Clownfish Eating Eggs

[Brian S]

Thanks for your time!

I have a pair of clownfish that are laying eggs regularly every 12 days. On the 12th day, I think they are eating the current clutch to lay the next.

I put a small flower pot in hopes they'd lay them there - no luck.

Any suggestions?

The eggs can survive with out the fish tending to them? Could I try covering them with something - may be the pot on the 12th day?

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

(Relevant quote about the clowns eating the eggs first):

I've heard this is due to either environmental stressors on the clowns, the eggs not being fertile, or the eggs being damaged/unhealthy - if this is happening while the clowns are still spawning regularly, I'd guess it's not environmental stress, so I'd look at the diet the clowns are eating to see if the clowns are getting adequate protein, fat, etc. for the eggs/larvae to develop properly. No guarantees this is the issue though.

The above basically says the eggs are probably either infertile (so they won’t hatch at all) or damaged (so they may or may not hatch, but if they do hatch the baby clowns may have issues that either lead to them being deformed or dying). I’d guess it’s diet related, but I could be wrong.

What do you feed your clowns?

The eggs can survive with out the fish tending to them?

With some gentle aeration in good quality water, they should be able to (but I’ve never personally seen it done with clownfish, and I’ve heard that getting the aeration right for any species can be tough).

 

[Brian S]

Thx.

The eggs are growing for sure! Getting bigger and I can see the eyes developing.

I feed reef frenzy and New Life Spectrum UltraRed.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Thx.

The eggs are growing for sure! Getting bigger and I can see the eyes developing.

I feed reef frenzy and New Life Spectrum UltraRed.

Good food choices - odd behavior.

Is there anything you can think of that might be stressing the fish? Tankmates, scape changes, etc.?