Clownfish Spawning

The only inverts I have are astrea snails and a brittle star in with them. I am definitely wanting to rear some Gold Stripe Maroon Clowns. The happy couple and the still questionable brittle star.

I guess there is always a chance inverts could eat the eggs but we havent had any problems with that. We have about 8 urchins in the 180 where the ocellaris are and ive never seen them bother the eggs. The parents will get a bit uptight when they come near them.

I have never seen an astrea snail anywhere near their nesting area. almost every other night though the brittle star is right in their bedroom with them when they sleep.

It's true - there are so many ways to do this - lots of variables. What works for one person may be different for another. Late yesterday and early this a.m. my Oscellaris pair weren't eating and I was concerned since they're putting out so much energy in the breeding process. I happened to see that there was an Emerald Crab under their rock! I didn't even know I still had a crab in that tank. The Clownfish pair were quite upset and wouldn't leave the rock to even grab mysis shrimp from the water.

As soon as I removed the Emerald Crab my fish started swimming around the tank and began eating again! They feasted on some newly-hatched brine shrimp and now they seem fine. Now I'm wondering if that crab had been eating some of the eggs from the 1st and 2nd batches. I'll see if batch #3 produces more larvae.

@ccollins: GS Maroon Clownfish are beautiful! Good luck and please keep us posted. Have you seen Barbara's "Rearing Clownfish" info here on Reef-Geeks? It's an incredible resource: Rearing Clownfish

Yes I have read that thread a few times. I even printed out the day by day walk-through. I am just waiting until they finally decide to listen to me and start spawning. screaming at them through the glass doesn't seem to work. lol Just kidding I don't do that.

LOL! Hang in there...they'll do it eventually. They probably just have to finish maturing.

I have thought of that. The female is mature, but the male I have a feeling is still too young.

The male is naturally smaller than the female. How long have you had them?

I have had the female over a year and the male about half that long.
Here is a link to my breeding thread.Newbie to Breeding

WOO HOO laurie!!! .congratulations!!!.......would you consider starting your very own breeding thread in this forum so that others can follow your ongoing progress and pics?

Thanks Barbara! I'm so glad I've stuck with it. I'm really enjoying the process. And yes, I'll start a breeding thread soon. Thanks again for all your help.

I keep looking, but I still haven't found out what age you can expect clowns to spawn???

The 2 dominate clowns in my baby tank have started showing some pairing behavior, but I think they are far from spawning. The bigger one is about 1 1/2 inches, and the male is about 1 1/4.

clowns can start as young as 6 months breeding, but some may pair and never spawn.

Originally Posted by Pat B

I keep looking, but I still haven't found out what age you can expect clowns to spawn???

The 2 dominate clowns in my baby tank have started showing some pairing behavior, but I think they are far from spawning. The bigger one is about 1 1/2 inches, and the male is about 1 1/4.

For perculas, females seem to need to be around 1.5-2 years. Males can supposedly at 9 months. I've never heard of 6 months, that seems awful early. My pairs were about 18 months old when they started.