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Pickle’s Guide to Breeding Clowns


Pickle010

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Yeah... I would say that they are warming up for the big event.

 

I'd keep an eye on her and see if she doesn't start looking like she swallowed a marble.

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Pickle, great thread and very well written. You get an A+!!!!

 

lgreen, from what I can see of your eggs and your description of the black dots for eyes, I'd say they are around day 4. At least that's what my snowflake eggs look like at that time.

 

Ah ok. Cool.

 

Well, when I woke up the next morning and looked in the tank they had eaten the eggs again haha.

 

No big deal though. I'm pretty confident the eggs will never get beyond a few days old unless I get the clowns in their own tank. Even if they did manage to survive past hatching, the coral beauty and yellow tang would down them in seconds.

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  • 2 weeks later...
cheryl jordan
omgomgomg

 

If it isn't the great Cheryl Jordan!!! Where have you been lady?

 

Hey Pickle

 

Just chilling, working on my tank. Changed it up to sps. I saw a link to this thread and had to check it out. In my silliness I did not realize it was a sticky. Have to check out the Pickle lounge thread. Great to see you are having such success.

 

Cheryl

Edited by cheryl jordan
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akabryanhall

Hey Pickle great writeup! One question, when you pull the pots out of the tank, and they have no backs, how do you keep water in the pots or is it ok for the eggs to be exposed for a few seconds?

 

BTW, for florida residents, all you need is an aquaculture certificate and you don't need to get it until you are ready to sell your first clown.

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Hey Pickle great writeup! One question, when you pull the pots out of the tank, and they have no backs, how do you keep water in the pots or is it ok for the eggs to be exposed for a few seconds?

 

Thanks for the compliment.

 

I don't keep the water in the pot when I move it. I used to try with the old pots with the small hole and that just made a mess then one day someone told me about a tour at major hatchery and the saw that the employees transferred the eggs without the water like it was no big deal. So I stopped worrying about it. They are seriously exposed for less than 5 seconds - it doesn't hurt them.

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  • 1 month later...
disaster999

hey ,pickle nice write up. my clownfish pair just started to spawn last night and your post helped me with some questions i have.

 

 

one thing im still not quite sure of is can i not move the breeding pair from the tank and just remove the GSP rock they laid their eggs on? i have no intention in setting up a brood stock system or taking out the fish out from my display tank, but do want to try and hatch the eggs.

 

i have another piece of similar sized GSP rock i can do a swap hoping they dont notice the difference. would it take some time for them to get use to the new rock and hatch again?

 

thanks

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You will want to move the eggs or the fry to a new tank. But you will want to wait until the night the fry will hatch to move them. Either move the eggs prior to the tank light going out on hatch night or wait until they hatch and use a flash light to attract the eggs the surface and use a cup to get them and transfer them.

 

You won't ever want to disturb or move the mating pair.

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Im still confused and it could be cus i should be asleep

How many types of tanks are there?

 

brood tank, fry tank, sump. Is that it? How many of each do you have?

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Im still confused and it could be cus i should be asleep

How many types of tanks are there?

 

brood tank, fry tank, sump. Is that it? How many of each do you have?

 

 

I use Brood Stock tanks to house breeding pairs of clowns

 

Fry / Larvae tanks to hatch the eggs in and raise the fry for the first few weeks.

 

Grow out tanks - to raise the fry in until they are of size to sell and ship.

 

The number of each tank and complexity of the system is completely up to you.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Great guide! :)

 

You also said that females should be 2 years old and 2.5" before they spawn. I have a really small pair of SA Fancy Ocellaris. They are over two years old and the male is less than 1" while the female is barely 2". I've seen them nesting a few nights. Will their size prevent the spawn?

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Great guide! :)

 

You also said that females should be 2 years old and 2.5" before they spawn. I have a really small pair of SA Fancy Ocellaris. They are over two years old and the male is less than 1" while the female is barely 2". I've seen them nesting a few nights. Will their size prevent the spawn?

 

 

The size is a general rule to follow they can spawn earlier or even smaller. Remember that the male can fertilize at the age of 6 months so it's likely that he would be demonstrating his abilities for the female early on.

 

I placed a male that had raised several clutches of eggs with a female that hasn't spawned yet and he often nudges her to the pot, cleans and makes dry runs. I don't know if he is encouraging her to spawn or if he is just instinctively doing it.

