Diary of a failed breeder
- Thread starter WDLV
- Start date
clowns101
Active member
That is a great idea.If you could find a pair of spawning fish that arent you favorite fish,you could get your hands wet it clownfish breeding.Might get a pair of spawning Clarkiis.They sell for about $150-$250 range.Not a bad price.
Also if you have your systmes all hooked together,they say that if you have 1 pair of fish spawn,that pair will release hormones in the water and then causing other fish to possibly spawn.
Hope that helps you out!
WDLV
Skunk Hybrid Freak
Thanks guys/gals. I don't have the space right now for another pair (still trying to re-home two pairs) but a proven ocellaris pair has been in my possession and has left me empty handed. So, I sold them.
At this point I am enjoying my pairs as pets with the hope that they will eventually spawn. My focus in the last few months has been on husbandry. I may try another proven pair in time but it will probably be after everything else has been tried.
If my pairs ever spawn I plan to use 10 gallons for raising the fry. These will be connected to the sump with only a heater in the tank. The stand pipe will have a foam strainer around it and the return flow rate will be barely faster than a drip. I'm resigned to the fact that I will be in this house for at least two more years. So, I'll do my best in that time frame.
At this point I am enjoying my pairs as pets with the hope that they will eventually spawn. My focus in the last few months has been on husbandry. I may try another proven pair in time but it will probably be after everything else has been tried.
If my pairs ever spawn I plan to use 10 gallons for raising the fry. These will be connected to the sump with only a heater in the tank. The stand pipe will have a foam strainer around it and the return flow rate will be barely faster than a drip. I'm resigned to the fact that I will be in this house for at least two more years. So, I'll do my best in that time frame.
WDLV
Skunk Hybrid Freak
Here's some more current shots of the setup.
Thiellei tank.
This is the chrysopterus tank... I'm strongly considering moving the leucs to this tank. Their tank has an unmanageable aptasia problem. I may either add a klien's butterfly to that tank by itself until the aptasia are all gone or else break it down and bleach it.
Excuse the white balance. It was a cell phone pic.
Thiellei tank.
This is the chrysopterus tank... I'm strongly considering moving the leucs to this tank. Their tank has an unmanageable aptasia problem. I may either add a klien's butterfly to that tank by itself until the aptasia are all gone or else break it down and bleach it.
Excuse the white balance. It was a cell phone pic.
Last edited:
john68camaro
New member
Very nice for that pair!... What temp do you keep your broodstock tanks at?
Congratulations!
For aiptasia, I have a lot of luck with peppermint shrimp. I think they'd leave the anemones alone, at least the larger ones. And quite a few people like the aiptasia eating filefish.
I may have missed it in your thread, but what kind of lighting and flow are you providing to keep those anemones looking so good?
Best of luck with the clownfish breeding, I'm sure you will have success.
For aiptasia, I have a lot of luck with peppermint shrimp. I think they'd leave the anemones alone, at least the larger ones. And quite a few people like the aiptasia eating filefish.
I may have missed it in your thread, but what kind of lighting and flow are you providing to keep those anemones looking so good?
Best of luck with the clownfish breeding, I'm sure you will have success.
landlord
New member
Sometimes there's a glimmer of hope... and today I got some shots of it!!! They were both doing it this week. Last week it was just the male that was doing it.
This is from a week ago.
It's gonna happen. They're doing their magic. I can feel it!
landlord
New member
Here's an observation that I'd thought I'd share with you about how several of my pairs started laying eggs. Perhaps this is pure speculation or mere coincidence but it happened nevertheless:
I've always kept my feeding pretty simple. A mixture of frozen cube foods and some NLS pellets. Every so often I'll be at the LFS and notice some frozen cube that I had never tried in the past, so in the interest of variety I've gone ahead and puicked up this new pack. Usually within 2 to 3 weeks after introducing this new food one a pair would start laying eggs.
With my Tomato's it was the introduction of Formula 2 gel cubes. Within 2 weeks they began laying
With my GSM's it was OMEGA laced frozen brine. I was actually on vacation and in an effort to make life easier on my fishsitter I told her to simply feed everyone the same thing (I must have found a deal on OMEGA brine shrimp cubes) In any case I came back from vacation several days later and within another week or so my GSM's were breeding.
With my latezonatus, the only thing in the feeding regime that changed was I ran out of Formula 2 gel cubes and doubled up on the OMEGA brine, two weeks later I have eggs.
Again - All of this is probably mere coincidence but, I really had nothing to loose, and the fish seemed to welcome the change from routine every so often. Take this with a grain of salt.
Kurt
I've always kept my feeding pretty simple. A mixture of frozen cube foods and some NLS pellets. Every so often I'll be at the LFS and notice some frozen cube that I had never tried in the past, so in the interest of variety I've gone ahead and puicked up this new pack. Usually within 2 to 3 weeks after introducing this new food one a pair would start laying eggs.
