Pregnant Clown.. Preparation suggestions?

T

thatdarndragon

New member
Hey all :)

I've had a 10 gal reef set up for about 3 years now, and had my 2 paired Ocellaris clowns for over 2 years. In the 10 gal, I have several mushrooms, a colt coral 3-4 peppermint shrimps, some snails and several blue legged hermit crabs. Lots of live rock and plants (forgot what its called, looks like weeds).

Anyway, today I noticed my female clown is looking rather.. fat and rounded. Im thinking she may be bearing eggs.

If she is holding eggs, I want to be prepared to rip apart my 5 gal fresh water tank (I just have a betta in it, who can be moved) and quickly change it into a fry tank for the babies. I would love to get a larger tank set up, but there's no room. websites says 5-10 gal will do fine until they come of age for new homes.

My question is.. how do I go about this.. whats the best way to clear it out fast and get it ready for the potential babies?

There wont be any time to establish the tank.. Im thinking of taking a LR and some water from the already established 10 gal and moving it into the 5 gal fry tank.

The gravel will be taken out.. should I leave the bottom bare, or put live sand there?

There's an air pump in the tank, which will stay there, and a regular filter. What do I need to do to make it work for a saltie? Switch filter bags from the established tank into the 5 gal?

Help? Any advice is greatly appreciated. I am very new at breeding Clowns and this was very unexpected for me and I want to do it right.
 
You don't want rock or sand in a fry tank...it'll just be an injury risk for the larvae.

You also don't have to raise the fry immediately. The clowns should keep spawning every couple of weeks like clockwork, so you'll have plenty of opportunity to raise the fry. In addition, the first couple of clutches generally aren't very strong and sometimes don't even hatch.

If you want to do it right, pick up Joyce D. Wilkerson's book "Clownfishes," it's a great read to get you started and will answer all of the questions you've asked. Also, take your time and set up a proper 10g tank. Start new, don't risk the health of the fry on potential contaminants in the 5g, especially if you're doing a quick tear down.
 
really, Tyler? I didnt know about them spawning every couple of weeks, thats great to know. I'll probably feel bad if the first batch dont make it, heh. If she lays the first time, then I'll start preparing the fry tank and get it established.

Thanks for the book reccommendation, I will look into it
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10201737#post10201737 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by thatdarndragon
I'll probably feel bad if the first batch dont make it, heh.
Click to expand...

think of it this way...if they had laid those eggs in the ocean, maybe 1 of a clutch would have survived. if you can eventually have better odds than that, you're way ahead of the game.

i'd take a pass on this batch and get going on phyto and rotifer culturing. if she's preparing to lay a clutch soon, that should give ample time to get your cultures going for the next batch. considering you'll probably be looking at an outlay of cash to order phytoplankton and rotifer starter cultures, you might want to keep an eye on her and make sure she does end up laying eggs before you order anything, tho. i've dealt w/ reed mariculture and florida aqua farms - haven't had any problems w/ either.

i don't know if it's a chain-wide thing, or just at the store around me, but Meijer carries a 5 gallon tank that's only 7 bucks. that cheap, ya might as well just leave your freshwater tank as-is, and pick up a new one for this when the time comes.
 
"if they had laid those eggs in the ocean, maybe 1 of a clutch would have survived."

Like Finding Nemo? :P

I have no room for another tank. All my fish tanks are in my bedroom, and absolutely no room (with a 20 gal fresh, 7 1-2 gals betta tanks and the 5 gal), so I have no choice but to rip apart the 5 gal. its ok, the betta can be moved to the 20 gal or a 2 gal tank.

I will wait to make sure she does lay eggs before I make any moves.
 
hmmm...if space is at a premium, this could prove fairly difficult.

you'll need room for around 7 2 liter bottles to culture phytoplankton - if you can't do that, i've had great luck w/ Instant Algae paste. adds some cost, but would save some room.

you'll need room for rotifer culturing, too...i use 3 5 gallon buckets..you could get away w/ a group of 2 liter bottles (put up a shelf somewhere, maybe?)

from 1 pair, i end up w/ 4 small tanks in a rotation before i can put them in a larger grow out system. if you haaad to, you could get away with putting the fry in a net in the parents tank by about 18 to 25 days in. you may need to clear out a closet and claim it for clown breeding, or else you'll need to skip clutches - you won't have 1 clutch out of the 5 gallon tank by the time the next is ready to hatch.
 
hmm.. I can clear off some shelves to raise the live foods. If I have to, I can take away a few 2 gal tanks and give away my bettas and make room for another 5-10 gal tank if needed.

this calls for lots of planning :eek: But this is what you guys are here for, to educate me and help me through, lol.

Now a part of me wants her to be pregnant so i can try this out, but the other part is saying "help" lol. Im planning on moving in 2-3 years, so this will mess up the cycle for them Im sure..
 
Sure will...but often times the spawning is only interrupted for a couple of months and then they start back up again.
 
just something to consider...you'll have to run airlines in the live cultures. i don't think i'd want to try to sleep in the room i run the cultures in...the bubbling sound would get obnoxious after awhile.

something as seemingly innocent as re-arranging rocks in the parents tank can put them off of their regular breeding schedule. tearing down a tank and moving it can, as well. it all depends on the pair - it may affect them, and they may not care. worst case, i wouldn't expect it to put them off for more than a month or two, tho.
 
" i don't think i'd want to try to sleep in the room i run the cultures in...the bubbling sound would get obnoxious after awhile."

thats ok, Im hearing impaired, sounds wont bother me at nights :)

Im thinking maybe my father wont mind me using the closet in the basement for the live food. no one ever uses it.. if I clean it up a bit, so thats some extra room there.

thanks for the input everyone :)
 
Spoke to my parents, they're OK with me clearing out the closet in the basement to raise the food and whatever else I need there. its spacious Im also OK with rehoming some of my bettas so I can fit in another 5 gal tank that I have in the basement (not sure if a 10 gal will fit, if it does, I'll get another 10 gal instead). It'll be under my 20 gal fresh tank.

planning's working out well :) so far so good.
 
A few pictures.. doesnt show how fat she is, but maybe you guys with expert eyes can see what Im seeing..

P6230011.JPG

Obviously the bigger one is her..


P6230014.JPG


P6230016.JPG


P6230018.JPG


P6230013.JPG

this one you can see the bulge on her side in the last 2..
 
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