Spawned And Ate Eggs?

W

WaffleWalffle22

Zoa Extreemist
I was up to 12:30 AM one night in January videotaping this. I thought my clowns were spawning, but I couldn't find any eggs. When I watched the video again, it appeared that they were eating the eggs at some points. I had recently added a 12" H. Mag which is the Ocellaris' natural host anemone. I think that could have triggered spawning, but anyways they never did this again. The male did the waggle and cleaned the rocks with the female, and the female seemed to be laying eggs because she was like swimming up and down like 1/2" in place and vibrating sometimes. Look at the video link and tell me what you think. I personally think they were eating the eggs as they went. I took the H. Mag back to the LFS later since it was really big and got some store credit, and now I have 2 BTA and 1 RBTA. The clowns stay in the RBTA which is less than 6" from their pot which I recently added. I'm thinking of cutting up a tile to put in with them too. Thanks! :spin3:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LYyqNeCvSs
 
I dont think your fish laid eggs.I have seen my fish do this MANY times.They ack as if they were laying eggs,they do a fake "pass by",and there ae no eggs.

What I think they are doing is a major "pre-spawn".NO eggs,but where the fish are trying to get the idea of how to lay the eggs.

Did you see any tubes from the abdomen female?
 
I have terrible eyesight and I was squinting my eyes so hard to see. I couldn't see any tubes (and trust me, I was looking for them the entire time), so at the time I was thinking it was a pre-spawn, but then I watched the video again and compared my clownfish's movements to other clownfish's movement and it looked very similar, so I was just wondering if it was a spawn. If it was a major pre-spawn, then do you think they may lay eggs soon if they are comfortable? I have a few questions on keeping them comfortable.

1. What pH is best? I normally keep 8.2-8.3, but 2 weeks ago I added Rowa Phos and I can't get the pH up there, so it has been at 7.8-8.0, which knowing it is closer to their natural habitat's pH I decided to leave it since these are wild.

2. Which salinity is best? I keep it at 1.024 - 1.025 since I have lots of inverts and inverts like it salty. What do you recommend I keep it at in case they are wanting to spawn?

3. What temperature is best for them around spawning times like new moon and full moon? I've read on multiple forums that when people's tank temperatures accidentally get up to 83, the clownfish spawn. I normally have my temperature at 78-81.

4. Are there any other chemical balances that effect the clownfish and their spawning?

Thank you! :)
 
It's hard to say if they will lay their eggs soon.Ive had clownfish show signs of laying eggs and then I get eggs 1 year later.Ive also had clownfish show NO signs of spawning and then I find eggs in the tank.

1)My Ph is 8.3,I think they should be fine,but just get it back up.And STOP adding chemicals.If your tanks fine and living DONT MESS WITH IT.

2)I keep my salinity at .23-.24

3)I keep my temp at 82.It does make them spawn faster.

4)Well....I think the fish can scence the chemicals.I dont think that it will effect them unless the chemicals added stress the fish out.
 
The Rowa Phos is a phosphate remover. I also am using highly activated Rowa Carbon. The Rowa Carbon and Rowa Phos are the 2 highest grade phospate removers and carbon that they carry. Since they are absorbing phosphates and organic matter I thought it might be better for the fish. If they can sense it and it might bother them then let me know and I'll remove it. On the topic of chemicals, I do dose calcium, iodine, strontium, and molybdenum. I probably need to continue dosing calcium regularly to keep the calcium lever up, but since the others aren't 100% necessary I"ll stop dosing those.
If you want me to remove those, then I should be able to bump the pH back up to 8.3. My only concern is that since these are wild caught clowns, they may like 7.8-8.0 like the ocean's pH. If you think it would be best to bump the pH up to 8.3, then I will.

I'll do 1/2 gallon water change with RO and bring the salinity down to .023-.024.

I'll let the other people in my house turn the temperature up when they want to and I'll bump the heater up a degrees or two.

I don't think I have seen chemicals cause stress over a long period of time. When I dose calcium it turns the water just a bit cloudy for about 30 minutes. During those 30 minutes the clownfish seem to be closer to their anemones and won't swim around as much. I use Purple Up for adding calcium and Purple Up also replenishes iodine, so I'll try and find something else to add calcium. What do you use to raise the lever of your calcium when it is low?

Thank you for taking time to answer my questions! :spin3:
 
My clowns are starting to do it again. The male is starting to clean off a little place on the rock, and he's gotten the female to join in. I'll let you guys know how it turns out.
 
Well here's the deal. While I was watching them, one of my bi-color RBTA that is really big decided to reposition its self and was about to kill my giant hammer coral and a bunch of my really nice zoas, so it started to come loose from the rock and I had to move it. The only place in the tank without coral was the rock they were "spawning" on. I moved it about 10" away from the spawning site and turned off the pumps to let it attach. This disturbed the clowns and the stopped. I just looked over there and they are starting again. The spot where the tube comes down is flat and the hole the tubes come out of looks poopy, so the hole is brown. It is flat about 1/2 or less of a centimeter. I fed them about 4-5 hours ago, but the female is fat-ish, but not really fat. This could be a practice also. The male seems to be more into it, swimming faced strait down, biting the rock and vibrating. The female was doing it too, and they are starting up again. I'll let you know. Anything else I should look for?
 
BTW, they chose the spot about 1" from their favorite anemone's foot. Apparently they don't appreciate all my efforts by adding a pot and 2 tiles in various locations around all of their anemones.
 
Some of my fish do this.Some spawn very soon after and others will might never spawn.I think that the fish are close MABEY.But give it time.I think that the female is fat due to being fed a few hours ago.My clowns dont lose the "food weight" for atleast 24 hours.The brown stuff might be food that is digested and is being removed!Keep a close eye!
 
OK thanks! The male is really getting into it! They are even checking out the pots and tiles. Maybe they're practicing and checking out locations for spawning. They did the exact same behavior and had the flat anal area last time. I think it has been about 3-1/2 months since their last practice.
 
The clowns seemed to be eating water. I turned off the pumps, and there were hundreds of newly-hatched copepods floating around the tank. Big midnight snack! Now they're back to pre-spawning.
 
I think I know what may have triggered the pre-spawn. I finally got the temperature at a stable 80 degrees at night and 83 at the hottest point in the day.
 
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