Clarkii Clownfish Breeding ...

Blasto Girl · Sep 1, 2015

My Clarkii Clownfish have been laying eggs like clockwork (down to the hour) every 10 days for the past 2 months. They are a mature pair about 3 years old and quite large. They came with the RSM 130 tank that I bought used. They are cranky, mean to my corals and the other fish, and so stubborn. They are also so amazing to watch.

It's been an interesting journey as I had no idea what was going on, or what was really happening and had no experience with clownfish at all. I had no idea they would even lay eggs ...

As for the pairing story:

I got my 2 year old clownfish a small RBTA a year ago and one of the clownfish completely hogged it. The other stayed as far away as possible - it was kinda sad - and was not allowed near it.

A couple of months later - my one RBTA turned into 3, and my clownfish had a huge fight. Shattered and tore each other's fins and they looked awful. I thought I was going to loose them.

Then they both quietly settled down in the RBTAs. The next thing they are happy together and feeding and sleeping in the anemones.

Since then they have doubled in size and there is no question that there is definitely a male and female. They then started cleaning the rocks and terrorizing the other fish and knocking over all my coral frags. They are not happy when I add anything to the tank. If I try and put my corals on the sand, they bury them.

And then, they laid eggs. So amazing!!! and now what??

I am seriously considering raising them. There is so much great information in this forum.

Anyone raised Clarkii?? Is it worth the effort?? Do any of you just have clownfish that just continue to lay eggs over and over again? Should I just let them continue to lay eggs and do nothing?

Here is a photo of one of them and their eggs.

iReef86 · Sep 3, 2015

So awesome! You should try and raise them for sure! Awesome love story. thank you for sharing!

Bongo Shrimp · Sep 16, 2015

I have bred them. They are more challenging to raise than Ocellaris but are not considered very difficult by any means. Currently my clarkii are just laying and we are not raising them. They will never stop unless you split them up. There's no harm in just letting them lay eggs and letting the eggs hatch in the tank. Tons and tons of people allow that and all that happens is your corals and fish get a nice, healthy, live meal. In terms of "is it worth it", it's up to you. They are not the most expensive fish to make money off of and many other breeders and companies are breeding and selling them. If you just want to do it for the experience then definitely give it a shot.

Blue Lip · Sep 20, 2015

I have been breeding latz clownfish. Im no expert at this & definately still learning.

Blasto Girl · Sep 20, 2015

Bongo Shrimp said:
I have bred them. They are more challenging to raise than Ocellaris but are not considered very difficult by any means. Currently my clarkii are just laying and we are not raising them. They will never stop unless you split them up. There's no harm in just letting them lay eggs and letting the eggs hatch in the tank. Tons and tons of people allow that and all that happens is your corals and fish get a nice, healthy, live meal. In terms of "is it worth it", it's up to you. They are not the most expensive fish to make money off of and many other breeders and companies are breeding and selling them. If you just want to do it for the experience then definitely give it a shot.

Thank you Bongo Shrimp. I needed to hear that it was ok to just let them lay eggs and let the eggs hatch in the tank over and over again. I may try the adventure of raising clownfish sometime in the future. For now, I will just let them continue on laying ...

If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water.