Clownfish Breeding Tips

smhray · Oct 17, 2020

Hey everyone, just looking for some beginner (or any level tips really) for breeding clownfish successfully in a separate tanks. Just looking for any feedback in general but i'm also wondering
1. How big does the tank need to be for the clownfish to feel comfortable to spawn
2. How can a stimulate the environment (the tank water) to make the clowns thinks its spawning season
3. How big of a grow-out tank for the larvae will I need.
4. I already started basic microfauna culturing but what food do I feed between the rotifer stage and the actual normal fish food stage.

Thanks in advance for any feedback!

PokeFish · Oct 17, 2020

2 ways for me: natural way is to just provide them with a coral that can be hosted on (like a hammer) and then wait.

other way is to put the 2 clowns and 1 coral you want them to host on in a small plastic box in your tank. That way they are forced to constantly be in contact with each other and then they will host.

ichthyogeek · Oct 17, 2020

Sounds like you're coming from the freshwater side of the hobby.
1) Typically, Ocellaris and Percula type clowns do well in 20H tanks. Other clowns are better off in 40 or largers. I've read too many horror stories about maroon clownfish to put a breeding pair in anything less than a 55.

2) Only a few fish have spawning "seasons", clowns are not one of them. If they're in the mood, then every season is spawning season. If they're fed large amounts and frequently, along with having excellent water quality, then they'll think it's spawning week every week. Most consistent batches seem to be at 80 F.

3) Depends on the clownfish larvae you have. For rearing during the larval pelagic stage, a 10-20 gallon should suffice per batch. Then I think most breeders will stick a brood in a 20H for growout.

4) So with clownfish, you can actually get away with going straight from rotifers to dry food, or even skip the rotifer step using a small enough prepared food. But if you're not convinced, culturing a large copepod species like Tigriopus, and/or feeding baby brine shrimp nauplii, will be your best bet.