breeding questions

[AaronOB82]

Hey guys and girls! That's for taking the time to read this. I'm super excited, I bought a brand new 55 Gallon with a refugium/skimmer! I can't wait to hook it up. Besides my excitement, i have a few concerns about breeding my clowns. I have them in a 10 gallon tank with a clay flower pot. Now, my clowns don't seem to hang out around each other. The bigger one which I assume to be the femaIe, hangs out in the pot but the smaller one seems to hang out at the surface of the water. If anyone knows why please let me know! Another thing, they don't really seem to be eating alot. I feed them a very wide variety of food 4-5 times a day So I'm not sure what's going on. The temperature is at 83 degrees Fahrenheit. The salinity is at 1.025. Please give me any advice or answers/concerns you may have. Thanks guys !!

 

[Rjramos]

If you just got the clowns it takes time to get them to spawn, if they even do so. I've had a pair together for a prolonged period which never spawned. After the prolonged period the female started aggressively attacking the male. He might not have been fertile I guess?

 

[AaronOB82]

I've had the clowns for about a year and they act funny when they're near each other. They swim in circles and squirm around each other. I think they are definitely a pair. I've had them in the breeding tank for about a month or so now. And I've seen them in the pot together maybe a handful of times.

 

[Rjramos]

Hopefully they will spawn. I've had about 4 pairs spawn in the past. But last time with the pair I mentioned above. It almost seemed like a domestic dispute turned into a divorce and then chasing to the point that I had to take the smaller male out or else she would have killed him! Lol!They were together for about 2 years before all this came up. I always saw them dance and wiggle together but what I never saw was the male cleaning and preparing a site to spawn.

 

[gar732]

Some times they take a little while to take to new foods so just give them time and give them what they like, once they start spawning they'll eat like pigs. To induce spawning in clowns you want to have a longer light cycle, higher temps (yours should be fine), lower salinity, and frequent feedings. All of these things are not conducive to a happy reef, something to keep in mind if they are going in a reef. Another thing to consider is age, how old are yours? I had my picassos for 3 years before they started breeding. Any change in their system will cause them to stop so once you make a change stick with it for some time before trying something else.

 

[AaronOB82]

Not sure how old mine are. I've had them for over a year.

 

[ReeferMadness09]

My clowns were about 4 years old when they started to breed, of course I didn't actively alter my tank conditions ie temp, salinity, light to try and induce it either.