why my clown pairs never lay eggs?

[MD Ocean Girl]

My pair of breeding ocellaris clowns are mostly fed a mixture of spectrum pellets and formula 2 pellets, once a day. 1-2 times a week, the tank is fed a mixture of mysis, cyclo-peeze, and ova. The tank fluctuates between 77-80 degrees. They breed like clockwork every 10 days or so, no matter how much or how little I feed, or what I feed. Sometimes they've only gotten pellets for weeks, and they still keep laying eggs. They were together about 2 years before they started breeding, and the female was 2-3 years old before she got paired up with her boyfriend. I think it just takes some fish longer to mature.

They started laying right before Christmas, so maybe Christmas music got them in the mood????? :lol:

 

[elegance coral]

I have to side with Paul on this one.:eek1:

live food and frozen food exclusively, or even as a primary food is not enough for their nutrition.

If this were true, they would be extinct. All they get in the wild is live, or recently dead food. They get no flakes or pellets, yet wild fish are typically in much better shape than captive fish. It is a struggle to get our fish to be as healthy and colorful as those in the wild.

Most of the big clown breeders feed pellets. All of the wild fish are raised on live foods. With 90% of our clowns, one glance is all that's needed to determine if it was captive bred, or wild caught. Wild fish are typically thick, muscular, and perfect with no deformities. Captive bred fish are typically thin, pale, and look like they grew up around three mile island. IMHO, and many others, diet has a great deal to do with this.

I believe the manufacturers of dry foods have come a long way over the years, but I still don't believe their products come close to live/frozen foods.

IME, you can feed a fish flakes and pellets, and have a nice looking fish. You can change that fishes diet over to varied live/frozen foods and have a spectacular fish.

My clarkii often lays eggs faster than they can hatch. At times she'll have a clutch of eggs where half is orange, and the other half has silver eyes. I contribute her health and the number of eggs she produces to her upbringing and diet. She was wild caught and eats frozen caviar, mysis, cyclops, table shrimp, and live pods.

IMHO, there is simply no comparison between a fish that's fed dry prepared foods, and one that's fed a varied diet of live or frozen foods.

Peace
EC

 

[Paul B]

Elegance coral. Wow I totally agree with your post and I don't agree with much.
In my 40+ years of diving I know I can tell a wild fish from a captive fish fed on dry foods. Not only by the fishes outward appearance but also by their actions. Wild fish are more alert and more interested in their surroundings, they are also more beligerant.

 

[OrionN]

I think clownfish in the wild are omnivore. They eat everything include algae. The frozen and live food we can get for our aquariums is but a pitiful comparison to what is available to them in the wild (at least in my case. It is likely to be different with Paul since living by the water, he has much better option.) That is why exclusive frozen and live food for clowns in our care is not enough. A lot more variety go into dry food, especially like me when I use multiple dry foods mix together. I think this is why it is adequate for breeding purposes.
I just disagree with Paul that feeding dry food to clowns just "barely keeping them alive"

 

[worm5406]

Yes those living in coastal areas would have a better selection than others. Espc those living in Coastal Texas.

 

[OrionN]

I wish each day have 34 hrs insrtead of 24. Then I can spend hrs hunting for things. I go to the CC Bay and get snails for my carpets and oysters for my CBB. My clowns doing great with just dry food so that is all they get.

I used to live right on the coast but not anymore. Texas just taxed me right out of my house. I just don't want to pay that mortgage that never end. 3.5% yearly for a house on the water is a lot of money. But then we don't have a state income tax here in Texas

 

[orangegoby]

i believe fresh food should be the ideal choice for all fishes. i also believe that the dry food should also do a good job especially for the man-bred fishes.

oh, talking about taxes, we pay minimum 25% and up for income tax, 13% sales tax + all other taxes u can think of. the good thing is we do get free health care here. and is paid by the heavy taxing. i am currently working on lobbying the Parliament to provide free health care for us reefer's marine fish. but they said they would had to raise more tax. :furious:

 

[D-Nak]

To add a bit of perspective with regards to the wild versus captive raised fish, there is obviously a natural culling process that takes place with wild caught fish, so we only see decent specimens. Sick fish would probably die before reaching the LFS, and we've all seen quite a few dying wild caught fish at the LFS, typically due to mistreatment in the supply chain. I've seen A LOT of deformed tank bred (TB) fish lately, and I attribute this to the fact that breeders may not be actively culling as they should be. Granted, this is seen mostly with the "exotic" clowns where economics come into play.

In terms of behavior between the two, environmental factors come into play. Wild fish should be more active and alert given their need to do so to survive, versus the couch potato captive TB fish that are used to being fed. Granted, the largest of the babies tend to fare better anyway.

I believe that a mix of frozen, dry, live and fresh food is the best way to feed any fish. For broodstock in particular, the diet cannot be too high in fat or this will affect the female's ability to produce viable eggs, since a swollen liver can affect the development of the ovaries. For example, a fish cannot be fed exclusively fresh squid or it will quickly become fat. It will also benefit from the addition of roughage that can be found in chiton and cellulose, which don't add much in terms of nutrition, but aids in digestion (just like in humans with fiber). So, the short story to get your fish to breed is to feed a HIGH QUALITY, varied diet.

 

[orangegoby]

very good point D-nak! a mixed diet, hopefully to produce a better balance.

 

[Paul B]

I just disagree with Paul that feeding dry food to clowns just "barely keeping them alive"

OK, but stop yelling at me. Almost everyone disagrees with me, and that's fine. (but your clownfish agree with me) :beer:

 

[OrionN]

.... So, the short story to get your fish to breed is to feed a HIGH QUALITY, varied diet.

I totally agree with this statement by D-Nak

Paul,
There I just wishper to you and yell at D-Nak

 

[orangegoby]

OK, on a serious note, i suspect one other reason could be too much distractions (i got too many aggressive fishes in the tank). I remember pros always suggest isolating a breeding pair in a separate tank and giving them some goodies without other distractions.

 

[Paul B]

Dam, yelling again, you scared my fish.