Tips for mating clown fish??

[Rydogg420]

Hey.. I have had my pair of true perc clown fish for about the last ten years.. They are paired up and have been hosting in my frogspawn since they day I got them way back when.. I have seen them "scratching" on some rocks near the the frogspawn, but I have never seen any eggs.. I do not know if they have layed eggs and the frogspawn or other critters eat them or if they just have never layed eggs yet.. I would think that in ten years they would have layed eggs at least once or so...

So id like to get some tips on what I can do to maybe help them mate. I have seen people put little plant pots next to the clowns to give them something safe to lay the eggs on.. Is this something I should try?

What else can I do or should do to get them to spawn?

 

[Budman's Corals]

Hey.. I have had my pair of true perc clown fish for about the last ten years.. They are paired up and have been hosting in my frogspawn since they day I got them way back when.. I have seen them "scratching" on some rocks near the the frogspawn, but I have never seen any eggs.. I do not know if they have layed eggs and the frogspawn or other critters eat them or if they just have never layed eggs yet.. I would think that in ten years they would have layed eggs at least once or so...

So id like to get some tips on what I can do to maybe help them mate. I have seen people put little plant pots next to the clowns to give them something safe to lay the eggs on.. Is this something I should try?





What else can I do or should do to get them to spawn?

Hire a mariachi band...jk They probably did lay eggs just like mine did last week but the next morning all eggs are gone..crabs,fish,snails ate them
good luck to ya,I know others will chime in..

 

[jedimasterben]

Barry white cranked to 11.



:D

 

[RandysReef]

I would think even if they did lay eggs, the parents are too old to lay viable and healthy eggs. My guess is that they have layed before just you are too late to see them. (eaten by other tank inhabitants, hatched, etc.)

 

[Just Clownin Around]

ora at one time was breeding a 22yr old pair. they retired it after that. a local fish store had them for sale as retired ora brood
definitely not too old

 

[RandysReef]

ora at one time was breeding a 22yr old pair. they retired it after that. a local fish store had them for sale as retired ora brood
definitely not too old

Never mind about what i said. I just remembered about the 17 year old era of Rods Onyx. She definitely put out some healthy and viable eggs!

I my self too, have an adult bonded pair (if you havent already checked out my Grade A/Snowcasso log) that are in a broodstock tank trying to get them into the mode. I will be following this thread for tips or techniques to give them a little kickstart.

 

[ShannPeach]

How often are you feeding them? What are you feeding them? You want them to be nice and plump and in good spawning condition. Good flakes, PE mysis, grated shrimp, squid, crab and clam ("homemade mash") or rod's or limpet's are good. You can ty to create an artificial "plankton bloom" by putting in a decent amount of bbs; that can sometimes trigger hesitant fish to spawn.

What temperature is your tank? Maybe try slowly raising the temp up a couple degrees, and you could also try lengthening the time your lights are on.

The main thing is good food, good food, good food, time (which is seems they have had plenty of) and security.

The clay pot (or better yet a tile) is something that can make it much easier for you, more so than be something for them. If you get them to spawn on a removable surface, you can hatch the eggs separately rather than spend time on the night they hatch scooping larvae out with a cup and a flashlight.

 

[TampaJoe]

Feeding and light are what have heard facilitate spawning. As Shann points out a wide diverse diet required and frequent feeding help as do regular timed lights. My clowns are fed 4-8 times a day small frequent diverse meals. I start of the day high protein ie frozen gut loaded mysis & brine shrimp. Then pellets, then flake, Dr Gs Herbivore Coral Reef Banquet, cant forget the veggies :) then back to loaded mysis and brine capped of with some more flake. :)

 

[Paul B]

I would think even if they did lay eggs, the parents are too old to lay viable and healthy eggs.

My 19 year old fireclowns still spawn.
Food is the key and flakes should not be in the diet if you want to breed them. I would also not feed adult brine shrimp or pellets. All healthy fish that are paired up spawn and they spawn every few weeks. But you need to feed them correctly. It takes a lot of effort for a fish to develop eggs that may weigh half as much as the fish and those eggs are mostly oil.
I feed live blackworms every day with clams that I buy live and freeze.
For smaller fish like bluestripe pipefish I feed live, newborn brine shrimp every day. My pipefish also spawn all the time as did my watchman gobies and bangai cardinals.
Clams are much better than shrimp or squid because a clam is a whole animal, guts and all, shrimp and squid are just muscle tissue because those foods are sold for human consumption and the guts are removed but clams are whole.
I spawned the first blue devils imported to the US in 1972 just be feeding live blackworms.

Watchman gobi tending her eggs

Mandarins spawning a few weeks ago

Male blue devil over his nest of eggs circa 1972..

Bluestriped pipefish. It all comes down to food

These 19 year olds spawn every few weeks in that bottle.