Clownfish Breeding

[Chris4Reef]

Still trying my hand at clownfish breeding. Have a few pairs of both ocellaris and perculas.

Stay tuned for my breeding log when i finally get some eggs. Unfort clownfish are easy to pair but they tend to need about 8months - 1 year after they pair to mate. Hopefully i will be able to produce baby clownfish for sale. Inspiration kathysclowns.com/default.aspx

Just funny that she used office live as well.

[bikeguy33]

good luck....can you explain how you can instigate breeding. it is very rare to breed a marine fish with a few exceptions. clowns are one that will breed in captivity along with seahorses and corals. you have tried them all. there is very lil marine knowledge here and you have alot of experience chris. i for one would love to learn a lil more....

[Chris4Reef]

I was not able to care for my seahorses long term... ironically they died 1 week after i left for school Guess someone stopped feeding them the way i wrote down.

Anyway, Basically as you know all clownfish are males and the dominate one in the group will turn into the female. I currently have a pair of black and white ocellaris who have been together the longest. When i move i plan on setting up my oak 10 gallon nano as my coral throw away tank and have them in there. Im looking into a power compact system that is 8 watts per gallon which should be enough for a BTA for them to host in. I have seen many clownfish breed without anemones, but if i have a extra BTA this summer i will throw it in there. I expect them to breed by the end of the summer.

After they spawn i plan on removing the eggs and fry until they hatch in about 2 days. Feeding them marine rotifers and hopefully they will make it so that i can place the spawn into my biocube 29 to grow out.

I have two pairs of True perculas, 1 pair are wild caughts from soloman island, the other is a wild caught and a ORA misbar true percula(should be nice color and markings) These would probably be in my semi fishroom in breeder 10s.

I have a pair of tank raised ocellaris which would probably take a 10.

I am also working on acquiring a pair of onyx perculas from danelleZ from Y!A. She promised me a nice pair from her daughter at a good price.

So hopefully within the next year i will have some spawns of tank raised clownfish of all different varities to offer to my customers.

The next thing are my soft coral frag packs that my partner and i plan on producing and selling. basically all throw away corals like xenia and kenyas.

[bikeguy33]

ya sound busy.....but busy with a plan.....hope it all works out well and you have a clown post soon down the road

[Carl]

Looks like a great endeavor (the site you linked to is interesting).

A few thoughts if you do not mind:

*Have you though of a Ritteri anemone instead of a Bubble Tip Anemone? The Ritteri anemones are the natural anemones of both Oscellaris and Percula Clownfish (the Oscellaris being easier to breed in captivity), as well the Ritteri anemone is an easier and less demanding anemone to keep, especially ina small aquarium as BTA do not do well in aquariums that are less stable and fluctuate widely as a smaller aquarium would.

*As well for lighting, 8 watts per gallon is a bit extreme, and quire bluntly is a number you ONLY need if the lighting used is of low lumens per watt, low PAR, and somewhat low CRI.
CFLs are generally of a reasonably good lumens per watt (around 60), so this is not as much an issue, however PAR and CRI can vary considerably depending on the Kelvin output.

Keep in mind that watts per gallon is a very outdated principle when used by itself (it was great when all lights were T8- T12 with similar Kelvins), but with many modern lights from T2 to somewhat less powerful T5, as well as SHO, LED, & MH and the many good CFLs, this principle simply is about 1/3 of the equation.

Consider slightly higher output (in lumens per watt) T2, T5 or SHO. As well consider for this size tank a Kelvin of about 6500K (which may go against many of the anecdotal posts at YA, but not against scientific evidence of what the zooanthellic algae living symbiotically within many anemones and coral need.

Please see these article:
Aquarium Lighting; from Kelvins, to type

Marine Fish/Invertebrates; Ritteri anemone

Carl

[Chris4Reef]

tahts good to know, i always thought that i could super grow them by going overboard with high lighting.

it doesnt need to be strong as im not keeping SPS or anything, just some soft corals that are going to be fragged for my frag pack 1 this summer.

thats odd that you metion it, i hear all the time that the ritteri anemone are actually the hardest anemone to keep as they really require excellent conditions and will just move around alot.

i love them because they look like a nice torch coral, but i hear they dont ship well and it is very difficult to own one for more than 3 years. Where te bubble tips are suppose to be easier to keep.

i will probably end up looking at a T5 lighting for a 20 inch tank.

[Carl]

I am not sure you would have heard that ritteri anemones are one of the more difficult to keep, as they have been kept for a few decades now, often in more marginal tanks & again are the natural anemones for the kind of Clown fish you are keeping. However wandering is definitely one problem with ritteri anemones.
Shipping problems generally are due to poor handling and shipping practices, as the places I generally obtained them (such as Quality Marine USA) rarely had problems

Bubble Tip Anemones (which were called maroon anemones for years) require more stable water conditions, lower nitrates and more PAR light. For maroon clown fish these would be my first choice.

Make sure your T5 has a high PAR output Kelvin rating for your soft corals, BTA.

Carl

[Chris4Reef]

whats better 6500K, 10000K, 14000K or 20000K

[Carl]

Apr 4, 2009 0:31:21 GMT -5 Chris4Reef said:

whats better 6500K, 10000K, 14000K or 20000K

6500 generally has the highest PAR that is needed by symbiotic zooanthellic algae living in coral/anemones. However the higher Kelvin ratings penetrate deep water better. Generally an aquarium under 18-20 inches deep is best with 6500 K, while all but the deepest aquariums (over 36 inches) need higher than 14000 K

Please see the Kelvin section and PAR section of this article, including a link I have to an excellent resource about a virtual radiator:
Aquarium Lighting; Kelvin, PAR

Carl