Raising Baby Clownfish?

[rylovesriska]

Hi, lately i have been researching and i really want to find some baby clownfish (maybe 10 weeks depends if they are eating frozen) and raise them! I was seeing that some clowns have yet to fully develop their stripes. Is this a good idea to try and find a breeder and get them that young or should i just get the smallest at the store?

Thanks you in advance for responding!

 

[D-Nak]

There really isn't much to raising clowns once they've transitioned from rotifers/BBS to non-living food. Can I ask what your plan is? Eventually you'll need to separate all of the clowns since they'll form a hierarchy and will start picking each other off. There are rare cases where multiple clowns have lived together for an extended period of time, but these are all in large tanks with many host anemones (there were places for the clowns to run and hide and when picked on).

Unless you're doing it short term, I don't recommend buying a clutch and trying to raise them. You'll most likely end up with a lot of dead fish.

 

[shifty51008]

I have around 30 babies that are 3 months old and about 100 or so that are around 2 months old however I am not sure shipping them at that age is good or not. I will agree that once they are weened off of rots and bbs then they are just as easy as other clowns to care for, just need smaller foods to start with.

 

[rylovesriska]

There really isn't much to raising clowns once they've transitioned from rotifers/BBS to non-living food. Can I ask what your plan is? Eventually you'll need to separate all of the clowns since they'll form a hierarchy and will start picking each other off. There are rare cases where multiple clowns have lived together for an extended period of time, but these are all in large tanks with many host anemones (there were places for the clowns to run and hide and when picked on).

Unless you're doing it short term, I don't recommend buying a clutch and trying to raise them. You'll most likely end up with a lot of dead fish.

I just wanted to get them as young as possible to see grow and I think that I will only get two as my plan is to get a 30 bio starer for them and upgrade at a different time. I was wanting to get a designer clown as to see the patterns come in.

 

[jcarbone61]

I have around 30 babies that are 3 months old and about 100 or so that are around 2 months old however I am not sure shipping them at that age is good or not. I will agree that once they are weened off of rots and bbs then they are just as easy as other clowns to care for, just need smaller foods to start with.

You should do a how to link on breeding clowns

 

[D-Nak]

I just wanted to get them as young as possible to see grow and I think that I will only get two as my plan is to get a 30 bio starer for them and upgrade at a different time. I was wanting to get a designer clown as to see the patterns come in.

The only problem is that with many designer clowns, the patterns dictate the price, and since the patterns haven't come in when the babies are young, you really don't know how "designer" they will be. If you don't care, there are tons of breeders who will sell young clowns. I know I would -- it beats having to hold on to them (I'm holding my Onyxs for at least 9 months). I think a small pair in a 30 is definitely the way to go.

You should do a how to link on breeding clowns

Uh, that would be this forum:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=86