Instigating clowns to breed

billybloo

New member
Hey Fellow Reefers,

Just wondering if anyone has tips on getting a pair of clowns to start breeding. I currently have a pair of Ocellaris hosting a rose bubbletip. The female is about 2 and a 1/2 inches, while the male is about an inch. They have been a pair for about a year. They have been hosting the anemone for about 8 months.

Thanks again,
Billybloo
 
you cant force them to breed...but with time and alot of loving care would help to encourage them. good luck
 
Good food, good water and a place to lay eggs is all they need. In a busy tank they may not be comfortable enough.

Jeff


Text mangled by iPhone spell check...
 
If there are other damsels in the tank, they usually won't breed as they spend most energy "defending" their turf. If you are trying to encourage, lower salinity, more light and higher temps. And as mentioned above more feeding. They will eventually breed on their own if they are not threatened by other related fish, but to try and instigate breeding is not usually reef tank friendly. Mine are in their own tank with 14 hours of daylight, 1.020 SG, 84 degrees F, and I feed them constantly. I also do a 1 gallon water change every couple of days.
 
remove the nem its only a distraction for them to play, feed them till they weont eat anymore, raise your temps over 83.
 
A bit shocked about suggesting removing the anemone -- as a distraction, and lower the SG.

All of my spawning pairs (( over the last 10 years or so )), Clarkii, Maroons, pink skunks, and percs were kept in full reef tanks (( 35 PPT, 76-83* )) with host anemones. They all would regularly spawn ever 14 days, or so. Just try to keep stressors as low as possible and provide quality food.
 
if your clowns are in a reef tank and not worried about spawning too much, then a nem is fine. if your into breeding, nems will cost you money for lights, and if you feed heavy then that will upset them as well.
i have 4 pairs spawning now and i added a nem to 2 pairs for a little reward. they stopped spawning right after i gave it to them. removed the nems and they promptly went back to their schedule. if you want them to strictly breed then make them concentrate on themselves and not the nem. its like giving kids a jungle gym when you want them to do your homework.

lowering the salinity and raising the temps will increase the O2 and bump up their metabolism and allow them to eat more. i run my salinity at 18ppm and my temps are 85. i got some large clowns.
 
I would think a nem would make it more likely to get spawning, part of the behaviour that is natural for a mated pair. that and who wants to keep clowns without nems, where is the fun in that? I get spawning when i feed them more regularly than I like to do. auto feeder can help if you are not home enough of the day.

- mark
 
Some folks prefer to keep nems with clown and I'm one of them...
I believe that once you have them in your tank and whatever is in there leave it alone... Don't move anything or add anything... This changes their environment thus creates some stress then no more breeding for awhile until they are comfortable again... So keeping nem is up to you... Wow raising the temp to 85 is quite high but it's your tank...everyone does it differently and if it works stick to it until something new comes along that works better...
 
Ive used it on freshwater fish..... not clowns, but you could try some ovaprim injected into the peritineal cavity of the fish, if they have been very well conditioned, and if they have eggs the gonatropin releasing hormone will induce maturation of the gametes which you can then "milk" from the fish...... I dont think its worth trying... but you can check out the University of Florida's tropical aquaculture lab's website for more info on ovaprim.
 
Ive used it on freshwater fish..... not clowns, but you could try some ovaprim injected into the peritineal cavity of the fish, if they have been very well conditioned, and if they have eggs the gonatropin releasing hormone will induce maturation of the gametes which you can then "milk" from the fish...... I dont think its worth trying... but you can check out the University of Florida's tropical aquaculture lab's website for more info on ovaprim.

i guess this isn't the correct thread to fight over breeding techniques, and who's is the best. feel free to pm me to continue the conversation.i have great results in what i am doing. look at other breeding setups and 95% of them dont have nems for their pairs. mine are quite happy in their pots.

but injecting hormones to the clowns seems like an awful lot of trouble to go thru. i would be interested in hearing more about this.
 
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