My attempt at breeding black clowns (in a 28 gallon mixed reef)

Gotfrogs,

Could I see a picture of the pair of clowns (full bodies in the pic)?
I have two black Ocellaris which are about 18-24 months old and they are currently a bonded pair. I really want to breed them and I have a few questions...

1. How old are your clowns?
2. What is the size difference (in inches) of the male and the female?
3. How long have they been a pair?
4. In the last month, one of my clowns has gotten about a tail length bigger (2/5"-1/2") than the other and seems to be more dominant. Are they pairing up and the one getting bigger is the female? Like I said, they are a bonded pair that have been together more than a year and they are 18-24 months old.

Thanks! :D
 
Don't move them at 7 days. You'll loose them. Do you have a sponge filter going in there yet? Are you using Amquel? Don't get too worried about Ammonia. They are really resilient to ammonia.
 
Sounds good, I ended up just cleaning the sides and bottom of the tank with a razor blade and siphoning the stuff out. The ammonia alert badge is light green in color. I have actually yet to test the ammonia or nitrite and have not added any Amquel. I guess I should put that on my to-do list. One thing that is strange, is that I have not added any rotifers to the tank in about 4 days. They seem to be multiplying at the same rate as they are being consumed. I think I got lucky on this.

WaffleWalffle22 - I have no idea how old the parents are. I would guess that the small male is about 2 and that she is over 4 years old. I started with two ora clowns and lost one. I was fighting all kinds of problems with them for over a month. Soon after one of them died I came across the female that I have now. Someone brought her to a LFS because she was beating up on all of her tank mates. I really got lucky finding her in the store that day. When I brought her home I was scared to add her to the tank but she and the small male did good together. They have been together for a year now. They were and still are not buddy buddy but they managed to have some offspring so they must not hate each other too much. Here is a link to a video of the tank that I shot today.
 
Is there any guidance on what size otohime to feed for a give clown fish age (or size). All I have offered at this point is the smallest A size.
 
Today is day number 10! Several of the little guys have changed color (to orange) and a few of them are brown with a white strip over the top of their head. Unfortunately there are still several that are rather small and have not gone through metamorphosis.
 
The tanks is at about 79F. Here is a short video clip that shows off how cute some of them are.
link to Youtube video
The tank that I have them in is not tall enough for a sponge filter. I would like to move some of them over to to a 10 gallon but I am not sure if it is too early. What do you think rkelman?
 
How big is that tank? 5g? Can you drip some more water in there to make it deep enough? I use the sponge filter but don't put the lift tube on. Do you have sponges seeded?
 
The tank is 5.5 gallons and is 11" high. I have some seeded sponges that are almost a year old. I think they are Hydro 3s like you have. They are about 7" tall without the lift tube. You would add one to the 5.5 gallon without an air supply or lift tube attached to the sponge?
 
I'd add it with the air supply but no lift tube. I use them without the lift tube for the first little while.
 
We made it to day 13! A few of them now have two white stripes.
Clowns_Day13.jpg
 
Thanks guys, but really thank rkelman. You inspired me to get black and whites and have answered the tons of questions that I threw at you.

I must say, I think the fish were much easier to care for when they were eating rotifers. I am ready for them to not require fresh bbs everyday.
 
No problem I'm glad to help. They don't need BBS. You can feed them Oto A only. I haven't hatched BBS in a year. I go from Rotifers to a combo of Rotifers / Oto A then Oto A only. I think my survival rates are better and the fish are healthier without BBS.
 
Sounds good! They eat the Oto A but get way more excited over the bbs. I will start cutting way back on the bbs and use Oto A exclusively.
I added the sponge filter to the tank today so that should help with any extra waste created by the dry food.
 
I'll bet they do but they'll get used to it. Their excitement is not my main concern :) I usually add a sponge filter as soon as I see a headstripe or the day after. Keep a couple seeded on hand.
 
Great thread! I'd be very interested in hearing about the relative success of Otohime A (compared with other feeds) over at The Breeder's Registry. And gotfrogs - we'd love to get a Spawning Report from you for the Black Oscellaris with a description of the pros and cons of your various feeding strategies.
 
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