inspiring reluctant breeders

[ezhoops]

My ocellaris and percula pair spawned about 1 month ago while I was out of the country and haven't spawned again since. I'm wondering what could have happened or not happened to have them spawn again.

any ideas?

here are my theories


when I was gone the temperature in my area was in the high 90's and so the tank temp probably got close to 90 as well.



other thing was they were left alone with no human interaction except maybe once a day.



other than those two things, nothing has changed!



help me out

 

[traveller7]

Re: inspiring reluctant breeders

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8112574#post8112574 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ezhoops
other thing was they were left alone with no human interaction except maybe once a day.

Quite a few pairs have proven to be quite shy. IME, this has been more an issue then temperatures once a pair starts the egg laying process.

If they are isolated, cover the sides and front of the tank with newspaper, feed like crazy, and leave them very quiet for the next 6 weeks.

Good luck.

 

[ezhoops]

already covered on all sides but front. so should I cover the front and feed like crazy for 6 weeks. What about water changes or should I just top off? But with all that feeding I'll need a w/c

 

[BristlewormKing]

Are you sure they spawned? Usually once they spawn, every 2-3 weeks there is a new clutch. My clowns (I have several different species) have people around their tanks all day and that hasn't impaired their spawning activities. In regards to temp, 90 is high for clowns (most of mine are 76-78, although many folks keep theirs in the low 80's). If there have been any changes to the tank parameters, nutrition, duration of the lighting (use timers), etc., that can also disrupt spawning.

 

[traveller7]

Is the tank sumpless?

 

[ezhoops]

NO changes at all, none, nope, nada!

Sumpless yes, its your basic clownfish spawning broodstock tank, 2 clay pots, BB, and a skimmer.
Yes, I'm certain they spawned and I bought them as a spawning pair, had them since feb of this year.

They are the most skitish clowns I've ever seen. The female especially.

should I cover the front and leave the top open?

 

[dantodd]

sounds like a little isolation is a good idea. You should ask the former owner if they were kept in relative isolation.

 

[ezhoops]

no they weren't kept isolated but they did have an anenome. I hate to make any changes right now except maybe covering the front. he said they used to spawn like clockwork.

 

[traveller7]

I would cover the front and keep the traffic low around the tank.

Try to keep the waterchange interference to a minimum and most of all:

Good luck.