Clowns ate the eggs?

[Filipart]

Helllo all! I was soo excited to finally see my clowns laying eggs on a rock in my tank. However, she would lay the eggs... he would pass over them and fertilize them and then I would come back and the eggs would be gone. They did this a number of times over about 45 minutes and each time the eggs would be gone. I watched them eat the eggs in one instance too. So uhhh what the heck?

Am I not feeding them enough or something (unlikely) or are they just not fans of the spot they picked (the rock is a small bowl shaped rock with a diameter of about 2.5 inches frequented by many snails and hermits)? I saw them getting aggressive toward hermits and nassarius snails that got close at one point. I never say a full nest of eggs at any point as I have seen in youtube videos but I saw like 4-5 once. Should I have just pulled the rock as soon as I saw the male pass over to fertilize... 4-5 baby fry is better than none?

Anyone have experience with this situation? Thoughts and/or suggestions?

 

[Tahoe61]

Just practice runs and not unusual. You can try increasing feedings and see if it makes a difference next time around.

 

[Filipart]

Thank you for the info. How often will they lay and fertilize eggs?

 

[lolmatt]

My ocellaris pair lay at least every 2 weeks if not more often.

 

[Peace River]

Helllo all! I was soo excited to finally see my clowns laying eggs on a rock in my tank. However, she would lay the eggs... he would pass over them and fertilize them and then I would come back and the eggs would be gone. They did this a number of times over about 45 minutes and each time the eggs would be gone. I watched them eat the eggs in one instance too. So uhhh what the heck?

Am I not feeding them enough or something (unlikely) or are they just not fans of the spot they picked (the rock is a small bowl shaped rock with a diameter of about 2.5 inches frequented by many snails and hermits)? I saw them getting aggressive toward hermits and nassarius snails that got close at one point. I never say a full nest of eggs at any point as I have seen in youtube videos but I saw like 4-5 once. Should I have just pulled the rock as soon as I saw the male pass over to fertilize... 4-5 baby fry is better than none?

Anyone have experience with this situation? Thoughts and/or suggestions?

If you are going to keep the breeding pair in the main tank and not a breeding tank then the best time to pull the eggs is about a day before the eggs are ready to hatch. There are many reasons why clowns eat the eggs, and not all clowns are good parents and alternate steps need to be taken if the parents continue to eat the eggs and you want to work with the eggs. If you pull the rock with the eggs as soon as they are laid then you will need to make sure that they eggs continually get the necessary aeration/water movement and remove any eggs with fungus (essentially duplicating the normal parental care of the eggs). Additionally, if you can get to the point where the eggs hatch do you have a plan to feed them? @Reef Nutrition has a nice rotifer culturing system and several different sizes of food for baby clowns. Good luck!

 

[Filipart]

If you are going to keep the breeding pair in the main tank and not a breeding tank then the best time to pull the eggs is about a day before the eggs are ready to hatch. There are many reasons why clowns eat the eggs, and not all clowns are good parents and alternate steps need to be taken if the parents continue to eat the eggs and you want to work with the eggs. If you pull the rock with the eggs as soon as they are laid then you will need to make sure that they eggs continually get the necessary aeration/water movement and remove any eggs with fungus (essentially duplicating the normal parental care of the eggs). Additionally, if you can get to the point where the eggs hatch do you have a plan to feed them? @Reef Nutrition has a nice rotifer culturing system and several different sizes of food for baby clowns. Good luck!

HI! Thank you for the post! I have watched a number of videos on clown breeding but I sort of gave up on my pair since after 1+ year I have never had any eggs in the tank. Im not sure what changed today... I am worried that my pair (esp the female) may not be a good parent. She seems to always be in a bad mood and honestly, my pair "looks" like they are an unhappy couple. I could be wrong. I was definitely thinking about pulling the eggs after I saw them eat them so if I notice it happen again, then I will definitely pull the eggs as soon as the male fertilizes them - some are better than none! As for feeding, yes, I would go buy live foods from LFS and or I have unused tanks/equipment I could use to hatch my own food, long story short feeding the babies would not be an issue.

