Sweet<3's Clownfish Adventure

[bootes123]

Have you ever had both male and female make "practice" runs at laying eggs? Mine have been doing this for a week now.

[sweet<3]

Awesome! Thanks for documenting and keeping us all up to date with your clown fish breeding adventure! I'll have to track this topic to see how your little clown fish babies are doing. Maybe you might get lucky and breed an awesomely mutated new clown fish that's worth more than that one lightning clown fish.

 

Thank you for following along And one could only hope...haha.

 

Have you ever had both male and female make "practice" runs at laying eggs? Mine have been doing this for a week now.

 

I think its the males way of showing the female that he is capable of fertilizing the eggs. When the female lays the eggs, the male follows behind her in the same sort of fashion and fertilizes the eggs. So his practice runs are tellin her that he's ready and she needs to get in gear! Haha

[bootes123]

Thank you for following along And one could only hope...haha.

 

 

 

I think its the males way of showing the female that he is capable of fertilizing the eggs. When the female lays the eggs, the male follows behind her in the same sort of fashion and fertilizes the eggs. So his practice runs are tellin her that he's ready and she needs to get in gear! Haha

They are both practicing!! They need to get on it!!!

[sweet<3]

That's awesome! Hopefully they lay soon for ya What type of clowns are they?

[ericm1205]

i got 2 pairs doing the dry run as well. the one doing it the most is my darwin female with a super black ice male....cant wait to see what the fry might be!!

[bootes123]

Osillaris. I have only had them for a month in a half.

[sweet<3]

i got 2 pairs doing the dry run as well. the one doing it the most is my darwin female with a super black ice male....cant wait to see what the fry might be!!

 

I have like four pairs cleaning and doing practice runs. But they have been doing it for months and no eggs

 

Sounds like with that combo you might produce some black snowflakes! My darwin/black ice pair keeps looking like they are going to lay and it just never happens. I even put some onyx/plat eggs in with them and they both took right to them and took care of them. I though for sure it would help them get started...but no. *Sigh*

 

Keep me posted on how your pair does, I would love to see what they produce

 

Osillaris. I have only had them for a month in a half.

 

Wow lucky! They must be very happy in your tank. Any plans to try to raise them if they do lay?

[smitty_1280]

This is a very cool thread. I'm very interested in following your progress. My wife and I are just starting to get into the breeding thing with clowns. We have 2 snowcasso's from doni's and 2 snowflakes.

[sweet<3]

This is a very cool thread. I'm very interested in following your progress. My wife and I are just starting to get into the breeding thing with clowns. We have 2 snowcasso's from doni's and 2 snowflakes.

 

Oh thank you Welcome along! If you have any questions or anything just ask! I love the snowcassos! Breeding is such a rewarding experience. It will be very frustrating though haha. But stick with it! In the end it really is worth it to see little babies swimmin around. Good luck

[smitty_1280]

I remember what I was going to ask now. Can I see some pics of the rest of your setup? How do you grow your rotifers? Where did you purchase them to start everything?

[sweet<3]

I remember what I was going to ask now. Can I see some pics of the rest of your setup? How do you grow your rotifers? Where did you purchase them to start everything?

 

I am in the process of moving my set up right now But I will take pics as soon as I am done! I grow my rotifers in two five gallon buckets with just airline tubing going into each. I can take pics of that too but it really isn't anything special. I think I might start using 5 gallon aquariums so I can fit them on my shelves but I dunno yet.

 

I purchase everything from Reeds Mariculture.com. Not sure if there is a better place or not. But since I buy rotigrow+ there I just buy everything else there too (rotigrow+, rotifers, otohime A & . Its sort of a one stop shop!

[smitty_1280]

I am in the process of moving my set up right now But I will take pics as soon as I am done! I grow my rotifers in two five gallon buckets with just airline tubing going into each. I can take pics of that too but it really isn't anything special. I think I might start using 5 gallon aquariums so I can fit them on my shelves but I dunno yet.

 

I purchase everything from Reeds Mariculture.com. Not sure if there is a better place or not. But since I buy rotigrow+ there I just buy everything else there too (rotigrow+, rotifers, otohime A & . Its sort of a one stop shop!

 

Ok, thanks for the info lol. I will have to check into that.

[xjaydub20x]

Any updates? What fry are you currently raising and how are they progressing?

[zacheyp]

hey guys, im thinking of breeding clowns for a little extra pocket money. Not trying to become rich, just a profitable hobby. In terms of breeding one pair of clowns what eqiuptment would i need for the fry and the adults. Also what size tank for the adults and would a 10 gal fry tank work

[zacheyp]

btw what do you feed your fry

[sweet<3]

Any updates? What fry are you currently raising and how are they progressing?

 

I will post some new info soon I'm raising onyx babies right now. Hopefully some actually turn out onyx!

