I want to bread ocellaris clowns, how do I start

[fishykid9212]

Hi I have one ocellaris clown fish in my 92G tank right now for about a year and a half, (tank bread) what do I have to do to allow it to bread? I have plenty of small tanks lying around to use. Do I just buy one other ocellaris clownfish and it will automatically change to a male or female and they will bread? thanks in advance

 

[jdbassin]

Breading? Hmmm, I prefer beer batter myself but everyone has their preferences, Sorry couldn't resist the opportunity, (bred and breed), bread is for eating, I would suggest getting a book on clownfish. I have one somewhere on captive care and breeding of clownfish, I'll try to find it sometime tonight or tomorrow and let you know the title and author.

 

[fishykid9212]

Well I was thinking that I could eat bread while I was breading the fish, I was just wondering how I get a mating pair if I already have a clownfish in my tank for a year and a half, and if I should move it with another clown to another tank? thanks

 

[gemini aquarius(t)]

ok well i think the first step is to have a breeding pair.how old are you? it says ur a kid(so am i) and i actually did a ton of research and i figured it was way to expensive and way to ime consuming!
look for at least 1 1/2 hours PER DAY!!!(cleaning water, and feeding(another hard part))
also in order to keep up with your clowns schedual u would need to have about 40 different tanks,that is only if u wanted to raise close to every batch,so i was reccomended to setup a 6 tank setup to get a good amount of clowns going,also i would suggest getting at least 2 pairs of clowns (david m has close to like 15 i think)also i learned that you might have to wait months to get them to start breeding after being moved from one tank to another!that is..if they start breeding ever again.also feeding sux!
yoou have to culture rotifiers,and brine shrimp along witha a couple of other things! i would say for a 6 tank setup it would cost a good 400-700 bux if you can find really good deals!
there is tons of great infoon this forum just dont be hesitant to ask to many questions!

a simple list of what you might need is like this

6-10 gallon aquariums(if you can find them drilled perfect of not then ull have to do it)- 60
a 2 level stand that if u could diy(always build vertically rather than horizontially)- 60
70 gallon rubber sump- 50(i think)
a mag 12 return pump or similar- 60(whole sale)
asm g-4x skimmer - 200
2 sets of store lamps-30 bux each at home depot
water-people often for get the cost of water and salt- 50-130
plumbing-pvc,glue,elbows,ts,ball valves,all that good stuff-150
heating-well depending on if u heat individual tanks or the whole system(remember that you might need to icolate a batch of clowns or 2 so individual heaters would then be required)- 50-150
air pump-dont really know much about it other than you need it for fry development -(ballpark guesstamate) 60

im sure theres more that im missing but if you have any questions ill TRY to answer them!

 

[Kathy55g]

UV 150 bucks
biofilter, very important--50-150 bucks

I did this with a lot of free stuff people gave me, and spent way over $1000.

By the way, there are advantages to building on one level. Cleaning. Seeing the fish from the top and the sides. Simplified draining and filling.

 

[fishykid9212]

Wow thats a lot of things I guess I'll forget that idea. I'm going to have to go back to the traditional guppy breeding Are there any saltwater fish that are easier to breed? I just wanted to try breeding and raising a few. Thanks

 

[gemini aquarius(t)]

well just to breed a few like one batch im sure you could get away with:
a single 10 gallon aquarium - 10
with a small rubbermaid storage sump underneath(cut out the mibble of the lid but keep the rest as bracing for the tank)-6
then i would get a small setion of the container and put bioballs or some other bio media-10
and then a remora skimmer-120 ,
and a mag 2 for your return or a rio or something- 50
then a small air pump-5
and a heater- 15
and a sponge filter-20
although you would have to do a waterchange DAILY and feeding and stuff the same

btw:we have the same birthday!

it just might do the trick

 

[aomont]

Have you thought about bangais ? Fewer and bigger fry per hatch. Just start out from BBS (no rotifer and microalgae stuff).
Anderson.

 

[Kathy55g]

If you want to go small, a two tank system with a sump will allow you to learn the craft, then you can decide if you want to expand and build a bigger system. You want two tanks so you can try, get a few thru metamorphosis, and try again in the spare tank. If a few make it, you can combine the hatches and try again in the empty tank, etc. until you hatch and raise 100 larvae thru meta, and then you are golden. When you are learning, you will want to be able to continue to try again, because the early attempts, well, you lose a lot of fish.

 

[fishykid9212]

ok thanks every one for all the help, maybe will try one batch and see how it turns out. How do I start though I have two 10G tanks lying around so that could be used. I have a single ocellareis clown in my 92G that I had a while, can I use that and just put another clown with it? Or do I need to buy two more clowns at the same time. Also do they have to be grown to a certain size to lay eggs? again thanks for all the help and gemini aquarius(t) thats pretty cool we have the same birthday

 

[David M]

You will need a second fish to get any breeding done, but it seems you figured that out already Assume your fish is female and try to get a known male from someone who recently lost a female or get a small fish that has not been seperated out and kept in isolation for any length of time. A captive bred fish is perfect, just get one 1" or less if you can. Place them together and let nature take it's course, it will take some time.