Clownfish Spawning

In order for your clownfish pair to spawn, they must have constant, predictable, unthreatening conditions. This includes: 1) stable water conditions; 2) regular light cycles (12 hours on is usually best); 3) regular feedings at the same time(s) each day (if you can feed them twice a day that seems to keep their spawning cycles very regular); 4) familiar surroundings; and 5) most importantly a safe haven. Any threatening tank mates – like other damsels or aggressive fish – will deter them from spawning. Clownfish that are preoccupied with self-defense in smaller tanks (75g or smaller) usually won’t develop sexual behaviors.

A clownfish pair will adopt a home – using rock grottos, large shells (conch shells have worked well for some people), anemones and even corals – and spend most of their time near or inside their dedicated home where they will spawn. The most effective home of course is a host anemone, but if they are to mate and spawn then they can suffice with any of those mentioned.

Our clownfish chose a toadstool coral for their home


There are many different nesting site arrangements that clownfish will adapt to: rocks, ceramic tile (rough surface facing up), and large shells. If you plan on collecting your larvae in a separate tank then placing a ceramic tile in the parent tank is best.

Spawning behaviors of clownfish are a bit surprising. Sometimes they can even be alarming! The male might dart up and down as he’s swimming forward, or twitch a lot as he positions himself perpendicular to the female’s belly. As the courtship continues, the pair may bite at rocks or tank walls, and the female becomes extremely aggressive and remains that way forever.

Four to five days before spawning, the clownfish pair will constantly and aggressively clean their nesting site. They’ll clear the area by moving pieces of coral or sand and bite away any algae until they have a 3”-5” rounded area completely spotless and ready for eggs. The first few times they may clean different sites, but once they’ve found a suitable site, they will continue to lay their eggs at that site. During the next few days they’ll both chase away everything, and the female becomes potbellied as the eggs within her ripen and expand.

Most clownfish spawn at a regular time either after sunrise or before sunset (our Ocellaris always spawn before sunset – between 4pm and 6pm), and regularly every two weeks.

When the female is ready to lay her eggs she’ll lower her ovipositor (a thin egg-delivery tube). This usually happens the day the eggs will be laid. The ¼-inch long white tube extends in front of her anal fin right before and during spawning. She’ll place the tube on the cleaned nesting site and will make a few “fake” passes before she lays a single narrow line of eggs. Then the male will pass over the eggs to fertilize them with sperm.

Here’s a video of our saddlebacks laying eggs:


The pair will continue to alternate, laying eggs and passing sperm, for 1-3 hours. When done, their patch of bright orange eggs will be about 2”-3” in diameter. An average patch contains 400-1,500 eggs.

Here's a small patch that our saddlebacks just laid


Once the eggs are laid, the male pretty much takes over caring for them, while the female protects the nest. If the two don’t do their part then it’s likely that the eggs will not survive.

Here's our male saddleback tending while the female "supervises"


While the female patrols, the male constantly fans water across the eggs with deliberate strokes from his pectoral fins, causing the eggs to wave in a simulated current. He will also use his mouth to get rid of improperly maturing eggs. The male will usually tend to their eggs for 8 days and then gets a rest for 6 days before the next batch appears.

Here’s our ocellaris male fanning the eggs


On hatching night – usually the 8th night after the eggs are laid – the male goes crazy fanning the eggs and usually won’t leave the nesting site. At this time, the eggs have gone from a bright orange (days 1-2), to a pale pinkish brown (days 3-5), to a dull dark with some sporting metallic silver tops (days 6-7). On the day of the evening hatching (usually day 8), the top of the eggs will appear to be a metallic copper color rather than silver. Color change is a result of embryo development.

Day 1:


Day 3:


Day 5:


Day 7:


Initially the single yolk cell divides into many smaller yolk cells. Then the cells begin to develop into individual fish parts – head, tail, heart, brain, spinal cord, eyes, etc. The germinating embryo develops black nerve cells, which dull its color, and the eyes become a prominent feature – noticeable on 6-day eggs as black dots near the outer end of each egg. By day 7, the eyes are metallic silver at the tip of the embryo.

Once your eggs are silver-copper tipped then you are ready for your hatching!
The hatching will occur 45-90 minutes after your tanks lights go off.
Read the “Setting Up a Clownfish Larvae Tank” and “Collecting Clownfish Larvae” threads for the next steps.

Note:
This guide assumes an average tank temperature of 80-82 degrees F, but at a higher or lower temperature the eggs need either less or more time to incubate. If the temperature is between 75-78 degrees F then it could take up to 11 days; if the temperature is between 82-84 degrees F then it may only take 6 days.

Again, kudos on a great thread barb!

Another variation on the broodstock tank is just a bare-bottomed tank with a tile or clay flower pot for breeding substrate. It's less attractive to look at, that's for sure. But it's easy to clean and work with.

True...we did try that with the saddlebacks but didn't have the success we had with collecting them from the tank...

That is fantastic Barb

Originally Posted by Barbara

True...we did try that with the saddlebacks but didn't have the success we had with collecting them from the tank...

When you say the problem was "collecting" does that mean the fish were spawning in the empty tank and you were just having trouble collecting the fry?

