Housing young clowfish for breeding

[hmmmmm]

Simple question really, im looking to buy 2/3 pairs designer clownfish, i would like to create a clown only tank in the future with clowns that i have bred myself. Buying the variants is not an option financially and also no fun I realise this might take a couple of years since im buying young unproven clowns. Also not an issue, no rush, just want to learn and experience.

But where do i house them while they grow up. I was thinking of building separate breeding tanks but is there an advantage to that while they are nowhere ready to breed? On the one hand im thinking housing them in a small aquarium (10 gallons for example) with little distraction might speed up the pairing process, and get them ready to breed a bit sooner as there are no distractions. On the other hand, this means i cant really enjoy them in the meantime. So option 2 is housing a pair in the DT and a pair in the Sump, and waiting for a year maybe 2 before i house them in a breeding system.

Any thoughts?

 

[Sosuke]

Simple question really, im looking to buy 2/3 pairs designer clownfish, i would like to create a clown only tank in the future with clowns that i have bred myself. Buying the variants is not an option financially and also no fun I realise this might take a couple of years since im buying young unproven clowns. Also not an issue, no rush, just want to learn and experience.

But where do i house them while they grow up. I was thinking of building separate breeding tanks but is there an advantage to that while they are nowhere ready to breed? On the one hand im thinking housing them in a small aquarium (10 gallons for example) with little distraction might speed up the pairing process, and get them ready to breed a bit sooner as there are no distractions. On the other hand, this means i cant really enjoy them in the meantime. So option 2 is housing a pair in the DT and a pair in the Sump, and waiting for a year maybe 2 before i house them in a breeding system.

Any thoughts?

I don't know how happy two clownfish will be in a sump, but I find it a better experience to grow them up from babies and watch them breed for the first time. If you wanna go to breeding once they're ready just setup a breeding system because it will be stressful on the clowns to move while they are in breeding mode. My tomato clowns were about to breed in my tank, but had to give them to the LFS and now they're confused and probably won't breed for a couple of months now. 10 gallons is a bit small but it will probably be suitable for breeding purposes. Do you have experience in rearing babies? I've also wanted to breed designer clowns but my first clownfish never bred in the two years I had them.

 

[hmmmmm]

I don't know how happy two clownfish will be in a sump. 10 gallons is a bit small but it will probably be suitable for breeding purposes. Do you have experience in rearing babies? I've also wanted to breed designer clowns but my first clownfish never bred in the two years I had them.

No worries the sump is pretty big, ive read a lot of breeders use 10 gallons or even smaller for clownfish. Also al lot of nano and pico tanks have clowns in pretty small places so i dont think that will be an issue. No experience yet, but thats wy im considering all the options before i actually get them home ;Bookworm

The question is not whether i like it better with the clowns in my DT or not, but if there is any advantage or disadvantage considering it would like to breed them. Ive seen multiple photos and videos where they keep the clown separated as much as possible (blacked out divided aquariums etc) to minimize distractions. So i would think do this from the beginning to 'train' them and not cause any stress later on when i move them from DT to breeding tank.

 

[scottedontknow]

Simple question really, im looking to buy 2/3 pairs designer clownfish, i would like to create a clown only tank in the future with clowns that i have bred myself. Buying the variants is not an option financially and also no fun I realise this might take a couple of years since im buying young unproven clowns. Also not an issue, no rush, just want to learn and experience.

But where do i house them while they grow up. I was thinking of building separate breeding tanks but is there an advantage to that while they are nowhere ready to breed? On the one hand im thinking housing them in a small aquarium (10 gallons for example) with little distraction might speed up the pairing process, and get them ready to breed a bit sooner as there are no distractions. On the other hand, this means i cant really enjoy them in the meantime. So option 2 is housing a pair in the DT and a pair in the Sump, and waiting for a year maybe 2 before i house them in a breeding system.

Any thoughts?

From day one separate breeding system. Ive always kept my clowns in their own system and have had great results!

 

[Gunnyreefer]

I am new to breeding clowns but so far I have removed two pairs of clowns, one form each of my displays and built a breeding system for them. I also have 10 additional pairs in this system and I find it easier to feed and observe them in the breeding system, as nice as it was seeing them living in their anemones they still seem content in their pots. I am using 10 gallon tanks divided in half with black acrylic and also 20 longs divided in thirds with black acrylic. My oldest pair is 9 years and my next is 3.5, most of the others are fairly young. The main pairs both lay between 8-10 days. I would set up a specific tank for them and let them grow this way. I think this method removes distractions and helps in the pairing process. I also feed 5 times per day and I'm pretty sure my reef tanks wouldn't appreciate all those extra nutrients.