alec
New Member
I have always loved marine fish and decided that I wanted to breed oscellaris (false perc) clownfish upon hearing that they were by far, the easiest saltwater fish to breed. I have read and heard people saying that their clowns spawn once or twice every two weeks. I have tried to get my clownfish to breed for over FOUR YEARS and have been completely unsuccessful. It is as if the fish do not even consider it.
At first, I had six clowns in a 120gal tank. Two clowns quickly paired off and terrorized the other four relentlessly, eventually killing two (I put each of the two week ones into the 40gal QT but they would not eat). Since then, I have started up two 25gal tanks , each with an inch or two of rock substrate (not live), fifteen lbs of live rock, a flower pot, an undergravel filter, and a hanging filter with biowheel (I want to attach the two to a common sump but this is much easier said than done). The tanks were fully established before putting the fish in.
The fish have lived happily, with a wall between the two tanks so that they could not see eachother, since January '03. The pH is 8.0-8.2, salenity is 1.018ppm, and the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate are all zero. The temp is about 80. I feed the fish two to four times daily (an assortment of flake foods at 830am and 7pm, through out the day I may give them some formula 1 or 2, or some brine shrimp).
The previously established pair became a nicer color and got a little bigger. From what I have heard, they act like a breeding pair. They do their clownfish seizure thing all the time, bringing their bodies perpendicular. They sometimes clean off spots in the tank. Another strange habit is they get sort of a running start and dive up close to the substrate, thrashing their bodies quickly and plowing the rocky stuff to both sides of them (it is very strange). The female (I think) sometimes swallows bubbles at the surface, then dives downward making the bubbles come out of her gills (what the heck?). They do a lot of other quirky things that do not come to mind now. Every now and then they still nip at eachother.
The clownfish in my other tank have barely grown, but seem to have become a pair. They also live with a peppermint shrimp who remains hidden almost constantly. The female of these two, about a month ago, got a white, pimple like growth on its chin (I think it was cauliflower disease) but it is now going away. The two frequently fight, ending with the male performing the shake in front of the female (quite consistent). These two do not really do any of the odd things that the other two do.
I have never been able to talk to another breeder, but I have read the book clownfishes and also a book written by someone at the florida aqua farms. I have also read many things posted on the internet.
There seem to be two basic schools of thought: an almost empty tank with a piece of ceramic tile laying against a side, no substrate or anything. The other is to make the environment as natural as possible and include an anemone. My attempt is a mixture of the two.
I would like to gravitate more towards the bare bones with the tile idea, but for some reason I am afraid that the drastic change in the tank will traumatize the fish. I really do not want to put in an anemone because they are very difficult. The anemone crowd though, will swear that it is the only thing that will make the fish breed. I went to BU to look at the marine bio program and in the lobby two oscellaris were in a natural looking tank tending to their eggs in an algae covered flower pot (just like my pots). There was no anemone. There were other fish in the tank though. I asked the head of the marine bio department about how she got it to happen and she stated that the fish will only breed in a natural environment with an anemone, and that I would know this if I was a true fish lover. When I broke the news to her that there was certainly no anemone in the tank, she became upset and shoed me out of the room (some people!).
I hate reading about people who's fish breed every couple of weeks. Mine haven't done the deed once in three or four years! In closing...what the heck am I doing wrong?! If you have any suggestions PLEASE post a response...PLEASE. Thank you for your time!
At first, I had six clowns in a 120gal tank. Two clowns quickly paired off and terrorized the other four relentlessly, eventually killing two (I put each of the two week ones into the 40gal QT but they would not eat). Since then, I have started up two 25gal tanks , each with an inch or two of rock substrate (not live), fifteen lbs of live rock, a flower pot, an undergravel filter, and a hanging filter with biowheel (I want to attach the two to a common sump but this is much easier said than done). The tanks were fully established before putting the fish in.
The fish have lived happily, with a wall between the two tanks so that they could not see eachother, since January '03. The pH is 8.0-8.2, salenity is 1.018ppm, and the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate are all zero. The temp is about 80. I feed the fish two to four times daily (an assortment of flake foods at 830am and 7pm, through out the day I may give them some formula 1 or 2, or some brine shrimp).
The previously established pair became a nicer color and got a little bigger. From what I have heard, they act like a breeding pair. They do their clownfish seizure thing all the time, bringing their bodies perpendicular. They sometimes clean off spots in the tank. Another strange habit is they get sort of a running start and dive up close to the substrate, thrashing their bodies quickly and plowing the rocky stuff to both sides of them (it is very strange). The female (I think) sometimes swallows bubbles at the surface, then dives downward making the bubbles come out of her gills (what the heck?). They do a lot of other quirky things that do not come to mind now. Every now and then they still nip at eachother.
The clownfish in my other tank have barely grown, but seem to have become a pair. They also live with a peppermint shrimp who remains hidden almost constantly. The female of these two, about a month ago, got a white, pimple like growth on its chin (I think it was cauliflower disease) but it is now going away. The two frequently fight, ending with the male performing the shake in front of the female (quite consistent). These two do not really do any of the odd things that the other two do.
I have never been able to talk to another breeder, but I have read the book clownfishes and also a book written by someone at the florida aqua farms. I have also read many things posted on the internet.
There seem to be two basic schools of thought: an almost empty tank with a piece of ceramic tile laying against a side, no substrate or anything. The other is to make the environment as natural as possible and include an anemone. My attempt is a mixture of the two.
I would like to gravitate more towards the bare bones with the tile idea, but for some reason I am afraid that the drastic change in the tank will traumatize the fish. I really do not want to put in an anemone because they are very difficult. The anemone crowd though, will swear that it is the only thing that will make the fish breed. I went to BU to look at the marine bio program and in the lobby two oscellaris were in a natural looking tank tending to their eggs in an algae covered flower pot (just like my pots). There was no anemone. There were other fish in the tank though. I asked the head of the marine bio department about how she got it to happen and she stated that the fish will only breed in a natural environment with an anemone, and that I would know this if I was a true fish lover. When I broke the news to her that there was certainly no anemone in the tank, she became upset and shoed me out of the room (some people!).
I hate reading about people who's fish breed every couple of weeks. Mine haven't done the deed once in three or four years! In closing...what the heck am I doing wrong?! If you have any suggestions PLEASE post a response...PLEASE. Thank you for your time!
not sure how much stock I put in that.