Got multiple pairs of clowns to breed that hadn’t bred before.
You have to feed them. A lot. A healthy high protein diet. However, you don’t want to pollute the tank with extra food.
My go-to was new life spectrum pellets (this is a really good option as it’s dry, easy to feed, and isn’t so high in protein you need to worry about fatty liver disease).
Get as big of a size pellet they can comfortably eat. Usually medium.
Turn off all powerheads, return pump, skimmer, etc.
Wait until there is no flow at all.
Right above where the clowns call home, put a pellet. It wont sink at first. You just tap it with your finger.
Watch it fall all the way down slowly to the clowns and watch them eat it.
Do it again. (In the beginning, you can do 2-3 pellets at a time and they can catch all 3. )
Repeat over and over, eventually down to one at a time until the larger female eats a pellet, chews and spits it out, and eats it again. This means you are close.
Keep going one at a time until the female tries 2-3 times and eventually gives up and spits it out for good. Try one last one after just to be extra sure.
Turn all equipment back on.
Repeat twice a day, as spread out as you can. At least once a day. Takes a lot of time, but Ive had excellent results with spawns in less than 3 months (assuming your clowns are of proper age and sex).
If you want to seriously breed and raise them, ideally you set up their own 20-30g tank. This way you dont have to deal with other fish stealing their food. If they are in a tank where other fish will steal the slowly dropping pellets, you will end up overfeeding the other fish or polluting the tank (if you add too much food at once). If you broadcast feed with pumps on, they won’t eat enough and you’ll pollute the tank. You need the female to get absolutely massive. You can’t skip any days feeding 1 pellet at a time for best results. A separate tank also makes it easier to collect the fry so they don’t get eaten. You want to give them somewhere clean and flat to lay their eggs. Ideally, you’d have an anemone they host in attached to rock. Some people put a ceramic tile near the anemone if there are no smooth rock areas immediately nearby. Without an anemone, terracotta pots or ceramic tiles work well. I always feel bad for clowns without an anemone, so I always get them one.
This is the start.
