Percula clown laid eggs today! Help!

[Mike Bauer]

I have a pair of clown fish and the female laid eggs yesterday. They have been cleaning the shell for a month and now she has started laying eggs and he is fertilizing them as she goes. They still pick and clean around the eggs and the area. Is that normal? Are they eating the eggs? They are in a 29 gal tank with a few cleaner shrimp and snails. The clowns keep them away from the area and have been for some time now. How long before they hatch? how do I feed them? What do I feed them?

Thanks Mike

 

[ChefZilla]

Nice. As far as them eating them... Prolly not but they do inspect them for mishapen and dead eggs and they remove them.. Kinda the pick of the litter thing. As far as hatching time its usually 7-9 days for my black OC.. It depends on what kind of clowns you have. Some take longer than others to hatch. And when you see that eggs have turned silver they will hatch that night usually 2 hours after the lights go out. And as far as feeding them. You need transfer them to a small (5.5 gallon) tank with a gently airstone.. They wont live in the main tank, EVERYTHING will eat them!! As far as foods, You need a live rotifer culture already on hand (in a 5 gallon bucket, feeding the rotifers phytoplankton for nutrition) and feed them 2x a day.. After about 7-10 days you should introduce baby (less than 24 hour old) brine shrimp mixed with the rotifers then wean them off of the rotifers after 3 days after you started feeding the brine shrimp. AFTER the brine shrimp have been fed to them for about a week and a half (i let the Brine shrimp grow a lil (2-2.5 days old) and feed them that... By that time they should have morphed and look like tiny clowns.. ( by the way after the 7th day you need a sponge filter and do partial water changes, keep the water temp at 80ish as well) Then after they have morphed you can start feeding them a good brand of flake food / brine shrimp.. Its a task BELIEVE ME.. But its also rewarding!! Good luck

 

[Mike Bauer]

Well, I went and checked on the eggs today and they were all gone. I did notice the eggs were small and clear last night and the article I read said the male will eat any eggs that will not hatch. The eggs should be orange color when the female lays them and these were not. I up the diet as recommended by the article to flake food frozen brine shrimp. Time will tell they have been cleaning that shell for months and rubbing against it daily for just as long.

 

[jbax]

buy the book by joyce d. wilkerson " clownfishes". it will answer alot of your questions.

 

[rhdoug]

Yes, what jbax said -- get the book. Raising them is what I consider a very "involved" project for the casual hobbiest. I did it 3 times with my gold bar maroons and it was a lot of work, but a very rewarding experience. I have not tried it with my occelaris but plan to some day down the road if "life" allows it.

 

[RaeRae]

Good luck. Ive been told its alot of work to raise them.

 

[ChefZilla]

Dont give up... The first few batches are usually duds IME. Thats good that you changed their diet, But only vary slightly from what you feeding them. As for me i usually feed them frozen brine/mysis shrimp 3 days after the babies hatch all the way up till they lay new eggs (well i feed them pellet food as well but alternate with the frozen). Just have fun with it and read read read!!!

 

[Mike Bauer]

Thanks everyone for all your help!

Mike