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  • 1 month later...
Costa Reefing

Hey Pickle, just wanted to say this is an awesome thread. I used this, your other thread and lalani's as a my main reference sources for starting up a "breeding center" in my house. Hopefully my pair should be spawning soon.

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I too want to say thank you! I actually have babies alive on day 5 which is a first for me! Couldn't have done it without your threads and your willingness to share info =)

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  • 4 months later...
  • 2 months later...

Awesome guide, I really appreciate you taking the time to put something so detailed together so simply for us to understand (by us, I mean breeding noobs or wannabes :P).

 

I Have a couple questions.

 

I just bought two black and white Occellaris clowns about a week ago. They happened to be in the same tank (unknown period of time) and were not sold as a pair or mated pair, etc. They just happened to be in the tank together by themselves.

 

At the store they would not swim together, but when I introduced them to my tank, within an hour or so they fell in love and now never leave each others side. They are really cute and have been very active, at night they snuggle together towards the top of the tank and like to make this "popping" noise at the water surface.

 

Yesterday, I seen what I am assuming to be the male (about 1-1.25") doing his little sideways dance next to the female (1.5-2") and now today it seems as if they are either 1.) obsessed with the front corner of my tank 2.) are cleaning it and prepping to lay or 3.) trying to host my watermelon chalice. What do you think is going on here?

 

They seem to go back to that corner every 20-30 minutes to "dust" it off and the female is not very fond of my dwarf ceriths entering that territory as she attacks them and tries to brush them away.

 

I am in no way shape or form prepared to take care of any potential offspring as I am very busy with LEDTRiC and are actually in the process of moving, but once I am settled into my new house, I would like to care for the fry and grow them out (this is something I have always wanted to do and probably one of the only things I have not done in ths hobby). My second question is, when I do move and disturb their current home will they continue to spawn in the future?

 

I plan to build a small but sufficient "breeding" ground in my new home and would love to start with these guys and potentially move up to designer clowns once I get enough experience. I have no intentions of being a commercial breeder of any sort, wish I had the time, but unfortunately I do not. This will purely be for hobby. Will I still need a license if I give away the fry once they have grown out? I am in Florida and hoping one of you can answer this as I know many of you are as well.

 

Sorry if this post has a bunch of mumbo jumbo, jibber jabber, lol.

 

Thanks in advanced for all comments, suggestions, etc.

Mike C.

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Awesome guide, I really appreciate you taking the time to put something so detailed together so simply for us to understand (by us, I mean breeding noobs or wannabes :P).

 

There is a lot going on here so I'll do my best - let me know if I missed something!

 

I Have a couple questions.

 

I just bought two black and white Occellaris clowns about a week ago. They happened to be in the same tank (unknown period of time) and were not sold as a pair or mated pair, etc. They just happened to be in the tank together by themselves.

 

At the store they would not swim together, but when I introduced them to my tank, within an hour or so they fell in love and now never leave each others side. They are really cute and have been very active, at night they snuggle together towards the top of the tank and like to make this "popping" noise at the water surface.

 

Yesterday, I seen what I am assuming to be the male (about 1-1.25") doing his little sideways dance next to the female (1.5-2") and now today it seems as if they are either 1.) obsessed with the front corner of my tank 2.) are cleaning it and prepping to lay or 3.) trying to host my watermelon chalice. What do you think is going on here?

 

I would suggest it's too soon for them to be starting to mate but what it sounds like is that they are establishing their roles as male and female - it's very likely that if raised in a colony or with other clowns that one or both of these clowns where purchased as gender neutral and the shaking you see is a submission dance that typically the male will exhibit for the female and sometimes returned to the male with a shake from the female. This is great - it means the pair is bonding and establishing their roles moving forward.

 

They seem to go back to that corner every 20-30 minutes to "dust" it off and the female is not very fond of my dwarf ceriths entering that territory as she attacks them and tries to brush them away.

 

Clowns can be pretty funny and accept the strangest of hosts some times. Usually never where you want them though. I wouldn't be surprised if the pair has established that corner as their territory. You may want to introduce a small clay pot near that spot and see if they take to it. later you can move the pot and they will follow it. This would be really helpful if once they reach maturity and decide to spawn it will make things easier for you. Based on the size you stated above the female (your larger clown) will have some time yet before she is ready to spawn. Typically a female needs to get to about 2" in size to be considered mature.

