Are my clownfish unhappy?

[dhjunkie]

I've had a pair of false percs for a few years. They seem very healthy (eating, growing, active, parasite free, etc...). However, to my knowledge they've never spawned. Does that mean they're not thriving?

 

[Ron Reefman]

IMHO, no. Maybe one of them has an issue with reproduction? I wouldn't worry about it.

My wife and I don't have any kids (we're retired) and we have never been happier... up until COVID-19 got us stuck at home. We were having fun traveling all over the US before... and hopefully we will again by the end of 2021!

 

[andrewkw]

How many years is "a few". If it's only 2, maybe they haven't started yet. I agree this doesn't necessarily mean they are unhappy but they also probably can spawn in the future. How often are you feeding them?

 

[SDK]

Clownfish can sometimes be reluctant to spawn in an active, crowded tank. In my experience, being housed with other territorial species and/or not having an anemone can also be factors.

If you are really interested in them spawning, you can try thinning out the inhabitants of your current tank or putting them in a 20 gallon tank by themselves.

Conditioning them with live food is also an almost universal trigger for aquarium fish. I feed mine plenty of live foods and my Occelaris clown pair spawns every other week like clockwork. I’ve had the female for about two years and the male for one.

 

[dhjunkie]

How many years is "a few". If it's only 2, maybe they haven't started yet. I agree this doesn't necessarily mean they are unhappy but they also probably can spawn in the future. How often are you feeding them?

I feed them once a day

 

[dhjunkie]

Clownfish can sometimes be reluctant to spawn in an active, crowded tank. In my experience, being housed with other territorial species and/or not having an anemone can also be factors.

If you are really interested in them spawning, you can try thinning out the inhabitants of your current tank or putting them in a 20 gallon tank by themselves.

Conditioning them with live food is also an almost universal trigger for aquarium fish. I feed mine plenty of live foods and my Occelaris clown pair spawns every other week like clockwork. I’ve had the female for about two years and the male for one.

This might not make sense but since I've heard/read that spawning is a sign they're likely thriving maybe mine may not be thriving because they haven't. Sounds like that might not necessarily be the case.

 

[andrewkw]

Try increasing the feeding to 3x a day. Also not sure what you are feeding but make sure it's high quality.

Note when I say feed 3x a day I don't mean feed 3x as much. More food is probably good but more times a day is also important. This is not to say they can't spawn on 1x a day but this just makes it more likely. I *try* and feed my breeding maroons almost every time I walk by the tank but just a tiny bit (they only have 1 tank mate so this is easy).

 

[RedFrog211]

I started feeding my clowns 3-4x a day (when schedule allows) and they instantly paired and started hosting a BTA (they weren’t paired before, and were together for 4 months.) I’ve heard that heating the tank to 81°F for a week can help trigger their mating instincts, making them think it’s spring. In addition, if there’s any perceived threat, they may be hesitant to spawn.

 

[SDK]

This might not make sense but since I've heard/read that spawning is a sign they're likely thriving maybe mine may not be thriving because they haven't. Sounds like that might not necessarily be the case.

It is absolutely possible with clownfish to have a tank environment that is not conducive to spawning but is otherwise perfectly healthy for them.

I would second the advice to feed your tank a bit more frequently...

 

[Dbichler]

My current clowns came from my bio cube 29 gallon 5 years old switched to my 210 and started spawning a year later. Don’t know if it was the space provided or the age of fish. Had four fish in the cube and 13 in the 210 so who knows

 

[ThePurple12]

How old are they?

 

[dhjunkie]

How old are they?

Don't know their exact age but I've had them for 2 1/2 years so their at least that old.

 

[ThePurple12]

Yeah, they should probably be spawning by that age. You'll see eggs any time now, I'd say. Increased feeding would help.

 

[dhjunkie]

Quick update. They still haven't spawned. Also, they are growing at the same rate. Shouldn't one be much larger than the other by now?