Who ate the eggs?!

[Angel*Fish]

I've thought my oscellaris clowns were probably spawning, but I actually observed it yesterday afternoon. The orange eggs were clearly attached under a rock after the event.

This morning, however they were all gone. Do they sometimes just "not take"? Can you guys help me figure out what happened?

Porcelain anemone crab? I thought he was an obligate filter feeder, but now I wonder -

Other suspects -

Various dwarf angels
Singapore angel
Several gobies
2 Blackcap basslets
Bicolor blenny
2 Red Sea mimic blennies
3 Damsels
Some threadfin cardinals
Purple firefish
2 Yellow fin fairy wrasses
Green mandarin
3 Anthias

No other crabs
2 Turbo snails
1 Trochus snail
DSB snails, worms & other critters

 

[phender]

Most likely the clowns ate their own eggs. Could be a variety of reasons. It is not uncommon for clowns to eat their first spawn. Other reasons might include, eggs didn't get fertilized, being disturbed by an abundance of tank mates or improper nutrition of the mating pair.

 

[r00onmac]

+1 on phender's response... ive read any number of reasons why but it does happen: that sometimes the parents eat the eggs...

 

[Angel*Fish]

OK, thanks- hmmm... I'm pretty sure they've been spawning for a while now, but this explains why I've never seen any eggs. As you can see from the above list, I have quite a busy tank... but their anemone is quite huge so everyone gives them a wide berth

So I shouldn't suspect the crab? I guess I'll have to apologize to it now - lol

 

[Angel*Fish]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8513782#post8513782 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Angel*Fish
OK, thanks- hmmm... I'm pretty sure they've been spawning for a while now, but this explains why I've never seen any eggs. As you can see from the above list, I have quite a busy tank... but their anemone is quite huge so everyone gives them a wide berth

So I shouldn't suspect the crab? I guess I'll have to apologize to it now - lol

BTW, what kinds of reasons have you guys heard of for this? One thing for certain is my clowns are very well fed.

 

[r00onmac]

how old are they? one reason i have heard is that the eggs arent fertile.. so what happens is that the female is old enough to lay eggs but the male just isnt fertilizing because its not fully matured yet... or like phender said if they are disturbed by too many tank mates in the area they would rather eat the eggs than let anyone else eat them...