With my Tomato's it was the introduction of Formula 2 gel cubes. Within 2 weeks they began laying
With my GSM's it was OMEGA laced frozen brine. I was actually on vacation and in an effort to make life easier on my fishsitter I told her to simply feed everyone the same thing (I must have found a deal on OMEGA brine shrimp cubes) In any case I came back from vacation several days later and within another week or so my GSM's were breeding.
With my latezonatus, the only thing in the feeding regime that changed was I ran out of Formula 2 gel cubes and doubled up on the OMEGA brine, two weeks later I have eggs.
Again - All of this is probably mere coincidence but, I really had nothing to loose, and the fish seemed to welcome the change from routine every so often. Take this with a grain of salt.
Kurt
WDLV
Skunk Hybrid Freak
In the last couple my target has been 82 but it has been fluctuating between 81 and 85. Usually it's been 81-82 except a few hot days.
Thanks for the tips and good wishes. The lighting is 250W 14KK MH. The flow is just a couple Maxijet 1200s in each tank.Congratulations!
For aiptasia, I have a lot of luck with peppermint shrimp. I think they'd leave the anemones alone, at least the larger ones. And quite a few people like the aiptasia eating filefish.
I may have missed it in your thread, but what kind of lighting and flow are you providing to keep those anemones looking so good?
Best of luck with the clownfish breeding, I'm sure you will have success.
Thanks!
I hope so.
Interesting. Thanks for sharing that. Maybe I'll try throwing a plankton-like food like cyclopeeze or BBS in for a week straight every now and then.
Aye, if I slack again, just give me a nudge. I'm always taking pictures.... I probably should get an external hard drive to hold them all....
clowns101
Active member
I belive it going to happen.Both male and female(it looks like)are cleaning!Plus they are both cleaning the same spot which is a plus!
Thats is interesting.Very interesting.Do you by chance remember how much you fed?How often during the day are you feeding?I feed my fish 3 times a day with diffirent mixed in later.
Thanks
WDLV
Skunk Hybrid Freak
All the photos are actually of the male cleaning but the female was cleaning the same spot in between some of his activities. I just wasn't able to capture it with the camera. I thought the second cleaning pic was the female but it wasn't. I just mixed up a new fish mash a few days ago that they're all crazy for. So, we'll see if there's any positive change.
Iwishihadgills
New member
Whats your photo period? Is it on a timer?whats your flow?
The reason why i ask is because when you try to mimic the ocean just like you do when you raise corals your fish feel more at home and in my opinion more likely to spawn. Next if i were you i would feed three times a day at minimum. A fat not hungry fish has nothing else to do then get jiggy with it instead to hunt for food. And just like the flying dutchman said i would connect all the tanks and put a turf scrubber in. When you feed more water quality goes down. In breeding set ups i would strive for 5ppm or less nitrate. Healthy fish in a healthy environment WILL breed as long as they are a mature age. And i dont think you should give up or down size but rather trie harder. Nothing is ever easy or everyone would do it.
just my two cents
ps clownfish dont clean rocks for fun
The reason why i ask is because when you try to mimic the ocean just like you do when you raise corals your fish feel more at home and in my opinion more likely to spawn. Next if i were you i would feed three times a day at minimum. A fat not hungry fish has nothing else to do then get jiggy with it instead to hunt for food. And just like the flying dutchman said i would connect all the tanks and put a turf scrubber in. When you feed more water quality goes down. In breeding set ups i would strive for 5ppm or less nitrate. Healthy fish in a healthy environment WILL breed as long as they are a mature age. And i dont think you should give up or down size but rather trie harder. Nothing is ever easy or everyone would do it.
just my two cents
ps clownfish dont clean rocks for fun
WDLV
Skunk Hybrid Freak
Flow is about 3,400GPH in each 45 gallon cube tank.
Photoperiod: Timer is set to "on" from 0600 to 2030. (14.5hrs)
They get fed 2-4 times per day depending on how much I am home. Also, there is no shortage of copepods, amphipods or cyclops rotifers growing in the system.
Filtration is provided by a Euroreef CS12-2 skimmer (rated for ~400 gallons), live rock and weekly WCs of 50 gallons.
The current system volume is about 275 gallons and there are only 8 fish in it. So, bioload is low, filtration is high and volume is high.
Photoperiod: Timer is set to "on" from 0600 to 2030. (14.5hrs)
They get fed 2-4 times per day depending on how much I am home. Also, there is no shortage of copepods, amphipods or cyclops rotifers growing in the system.
Filtration is provided by a Euroreef CS12-2 skimmer (rated for ~400 gallons), live rock and weekly WCs of 50 gallons.
The current system volume is about 275 gallons and there are only 8 fish in it. So, bioload is low, filtration is high and volume is high.
Iwishihadgills
New member
Then its just a waiting game. Try not disturbing them. I would put up a black background on three sides of the tank .
WDLV
Skunk Hybrid Freak
Well I might have to change the name of this thread. My melanopus spawned today. I thought some cyano was growing in the tank and took a closer look to see eggs. I put them in this tank two weeks ago and almost took them to the LFS for store credit last weekend.
Last edited:
Similar threads
