My clownfish are the BEST!

[NicoleC]

5/1/06 - Pregnant mama and her man get moved into QT as part of my tank rebuild project. Mama absorbs eggs, I think. QT includes a clay pot bottom like they one they usually lay eggs on to make them more comfortable

5/11/06 - I am slowly lowering salinity to do hypo, it's at about 1.012 now, and I see mama looks preggers. Nah, I say, she must just be fat...

5/12/06 - I come home and her oviposter is down. Sho' nuff, eggs tonight. They didn't lay them on the flowerpot. Other than being a little more protective than usual without their frogspawn host blocking access to the eggs, they are acting totally normal. Although they started laying a bit soon before lights out, so I don't know how big the nest will be yet since they are (I assume) still laying in the dark.

And people say clownfish stop spawning if you disturb them.

 

[Kathy55g]

That's a great picture! Congrats on a sturdy pair!

Are all your previous babies sold, and are you going to collect this new nest?

 

[NicoleC]

I still have about a dozen left, only a few of which aren't yet saleable size. I probably won't do clown babies again, at least not for a while. I have to take a break from babies while I do the tank rebuild, and then I suppose I will take another whack at the gobies. Maybe.

 

[FFFrog]

I moved my pair of ocellaris into a new tank and they layed a batch a week later. It didnt seem to bother them at all.

 

[Dman]

I personally thing alot of it has to do with timing and how stressfree you can make it for the fish. I too have done the same and they missed one cycle.
Other than that, that's freakin awesome. I love when that happens.

 

[Morgman]

I like the contrast between the eggs and that white container. That nest looks cool on a white substrate.

Ocellaris are resilient little guys. Good work.

 

[NicoleC]

Only about half the eggs in the photo made it to the morning, which is probably less than they ended up laying in total. This nest is not going to make it to hatch, I think. Perha[s the salinity is too low.

Also, there's a scooter in QT with them circling the eggs like a shark. She's happy to eat small pellets and is getting plenty, but I think her hunting cravings are not being satisfied. The male will NOT come out of the PVC (at least when I'm around) and keeps chasing the scooter off, but I bet the scooter has been getting bites of eggs here and there.

 

[NicoleC]

Yep, eggs all gone this morning. Poor clownfish.