Midnight clownfish breeding

[aeo29067]

Hello,
I've had a single midnight clownfish for about 3 years now and absolutely love her. I am interested in possibly breeding. I'm not knew to keeping saltwater fish but I've never attempted breeding before. What all would I need to attempt this? Also, what other clownfish could I possibly pair her with if not another midnight? Any and all advice would be great. Thanks.

 

[Big G]

Bump

 

[Surfzone]

There are many threads in this forum that go into more detail on breeding clowns, but you will need to get a male for your female. Any Ocell will do fine as long as it is smaller than the one that you have. look at your LFS for a group of ocells and pick one that is smaller than your female and doesn't seem to be that aggressive with the others. That should insure that you find a male for your female.

As far as equipment goes you will need a 10 gallon tank or black round tub, rotifers, rotifer sive, heater, light (any shop light will do), Phyto or past to feed the rotifers and tint the larvae water, air pump, tubing both soft and ridged. I'm sure that I'm missing a thing or two but this is the basics needed to breed clownfish

After getting another clown it will take a while until the new fish turns male and their bond is strong enough for them to feel comfortable for spawning. How long will depend on many factors. I've had pairs that took up to 2 years before they started to spawn and some that only took 2 months. It all depends on how comfortable they are and how mature they are. Also I cannot understate the importance of feeding. Feed good food often I mean at least 3 times a day. I like LRS foods for this but Rods food will work too. If nothing else feed a varied diet of many different things like mysis, squid, clams, ect. make sure it's all diced up small enough for bits rather than large chunks. You can also use dry foods in an auto feeder for times that you cannot feed. I like to use TDO from @Reef Nutrition for this.

Many people keep spawning pairs in a different tank for the reason that all that food will raise nitrates and phosphates and fish can stand a high level of both but you will be feeding algae as well. Something that most people don't want in a reef tank. Not to say that clowns won't spawn in a reef tank because they absolutely do, but giving them their own tank is preferable because they will spawn on tiles or flowerpots provided that can be removed when it's time for the eggs to hatch. I've used larvae traps before and have had mixed success with this method.

Did I miss anything y'all clown breeders? most of my experience is with Mandarins and have done some clowns, clarkii maroon, and bicintus, but not many batches of them just something to do other than Mandarins every once in a while.

 

[IKD]

This helped me get things started once they started laying eggs.

Raising Clownfish from Eggs - How to Raise Baby Clownfish

Wondering if you can raise baby clownfish from the eggs that yours are laying in your reef tank? Yes, you can collect the babies and raise your own clownfish, but it's not simple. Our guide shows all you need to know for raising clownfish from babies to adults.

www.ocellarisclownfish.com

I keep my clowns in the tank but put a small flower pot With them and they regularly lay eggs there. Easy to move on hatch nights.

 

[aeo29067]

Wow, thanks for info.

 

[IKD]

Wow, thanks for info.

It’s a labor of love to raise them! LOL

 

[aeo29067]

Yeah but totally worth it in the end. I checked out my local fish store and have bought a small snowflake clown. Am acclimating him now so I guess we'll see what happens.

 

[IKD]

Great! Keep us posted.

 

[aeo29067]

Will do!

 

[F i s h y]

@Surfzone great job on a quick write up for breeding clowns.

Good information to start your project. I will add that once your clowns start to lay they will lay often. Having multiple grow out tanks can be needed if you intend to continuously raise them.

 

[ThRoewer]

What you actually need depends on how serious you want to get and how many babies yo want to raise.
If you are happy with about a hundred per clutch then you don't need much more than a standard 10 gallon tank, a decent air pump, a little brine shrimp hatchery, and some phyto (the latter to feed the brine shrimp and to darken the larvae tank water so the larvae are not confused by reflections in the glass). Rotifers are optional and not really needed but a Tigger pod culture would be ideal and is quite easy to set up.
I'm just trying this with my Red Sea anemonefish to demonstrate that such low-level approach works and document it pretty much day by day with videos here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/amphiprion-bicinctus-nest-23.716031/post-7507092

 

[aeo29067]

 

[aeo29067]

The pair seem to have hit it off and are doing really well together.

 

[aeo29067]

Just wanted to give a quick update. Unfortunately, my midnight clown has passed away before they decided to breed. Not really sure what happened. She just stopped eating all of a sudden and became lethargic, hardly ever leaving the anemone. There was no signs of disease like labored breathing or visual changes. I checked the water and all the parameters were good. Maybe it was just old age? I heard that designer clowns only live 3-5 years. Anyway, although I miss her a lot I've just re-paired the snowflake with a naked.

 

[ThRoewer]

Old age for clownfish is something north of 25 years...
Now, the constant inbreeding that is typically for designer clownfish may do some harm but I would doubt it shortens the lifespan of an otherwise healthy individual that much. I would rather look for a disease. Not all manifest with heavy breathing or the other typical symptoms. And being lethargic is actually a typical symptom.