Do fish NOT breed in captivity?

[vcnt]

I've heard of and seen clownfish eggs in other reef aquariums, but what about other commonly kept fish?

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

I've heard of and seen clownfish eggs in other reef aquariums, but what about other commonly kept fish?

They breed - some breed more readily than others, some are easier to rear the young of than others, etc.; but lots of species breed in aquariums (some people have even had big fish like tangs and angels breed in their tanks, but that's pretty rare).

Edit: For some examples:

Fish Breeding Forum

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[vcnt]

They breed - some breed more readily than others, some are easier to rear the young of than others, etc.; but lots of species breed in aquariums (some people have even had big fish like tangs and angels breed in their tanks, but that's pretty rare).

Thank you

 

[DaJMasta]

Quite a few do, but there are a bunch of reasons you don't necessarily see it.

Very often, conspecifics (same species) are known not to get along with each other and very often it is difficult or near impossible to tell males and females apart at a glance, so it can be difficult in anything but very large aquariums to get both sexes represented in a tank for a lot of fish we like to keep. Then reproduction takes quite a bit of energy, so the feeding regime (amount, quality, variety) has to be able to support what is often very frequent spawning, and then unless you are looking for it, it can just be tough to notice that it's even happening. While there tend to be specific spawning behaviors and sometimes even spawn-time coloration, it's usually no more than once a day (and there are daily spawners especially in the early evening) and the actual act can be momentarily fast. Then the eggs or larvae released into the water column are small and usually clear (both help them not be eaten by other things), swim upwards towards the light (getting away from the reef corals and rocks by swimming towards the moon), and easily get sucked into powerheads or overflows.

Then they're tough to raise, almost across the board, and I think the difficulty supresses awareness/excitement about it somewhat.

But take a look and you'll probably see it! If you've got fish swiming out in the open that wouldn't normally, which are showing more intense coloration, or which are flashing their fins out in the early evening - this is probably spawning related behaviors. If you catch crabs or shrimp climbing up high in the tank after dark, maybe turn off the pumps and get a flashlight because they may be spawning too (usually once a molt, which for a lot of species we keep is about monthly.) Some animals spawn less frequently (corals, for example are usually once maybe twice a year), many of them synchronize based on moon phase and water parameters (temperature, mostly), but some are able to spawn almost every night (wrasses and dragonets come to mind), and don't necessarily show the same kind of pairing behavior that could make it more obvious to see like a clownfish.

 

[vcnt]

Quite a few do, but there are a bunch of reasons you don't necessarily see it.

Very often, conspecifics (same species) are known not to get along with each other and very often it is difficult or near impossible to tell males and females apart at a glance, so it can be difficult in anything but very large aquariums to get both sexes represented in a tank for a lot of fish we like to keep. Then reproduction takes quite a bit of energy, so the feeding regime (amount, quality, variety) has to be able to support what is often very frequent spawning, and then unless you are looking for it, it can just be tough to notice that it's even happening. While there tend to be specific spawning behaviors and sometimes even spawn-time coloration, it's usually no more than once a day (and there are daily spawners especially in the early evening) and the actual act can be momentarily fast. Then the eggs or larvae released into the water column are small and usually clear (both help them not be eaten by other things), swim upwards towards the light (getting away from the reef corals and rocks by swimming towards the moon), and easily get sucked into powerheads or overflows.

Then they're tough to raise, almost across the board, and I think the difficulty supresses awareness/excitement about it somewhat.

But take a look and you'll probably see it! If you've got fish swiming out in the open that wouldn't normally, which are showing more intense coloration, or which are flashing their fins out in the early evening - this is probably spawning related behaviors. If you catch crabs or shrimp climbing up high in the tank after dark, maybe turn off the pumps and get a flashlight because they may be spawning too (usually once a molt, which for a lot of species we keep is about monthly.) Some animals spawn less frequently (corals, for example are usually once maybe twice a year), many of them synchronize based on moon phase and water parameters (temperature, mostly), but some are able to spawn almost every night (wrasses and dragonets come to mind), and don't necessarily show the same kind of pairing behavior that could make it more obvious to see like a clownfish.

You mention moon phase, do I need night lights ?

 

[rennjidk]

It's easy under the right conditions. Change your carbon source from vinegar to merlot, run your lights at a red only spectrum, and if you have one of those waterproof bluetooth pill speakers, a little Seal couldn't hurt.

 

[Reefering1]

Nothing like a nice red wine to get her warmed up and ready for some spawning activities...
Ohh wait, fish..., idk beats me

 

[vcnt]

It's easy under the right conditions. Change your carbon source from vinegar to merlot, run your lights at a red only spectrum, and if you have one of those waterproof bluetooth pill speakers, a little Seal couldn't hurt.

nevermind, took me a few rereads to understand it

 

[Reefering1]

nevermind, took me a few rereads to understand it

 

[Reefering1]

If that doesn't work, get her in the hot tub

 

[DaJMasta]

You mention moon phase, do I need night lights ?

You don't, generally speaking. If you're trying to spawn corals then moon lights following a normal cycle would be important, but also would be completely blacking out all other stray light.

If you do have moonlights, you may notice that nothing spawns on the new moon and then like two days after you get a little burst, so there is some synchronization, but for the most part it's not required.

 

[vcnt]

You don't, generally speaking. If you're trying to spawn corals then moon lights following a normal cycle would be important, but also would be completely blacking out all other stray light.

If you do have moonlights, you may notice that nothing spawns on the new moon and then like two days after you get a little burst, so there is some synchronization, but for the most part it's not required.

You seem like you really know your stuff as does everyone else on this forum, how do you know all this? Experience is teaching you I assume?

 

[DaJMasta]

I've been trying to raise marine larvae for a couple of years now - not a ton of success, but I've tried to read and watch most of what I could get my hands on to try and learn about it, and it helps that in the last 5 years there have been several fish and coral aquaculturing breakthroughs. There's a good bit of articles, some scientific papers, and a bunch of videos of talks and things that are out there.

From my own experience, though, most nights I've got a larva collector in my display tank and I've probably collected a dozen different kinds of eggs and larvae over the last couple of years, definitely thousands of each, and have gotten a lucky few to settle, though fewer still to get to adulthood. It's a whole thing