 

hey guys, im thinking of breeding clowns for a little extra pocket money. Not trying to become rich, just a profitable hobby. In terms of breeding one pair of clowns what eqiuptment would i need for the fry and the adults. Also what size tank for the adults and would a 10 gal fry tank work

 

Definitely not a way to make extra money. I'm literally thousands of dollars in debt from breeding clowns. By the end of it, I just hope to break even. It takes a lot of money to put out in the beginning and then wait years to even begin to profit. If you wanna do it to enjoy the breeding aspect and to watch clowns develop and grow then I say go for it. If you wanna make money, I say you should probably find something else because it really takes a lot to turn a profit.

 

To answer your question, if you only want to breed one pair of clowns then get a pair of designer clowns. It can be hard to sell 300 regular clowns locally. A lot of people end up selling them to their local fish stores and don't turn much profit. If you have a designer pair (i.e. picassos, platinums, snowflakes, etc.), then it may be easier to sell them. So the first thing to do is to invest in a nice pair. If you buy a young pair you can get a better price, but then you may have a to wait a few years for them to breed. If you want to start now, you can shell out the extra cash for a breeding pair.

 

In terms of equipment, you need a system that can sustain the increased feedings. So you definitely want to invest in a good protein skimmer, a good heater, lights, filter socks, I use bioballs but some people you live rock. You have to do water changes very often so you will be investing in salt/saltwater. You want to set the breeders up in as large a tank as possible, but with only one pair you can get away with a smaller system as long as you keep up on water changes.

 

The fry system is a little more complicated. You can hatch out your fry in a ten gallon, but that wont be sufficient for grow out. You will need a larger tank/system that can support up to 500 fry per clutch. You will need to invest in sponge filters and heaters to go into the hatch out/grow out tanks until the fry are large enough to add to a bigger system. Again you want a good protein skimmer and what not on the larger system.

 

In order to feed the fry, you need to culture your own rotifers. After rotifers, they eat otohime A and B. You can go online to reeds mariculture and check out the prices but its not cheap.

 

Not trying to be discouraging, just want to be honest. Not many hobbyist breeders make a profit just because it takes a lot of space, work and money to set up and maintain. If you don't do it because you enjoy it, then you will get burnt out VERY easily.

 

If you do decide to try it, then feel free to ask any questions you have.

 

btw what do you feed your fry

 

Rotifers and otohime.

[oceancube]

^^^^great advice!!!!

[xjaydub20x]

Don't forget to mention high electric bills for all of the heaters and pumps. Maybe even chillers during the summer. Plus about 1-2 hours per day minimum just to keep up the feeding and maintenance of the broodstock, fry, and rotifers.

[oceancube]

^^^yeah those electric bills are fun every month huh... mine are not bad now $3-$420 a month now that i switched to all led's ...

[xjaydub20x]

$450 seems to be my winter time baseline. In summer, a few bills got over $600! I'm seriously considering moving closer to San Diego. The additional rent will be offset by the more consistant temperatures near 70 degrees.

[zacheyp]

Ok guys so after researching i have a plan tell me what you think

i found a black onyx (very small, 1 inch) for 45 dollars. Buy him

i wil probably pair him with a picasso

the 2 clowns will live in my 20 gallon reef, pair and mature for at least 6 months. Then if i still want to breed i will breed them

[xjaydub20x]

Ok guys so after researching i have a plan tell me what you think

i found a black onyx (very small, 1 inch) for 45 dollars. Buy him

i wil probably pair him with a picasso

the 2 clowns will live in my 20 gallon reef, pair and mature for at least 6 months. Then if i still want to breed i will breed them

 

Unless you buy a rather large picasso (3"+) and designate the onyx as the male, you might have to wait a lot longer than six months to see any sort breeding action.

[ericm1205]

6 months...more like over a year or 2. just getting 2 clowns and waiting a year or so doesnt mean they will lay eggs..

i got a few pairs that were laying before i got them and i am waiting for them to start back up after 5 months or so.

 

to save money i switched over to leds and insulated my sump and i am trying everything to save money on breeding. i am using pellets a few times a day, but i make my own food to give them good nutrition. i spend $150 in food every 4 months..yellow fin tuna, oysters..etc. they eat better than i do.

 

 

Jessica summed it up perfect.

[sweet<3]

What everyone else mentioned is sooooo true. Electricity killed me this past year, and I live near San Diego!! Haha. There is so much equipment that is constantly running that it really does suck up the electricity.

 

I didn't even get into the effort it takes to maintain breeding systems. I just got back from a three day vacation and things are a mess. It really is handy to have someone you can really teach to take care of your fish if you have to go away at all. Breeders definitely are not given many vacations!!

[Pickle010]

Breeders definitely are not given many vacations!!

 

 

Amen!!! I just had this conversation with another breeder the other day and what he said is when you do go away all you hope for is that the person watching what your stuff just doesn't kill anything... that's really the best case... just don't mess anything up. Don't care if you hatch any nests but please don't make a mess of what I've already got going.