Clown Fish Breeding

[scstone12]

Hey, I have a 30 Gallon Tank, just bought some live rocks to put in it and some nice sand. Any pointers on trying to Breed Clownfish?

 

[england]

as in clow loaches?

 

[kribensis12]

You might want to post this in the Saltwater area. I would make sure your tank is Cycled. Then make sure your water quality is excellent. You may not know, but clownfish are all born female, and the biggest on in the group turns male. So, you might want to buy the 2 biggest, and one will probably already be male. Or the biggest and the smallest, whichever you chose. Make sure there are plenty of places for them to swim and hide. Also, feed them a high quality food. Keep up on the water changes. I would go with atleast 25 percent once a week. You will also need to make sure your ph is high, and that your salt levels in the tank are perfect. Your sooooo lucky, im, a freshwater person, but i've read up on clownfish in hopes to get my own SW tank and have clowns, and maybe a aneome . HOw many pounds of Live Rock did you get?

 

[geo7x]

I suggest this is posted/moved to the marine section. I presume you are talking about marine as you mention clownfish and liverock.

 

[england]

didnt read the bit about live rock

trying to redeem myself,,,
click the link below
http/www.netpets.org/fish/reference/saltref/brdclown.html

 

[scstone12]

My bad i thought this was in the saltwater topic.

i have 10 pounds of rock, looks alright, could use more probably but it was expensiveee!!!

 

[kribensis12]

he rule was like 1 pound per gallon. I would defo try to buy some from a friend or someone who has a saltwater tank, or try to strike a deal with your lfs ( buy in bulk).

 

[scstone12]

ahh okay okay , that makes sence. Ya i deff will. I have been buying from the same place ever since i got started so they kinda know me. So hopefully they will cut me a deal in some way.

 

[Mr._Fishy]

In response to Kribensis12, Clown fish are born male, then turn into females.

What species do you want to breed? Depending on the species, your tank may not be large enough. The best way to breed clown fish is to buy a group of juvies then let them pair off.

Be sure to cycle the tank before putting any other fish in. Also, I would add more live rock to your tank, a good rule of thumb is at least 1 - 1 1/2 pounds of live rock per gallon. You can buy mostly base rock though, then some live rock to seed it as live rock is a bit pricey. As far as water changes and top offs go, top off daily and do maybe a 10-25% change a week depending on how heavily stocked you are.

 

[SkiFletch]

to the salty side, hope we can be of assistance. If you really want to breed clownfish, you're going to want to pickup a book called "Clownfishes" by Joyce Wilkerson as it's pretty much the bible on clownfish and breeding them. It's not an easy task at all and requires a lot of time and a very mature pair so have patience

 

[kj23502]

I've read that they are born kinda unsexed and then they will change depending on their evnironment and what's needed. They do go male first and then female. The female will be the biggest. I've read that if you're trying to pair the fish it's best to buy them when they are tiny before they've changed sexes.

Breeding clownfish can be easy, it's raising the babies that's the hard part. I've read about a guy who grows tons of rotifers and hatches brine shrimp to feed his. I think his lay about every week. He takes the eggs from the tank and puts them in their own thing. Dude, this is a really time consuming and hard thing to do

Just to warn you.

They like to breed on a flat surface. After his clowns layed a few times in one spot (they should lay in 1 spot) he put a little tile there for them to lay on. Then he removed the tile with the eggs on it. He would also sometimes wait until they hatched and then at night they'd come to the light on the top of the water and he'd scoop them out that way also.

btw his are Black Ocellaris There's the link for you to read.

 

[scstone12]

Thank you so much for this information, It has acually helped me out a lot. Im kinda having 2nd thoughts about this , maybe ill just through them in there for fun and see what happens. But who knows. i might give my fish from my 55 tank to my brother and maybe try and convert that to salt water.

Thanks again,

 

[scstone12]

what are soem fresh water fish that would be easy to try and breed? and any other salt water fish you suggest that i should try before doing trying the clownfish?

 

[kj23502]

what are soem fresh water fish that would be easy to try and breed? and any other salt water fish you suggest that i should try before doing trying the clownfish?

A lot of freshwaters breed like rabbits! LOL
guppies, platy's, mollies.

Are you're still relatively new to fish keeping? If so I'd suggest starting w/ freshwater fish. Get used to testing the water for ph, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and stuff before venturing to the salty side. Freshwater is a lot more forgiving.

--edit===

There are some really beautiful fish in freshwater. Take a look at african cichlids for example:

These are my yellow labs (labidochromis Caeruleus)

My cynotilapia afra cobue "king" *yes I named him.

Here's ares. My pundamilia nyererei. When he grows up, he should look like the 2nd picture.

pseudotropheus socolofi

metriaclima callainos

These would not work in a 30 gallon. They'd do ok in the 55 gallon.
Whatever you decide to do, research, research, research

 

[Mr._Fishy]

A yellow lab would be fine in a 30g wouldn't it?