Ideas for clowns to move where eggs are laid

[Chi6488]

My clown have laid eggs 3 times now. Problem is they are laying the eggs about 1 inch below water line on the corner overflow. Last week the 2nd clutch of eggs hatched and I am sure they were sucked into the overflow and into the skimmer.

Tuesday they laid another clutch of eggs in the same place. The closest rock is about 9 inches deeper into the tank.

Any suggestions how to get them to lay eggs on something else?? That way I can move the eggs into a smaller (6 gallon) tank and feed them.

I can't even change my water b/c it will kill the eggs. I think I will have to do a water change b/c it has been around 3 wks now.

 

[BonsaiNut]

Any suggestions how to get them to lay eggs on something else?? That way I can move the eggs into a smaller (6 gallon) tank and feed them.

I was with you until this comment. Just want to make sure you understand that you can't remove the eggs from the breeding fish. Unless the parents are there to care for the nest, the eggs will slime over and die.

Clearly this raises an issue - how to get the larvae into a grow-out system while still still keeping the nest with the parents until the last minute. Different breeders use different methods, but one easy way is to time the hatch and simply move the nest within an hour of the night that the eggs are due to hatch. To facilitate this, many breeders raise fish in bare brood tanks with a small flower pot or single tile as the only ornament. Typically when raised in this environment, the clowns will spawn on these items. For whatever reason, clowns seem to like terracotta pots and/or unglazed tile as a spawning surface.

If you already know all this, sorry If the fish continue to spawn up in the corner by the overflow, my recommendation would be to buy wild-caught fish (which won't do this) or to buy an anemone, which will attract the fish down from the water surface.

 

[DeathWish302]

Any suggestions how to get them to lay eggs on something else?? That way I can move the eggs into a smaller (6 gallon) tank and feed them.

In the nesting area of your tank, load the surrounding environment with at least a 6-8" clay pot and about 2-4 6"x6" ceramic tiles.

Move a PH or a magnet cleaner in the area the clown was spawning previously. The pair may stop spawning for 1wk-3 months by doing this. If they continue spawning around the PH or magnet, the epoxy a rare earth magnet into a hole cut in a 6"x6" ceramic tile and move that to the location. I have had to do this before and it was successful. I forced the clown closer to the clay tiles on the bottom by redirecting flow to that corner after I harvested eggs. Plain and simple, these fish will spawn on any surface that they find suitable.

Does this clown stay a majority of the time in that corner? If so, you may have a never ending battle w/o the magnet tile, as even the current may not force her out.

 

[deangelr]

I would just place a piece of tile on the overflow with a little dob of glue and some epoxy.. easily removed once the eggs are laid on the tile.

 

[trueblackpercula]

In the nesting area of your tank, load the surrounding environment with at least a 6-8" clay pot and about 2-4 6"x6" ceramic tiles.

Move a PH or a magnet cleaner in the area the clown was spawning previously. The pair may stop spawning for 1wk-3 months by doing this. If they continue spawning around the PH or magnet, the epoxy a rare earth magnet into a hole cut in a 6"x6" ceramic tile and move that to the location. I have had to do this before and it was successful. I forced the clown closer to the clay tiles on the bottom by redirecting flow to that corner after I harvested eggs. Plain and simple, these fish will spawn on any surface that they find suitable.

Does this clown stay a majority of the time in that corner? If so, you may have a never ending battle w/o the magnet tile, as even the current may not force her out.

Great advice....