Percs spawning, eating eggs

[maww]

My CR true percs have started to spawn. The female has looked gravid for the last few months, today is the first time I have seen them performing spawning behavior with ovipositor extended. She lays an egg, then turns around and gobbles it up before the male gets a chance to fertilize it. Is this fairly common for newly spawning clown pairs? I bought them as small juvi's (3/4 inch) in March of 05.

 

[maww]

well in the 10 minutes it took me to write the first post, the pair has laid about 75 eggs. A couple of other clowns in the tank are expressing some interest in what's going on, especially my bluestripe ( who has been trying to buddy-up with the perc pair since he was evicted from his anemone when I added the A sebae pair). The female A sebae is also paying attention, but the A akindynos pair don't seem to be interested at all.

 

[TOURKID]

um.. how many clowns are in your 120??? they are all getting along? i see your sig says experiment. how long have they all been together?? just courious.

might want to try the breeding forum as well to answer your question

 

[maww]

There are 3 pairs and a lone bluestripe in the tank now. The percs have been in the tank since it was set up in May 05. I combined 3 smaller tanks into the 120. Soon after that the tank suffered a disease outbreak, and I lost a large pair of bluestripes and a smaller bluestripe that was paired up with an orange skunk, as well as a young A. sebae pair. The orange skunk and percs survived, along with a pink skunk clown. A month and a half ago I added the A. aknidynos pair. They fought with the pink and orange skunk clowns, which were removed to another tank. They have gotten along with no strife whatsoever with the percs since they were added. The A. sebaes joined the crowd 2 weeks ago, and except for a brief scuffle with the A. akindynos female the day they were added, everyone gets along well. They all have their own anemones, so there is no fighting over territory. The percs stay within a few inches of their ritteri, the akindynos hang around the end of the tank with their LTA, and the sebaes hover around the center of the tank, above their haddoni carpet. They all take to open water at feeding times, and don't clash with one another at all. Fingers crossed it will stay like this. I was very unsure about adding the sebaes, because of their large size. Perhaps that is why it is working out. All three pairs are large mature pairs, so they may not feel confident attempting to bully another pair as big as themselves? And likewise, they are big enough to defend themselves if it does happen.


Spawning seems to be finished. One interesting thing was that the percs nipped at the ritteri until it closed down a bit, and kept nipping at it while they were spawning. Since they have finished, the anemone has spread out again and is covering the eggs.

 

[JamesJR]

How many times have they spawned? If the clowns are eating their eggs that can sometimes be related to diet problems. Try giving them some blended prawn meat if this continues that way they will have plenty of protein for the next time they spawn.

 

[maww]

the tank gets fed pretty heavily. at least 3x a day. They get flake (50/50 Formula 1 and 2) as well as frozen foods ( spirulina enrcihed brine shrimp, cyclops, daphnia, mysids). I think this is their first spawning. The strange thing was that she ate the first 50 or so eggs she laid, but the remaining eggs she is leaving alone. They are both tending to them now.

I will try to get more food their way to see if it helps for the next spawning.

 

[raoul]

Strange, my occel pair (I can now say mated pair ) did the same thing last night, only there are no eggs left. Both fish partook of the caviar, not just the female. It was also their first spawn to our knowledge.

Another interesting thing, in the breeder forum, there's another user who had the same thing happen last night too it seems, hers were also first time spawners.

Good luck!

 

[Flighty]

They will nip the magnifica and pull the tentacles to get it to withdraw, but in the next couple of cycles they will get more experienced and get the eggs in just the right place so the anemone will be shielding them , but not cut off the flow to them. It takes a few times for the female and male to get the hang of spawning around a magnifica.

In my experience, clowns in a magnifica spawn very regularly, even normally sporadic spawners like skunks. Don't be surprised at them laying every 12 days eventually.