Great thread Barb, thanks for sharing!

Originally Posted by RCA

When you say the problem was "collecting" does that mean the fish were spawning in the empty tank and you were just having trouble collecting the fry?

We had them trained to lay eggs on a tile and then we would remove the tile the night of hatching but we always had a poor hatch rate that way. We went back to letting the parents do all the work and then collecting them from the parent tank. Makes for a late night but we got a whole lot more fry that way.

Originally Posted by RCA

When you say the problem was "collecting" does that mean the fish were spawning in the empty tank and you were just having trouble collecting the fry?

Well Jason...oh yeah...never mind...seems as though chris answered the question you asked me! hmmmmmmm.......guess he's a little impatient eh?!

Originally Posted by chris&barb

We had them trained to lay eggs on a tile and then we would remove the tile the night of hatching but we always had a poor hatch rate that way. We went back to letting the parents do all the work and then collecting them from the parent tank. Makes for a late night but we got a whole lot more fry that way.

He's just trying to catch me in post count.

do your clowns usually do better with BTA? or are they hosting corals?

Very nice Barb, looks like fun but I'll leave that to you guys

Mine do both, BTA, corals, and even sometimes my clams.

Originally Posted by jungle_john

do your clowns usually do better with BTA? or are they hosting corals?

We have some in an anemone and some in a toad stool leather

Very nice shots or the eggs!

Hey Kmiec! ...and thanks! (sorry but I was out of commission the past 2 days!)

BARB i have a question

when clown fish breed how long before they lay the eggs will the white tube be out?
im trying to breed my almost solid black clowns, and the female is super plump and they have a spot picked. but i never see the tube or do i ever see them clean the spot. i figure they are but when they see me man they bolt over to see what im doing so i cant watch them.


so should i look for the white tube hours before they breed and leave them alone that day? or will the tube only come out when there a few mins form laying the eggs?

Hey john! the tube only comes out within hours of laying the eggs....odd that you can't see the cleaning though - that usually happens a few days before she lays the eggs....usually nothing will stop them from cleaning...is this the first time for them?

that i know of yes. i had them in my 110 and there old nesting site was behind a rock i couldn't see. so i never knew if they had eggs. they protected it from fish like crazy but didn't care if i went by it. but in this new tank any time my hand enters the water she nipping me now. not hard but she use to rub me not nip. i find this interesting because she doing both. she will rub me then bite, then rub some more then bite then run back to here spot.

idk there crazy i keep checking every day for the tube but get nothing

im excited for some eggs, but i still dont have a roti culture, nor am i done with my first mar system to grow the babies in nor do i got a 10 gal ready for fry.... so much to do so little money... plenty of time lol.

barb you think in a few weeks i can buy some roti from you to help me start a few cultures? if you don't have enough i under stand, i can go to that site ya'll recommended

Chris and Barb,I was looking at the CPR site for a new overflow and saw this and wondered if you guys had seen or tryed this yet?
CPR AQUATIC, INC - Wet/Dry Filters

Originally Posted by jungle_john

that i know of yes. i had them in my 110 and there old nesting site was behind a rock i couldn't see. so i never knew if they had eggs. they protected it from fish like crazy but didn't care if i went by it. but in this new tank any time my hand enters the water she nipping me now. not hard but she use to rub me not nip. i find this interesting because she doing both. she will rub me then bite, then rub some more then bite then run back to here spot.

idk there crazy i keep checking every day for the tube but get nothing

im excited for some eggs, but i still dont have a roti culture, nor am i done with my first mar system to grow the babies in nor do i got a 10 gal ready for fry.... so much to do so little money... plenty of time lol.

barb you think in a few weeks i can buy some roti from you to help me start a few cultures? if you don't have enough i under stand, i can go to that site ya'll recommended

hee hee...maybe she's pissed that you moved her from her once stable environment ...clowns are very funny about stability...if they were spawning in the old tank and you move them to a completely new environment, there's a good chance that they won't spawn again ... though our saddlebacks and their host were moved to another tank and didn't skip a beat! (though I do believe the fact that their host went with them was key)... I'm happy to give you rotifers - - you'll only need 2 weeks to get a dense culture or two for feeding larvae...though until you see them spawning, I wouldn't start a culture...keep a close eye on their behaviors...IF they are going to spawn then you will definitely see them cleaning one spot for several days...I hope they're safe and comfortable enough in their new home to pick up spawning again!

Originally Posted by roadking1

Chris and Barb,I was looking at the CPR site for a new overflow and saw this and wondered if you guys had seen or tryed this yet?
CPR AQUATIC, INC - Wet/Dry Filters

No we haven't tried that but did research various products that were similar...here's my issue with any of them though:

1. I LOVE seeing and experiencing the whole process so I lose a few hours of sleep...to me it's so worth the experience
2. I want the larvae in the rearing tank with food as soon as possible
3. We're extra gentle in collection...not sure how gentle the product is
4. I don't want to put the larvae through 2 collections: 1st with the product and 2nd dumping them from the product into the rearing tank

though I'd be very curious to hear about pros/cons from others who do use it!