns exibit when they are mating??

Mine seem to be swimming around each other alot in small circles, then the female (larger) will hold still kinda with the tail pointing towards the bottom of the tank, looking up towards the top.

i dont know if they are being agressive towards each other or if they are "courting", hopefully they are courting.

 

[opie]

Sounds like courting to me.
You may notice them nipping at each-other sometimes.

 

[steve68]

they get agressive & start to bite each other then u will se a lot of action with the tail like SLAP SLAP SLAP.

 

[Marcelog]

S&M?

Marcelo -

 

[RA]

You might want to try posting this question in the Anemone & Clownfish forum. They also have articles in that section that might help.

 

[DRZL-sauras]

the "seizure" is a tell tell sign too, my pair constantly do it every time the lights come on, almost like a good morning honey!..lol

 

[jer1198]

the "seizure" thing was happeneing first, last week, looked like the fishes were getting shocked by something.

 

[Nagel]

The male does the "seizure" aka the "shimmy" to show his submissiveness. This is one of the first signs, but it does not mean eggs are around the corner.. My orange ocellaris did this for 4 years before laying eggs. A more imminent sign is when the male starts cleaning a rock, relatively diligently.. Again, not a sure sign (my black ocellaris cleaned for over a year), but alot closer then the shimmy.

If you look at the october 2005 issue of www.reeflkeeping.com there is a section called "Reef Films". Thats the actual spawning video of my orange pair

 

[jer1198]

ill have to check that out, kinda late now, thanks Nagel.