Another question, at what point, if at any point, do people reintroduce the semi-juvenile, or juvenile clown fish back into main tank? Is there too much infighting and therefore not worth introducing new clowns after the pair has ruled the tank for so long? Or is it more a case-by-case situation?

Thank you again for your reply.

 

[Peace River]

HI! Thank you for the post! I have watched a number of videos on clown breeding but I sort of gave up on my pair since after 1+ year I have never had any eggs in the tank. Im not sure what changed today... I am worried that my pair (esp the female) may not be a good parent. She seems to always be in a bad mood and honestly, my pair "looks" like they are an unhappy couple. I could be wrong. I was definitely thinking about pulling the eggs after I saw them eat them so if I notice it happen again, then I will definitely pull the eggs as soon as the male fertilizes them - some are better than none! As for feeding, yes, I would go buy live foods from LFS and or I have unused tanks/equipment I could use to hatch my own food, long story short feeding the babies would not be an issue.

Another question, at what point, if at any point, do people reintroduce the semi-juvenile, or juvenile clown fish back into main tank? Is there too much infighting and therefore not worth introducing new clowns after the pair has ruled the tank for so long? Or is it more a case-by-case situation?

Thank you again for your reply.

Thank you.

The female clown seeming "to always be in a bad mood" is likely her way of maintaining dominance and isn't unusual. When I say "bad parents" I mean continually eating the eggs (it is not unusual for them to eat the eggs on the first one or two batches or if there is something wrong with the eggs). Once the eggs hatch then the babies are free protein snacks for anything in the tank including the parents.

Unless you have a large tank I wouldn't plan to reintroduce the juveniles into the display tank (DT) because of the hierarchy and aggression issues that are wired into clownfish. Unless you plan to set up a harem tank starting with many juveniles, IME a 55g or smaller is usually only enough room for a single pair.

 

[Filipart]

The female clown seeming "to always be in a bad mood" is likely her way of maintaining dominance and isn't unusual. When I say "bad parents" I mean continually eating the eggs (it is not unusual for them to eat the eggs on the first one or two batches or if there is something wrong with the eggs). Once the eggs hatch then the babies are free protein snacks for anything in the tank including the parents.

Unless you have a large tank I wouldn't plan to reintroduce the juveniles into the display tank (DT) because of the hierarchy and aggression issues that are wired into clownfish. Unless you plan to set up a harem tank starting with many juveniles, IME a 55g or smaller is usually only enough room for a single pair.

This definitely may be a bad parent situation. This has been a matched pair for 4+ years. I cannot imagine that this is their first time going at it. I will keep a closer eye on it now and feed them more often.

 

[D-Nak]

What are you feeding the pair? I suggest looking for LRS Fertility Frenzy and feeding it to the pair 3x day to fatten them up. You can also feed other meaty foods like frozen mysis. This may prevent the male from eating the eggs.

Also, it's the male's job to properly tend to the eggs as they develop. The male knows which eggs won't hatch (not fertilized, are infected, etc.) and will remove them.

 

[Filipart]

What are you feeding the pair? I suggest looking for LRS Fertility Frenzy and feeding it to the pair 3x day to fatten them up. You can also feed other meaty foods like frozen mysis. This may prevent the male from eating the eggs.

Also, it's the male's job to properly tend to the eggs as they develop. The male knows which eggs won't hatch (not fertilized, are infected, etc.) and will remove them.

Thank you for tips!

I will look into fertility frenzy. They get a bunch of pellets in the morning and then I toss in some frozen mysis shrimp in the PM.

Both of them were eating the eggs. I will keep an eye on it though!

Any other tips much appreciated!

 

[D-Nak]

Since both are eating the eggs, it's probably related to their diet. Switching foods and feeding more should help.