 

I am in no way shape or form prepared to take care of any potential offspring as I am very busy with LEDTRiC and are actually in the process of moving, but once I am settled into my new house, I would like to care for the fry and grow them out (this is something I have always wanted to do and probably one of the only things I have not done in ths hobby). My second question is, when I do move and disturb their current home will they continue to spawn in the future?

 

As long as you recreate the right conditions, yes they'll spawn again. In the last couple of years I've purchased mating pairs and have relocated and even re-partnered my clowns - typically it takes about a month to get them to start to spawn again. Sometimes sooner and other times longer - but a month has been my average. Moving them from one tank to the next even in the same system or room will disrupt the cycle - so it's important that you keep them in the same tank and keep your water quality consistent .

 

I plan to build a small but sufficient "breeding" ground in my new home and would love to start with these guys and potentially move up to designer clowns once I get enough experience. I have no intentions of being a commercial breeder of any sort, wish I had the time, but unfortunately I do not. This will purely be for hobby. Will I still need a license if I give away the fry once they have grown out? I am in Florida and hoping one of you can answer this as I know many of you are as well.

 

Sorry if this post has a bunch of mumbo jumbo, jibber jabber, lol.

 

Thanks in advanced for all comments, suggestions, etc.

Mike C.

 

Thanks for jumping in and speaking up - if you ever have questions you can also post in my "Breeders Lounge Thread below - there are lot of breeders who follow it and you can and will get suggestions and comments from more then just me. I think it's always good to get all the information you can and then to use what works best for you.

 

Good Luck!

Edited by Pickle010
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Some time ago a couple of people thought it would be helpful to beginners if we posted our first 30 day feeding schedules. First off I have to apologize - I got this information gathered for me while ago but once I was ready to post it my PC crashed and I lost a lot of the info. Then I just procrastinated putting it up since I kept saying I'll salvage what I can off the old drives and still post it... well... it's been a while now and I haven't even attempted to get that PC going again. I have 3 others in the house and well... I've been more interested in my breeding this year and between that, running a school and my family, I don't see spending any time working on an old PC happening any time soon.

 

So I'm going to post what I have - If you are one of the breeders that submitted your feeding schedule and don't see it here... please forgive me - I lost it on that PC but would love to have you PM it to me to add here. Also if you are a breeder and want to add your feeding schedule here, PM me and let me know. We thought it would be good post the feeding schedules anonymously so that no one would favor a schedule based on who's it is but rather to pull from all of them and to compile a schedule for yourselves that you find works for you.

 

So here is what I have so far:

 

Breeder 1

 

Day 1 - 10 Rotifers

Day 4 Otohime A

Day 8 Othime B

Stay with B until the fry are able to handle larger pellets like C1 or Spectrum.

Around 30 days introduce Cyclops.

 

Breeder 2

 

Day 1-10: Rotifers

Day 3-4: Oto A

Day 5-11: De-capped Artemia

Day 5-15: Oto B1

Day 12-25: Oto B2

 

*This is an average between 4 different species of clownfish, it is subject to change based on how fast or slow fry are developing.

 

Breeder 3

Day 1 - 10 Rotifers

Day 3 - 12 Otohime A

Day 8 - 15 Otohime B1

Day 14 - 30 Crushed Pellets / Flake / Otohime / Dry cyclopeeze

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Pickle, thanks a lot for the response, very helpful! I will definitely checkout your other thread. BTW, where exactly is Terra Bella and do you have a store/facility open to the public? I will be in California in a few months to visit my sister and nephew, they are in Glendale.

 

Thanks again for the help!

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Pickle, thanks a lot for the response, very helpful! I will definitely checkout your other thread. BTW, where exactly is Terra Bella and do you have a store/facility open to the public? I will be in California in a few months to visit my sister and nephew, they are in Glendale.

 

Thanks again for the help!

 

 

LOL... Terra Bella is a little #### hole an hour or so north of LA - no facility - I'm just a small guy trying to take it day by day. How I got here from Huntington Beach is a looooooong story.

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  • 4 weeks later...
FishEyeAquaculture
LOL... Terra Bella is a little #### hole an hour or so north of LA - no facility - I'm just a small guy trying to take it day by day. How I got here from Huntington Beach is a looooooong story.

 

 

Sounds a lot like me...Dade City is cow/orange country an hour north of Tampa, and how I got to Dade City from Cocoa Beach is a loooooong story!

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