What's up with that?

[dcelrod]

My mated pair of clownfish used to mate every week, they quit about a year ago when i added a sailfin tang. for about the past week or so the male clownfish has been pushing the female one out of their area. what is happening?

 

[ash9965]

I read this a while back that In captivity it is not unusual for clownfish to stop breeding. Sometimes they will resume, sometimes they won’t.

here are some possible reasons / solutions.

Making a change or disrupting the stock in your aquarium an stop them . Even changing the tank’s décor could be enough. Adding new fish ( the sail fin tang ) to the tank could also potentially throw them, especially if conflict results.

As for 'seasonal' breeding, you may have inadvertently given them a cue to stop spawning. A drop in tank temperature could easily slow or stop them. tanks can run cooler in the winter and spawning behavior may change. Shortening your lighting cycle could also be an environmental cue to stop spawning.
Other possibilities may include old age,

Look at their general health and condition. also if you have started feeding them less it may have caused them to stop Finally disease, parasite, virus or bacteria can also stop fish from breeding.

 

[bairdimusprime]

agreed @ash9965 is right on the money