My Clowns Are Spawing

[Gobe]

Hi,

Well after 2 years of having my 2 clowns from babies they've finally spawned. I think this is the first time as I havnt noticed this behaviour from them before. They picked one of the corners of the tank and the female is laying her eggs on the coralline algae covering the glass. I was a bit surprised they chose there as they both host in a large pussy coral, as I dont have an anemone, and thought they would have laid the eggs nearer there.

I noticed around 7pm they were cleaning the area and you could see the egg laying tube on the female and she was rubbing against the glass every so often. At first though there didnt seem to be anything coming out but then a few eggs started to appear which the male then fertilized. I thought he was eating them at first but then it seemed he was nuzzeling them with his mouth. Is this normal behaviour? They seemed to have finished now but are guarding the area. The one thing I thought was odd is she doesnt seemed to have laid that many, only around 30 odd eggs and I thought they laid hundreds, could this be because its the first time theyve spawned??

Heres a pic I got of them shortly after they started. I managed to get the male as he took his turn to fertilize some of them. You cant really see many eggs as its the furthest I could zoom but you can just make out some of the reddish eggs to the left of him around his body area.

[Mikey]

Hi Gobe, and congrats on giving your fish an evironment they feel comfortable spawning in. From you post then:

I thought he was eating them at first but then it seemed he was nuzzeling them with his mouth. Is this normal behaviour?

- Yes, this is totally normal. The male has the job of looking after the eggs full time until they hathc in this releationships, and he does this by swimming close, fanning the eggs (to supply fresh water and keep dirt from accumulating), and also nuzzling them. This allows him to check all the eggs are firmly attached, and remove any eggs that are dead/unfertilized/mouldy etc etc.

The one thing I thought was odd is she doesnt seemed to have laid that many, only around 30 odd eggs and I thought they laid hundreds, could this be because its the first time theyve spawned??

- Again, this is quite normal. It takes a bit of practice to be able to lay a few hundred eggs in one go, all neat, and have them fertilised within a couple of hours :lol: So she will start of small. IMO it's also a security test, to see if the eggs will be safe in their location. If all goes well, each time their is a spawn the number of eggs will increase. By the way, it's not unusual for the first cluth to be eaten after a few day, only for another batch to be laid. Dont worry about this either (unless it happens every/most clutches, then post up again).

Keep evrything the same, increase the feeding of the pair if your system will alow it - spawning is very intense work, plus if you feed the right foods, it will also increase the quality of the eggs.

If you want more reading on the subject, a simple Google search will get you lots of information, or for something more intensive, go for the book "Clownfishes" by Joyce Wilkerson, which tells you everything you will need to know to start raising clownfish babies.

Keep us posted!

[Gobe]

Thanks Mikey for the info.

The female went back to her pussy coral after the main lights went out and the male stayed by the eggs. They were still there this morning but I realise theres no chance of them making it while still in the tank.

[Dibs]

Hi Gobe

I have a spawning pair, they have been laying for about 4 years now, they lay eggs for about 5 months then stop for a few months then start again. You need a lot of patience and a couple of small tanks to get them hatched and reared upto a size to then sell or put into your main tanks.

You need to start rotifer cultures with green water cultures too, as Mikey said the book by Joyce Wilkerson is excellent, Amazon link here... http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1...4814076-8153559 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1890087041/qid=1138483990/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl/203-4814076-8153559)

Very satisfying when it all works and you have Clown fry swimming about and growing getting their colours etc. I have successfully reared two batches over the last 2 years.

All the best.

George

[sgl101]

Well done mine percs spawn regular,

makes good fish food :lol:

Regards Steve

[penny]

Congrats Gobe :thumbsup:

[Gobe]

[/QUOTE]makes good fish food [QUOTE]

Tell me about it, it was like a buffett for the other fish after the clowns had laid them. They'd obviuosly decided it wasnt worth guarding them and the others had a right feast!!

Cheers for the info, I'll have to see if I can raise some in future!