lbiminiblue
Well-Known Member
by dirty do you mean dirt or algae? Because you need SOME algae in every tank, it's never a good thing to wipe it all out. read up, and if you can't figure it out, break all of them up into diff. pairs.
are my clowns infertile?
- Thread starter grahf
- Start date
once every 2 weeks i do a general clean up wherein i clean and scrape all the algae that i can get. but before that, i leave the tanks with algae. i just syphon whats on the bottom.
about the brines, i use hikari brines. so theyre already gut loaded and i feed those 8 pairs everyday with it 3 cubes + 1 cube of mysis then some pellets and california maki eggs.
about the brines, i use hikari brines. so theyre already gut loaded and i feed those 8 pairs everyday with it 3 cubes + 1 cube of mysis then some pellets and california maki eggs.
lbiminiblue
Well-Known Member
wow I don't know what else to tell you...lighting schedule is proper and they don't have too much stress, I gather? Maybe there's something causing them discomfort, possibly lights too bright? IDK what to tell you.
Im well read on clown breeding, just have no time to do it myself. i have a couple of suggestions for you. Hatch some baby brine shrimp or buy some frozen, add that to the tanks with the food. Clowns wont eat it, but they can "Taste" it in the water. If the water is too "Sterile" they wont lay. They sense there's no food for the babies, so they'll lay and eat the eggs, or wont lay at all. Adding some powdered algae, maybe a sample of rotifers, and some baby brine shrimp may help them get the feeling its a good environment for babies. The other suggestion is tank temp. Hasnt been mentioned, but 80-81 degrees F will help stimulate them. Keep them on the high protein diet, including mysid. Has the stuff to make the egg shells.
their diet has to be high protein
tank temp has to be high 80-81
water has to have some elements they can detect as possible food source for babies.
water cannot be as "Sterile" as most keep their reef tanks.
their diet has to be high protein
tank temp has to be high 80-81
water has to have some elements they can detect as possible food source for babies.
water cannot be as "Sterile" as most keep their reef tanks.
it has been a few months ago but still all my pairs are not yet breeding. i stopped feeding them brine shrimp and mysis so I can remove the idea of them having egg bound. but still no luck. i feed them lots of flakes and pellets. I have a friend that has a breeding pair. here are their babies. I was the one who got the eggs and grew them. I have 3 batches
lbiminiblue
Well-Known Member
so no luck breeding? Keep us posted.it has been a few months ago but still all my pairs are not yet breeding. i stopped feeding them brine shrimp and mysis so I can remove the idea of them having egg bound. but still no luck. i feed them lots of flakes and pellets. I have a friend that has a breeding pair. here are their babies. I was the one who got the eggs and grew them. I have 3 batches
What I mean about too clean is that I remove almost all the algae in the tank but yes I still see pods in the tank. I do regular water exchanges and I syphon the bottom daily. The white stuff I see is like a mat. Just white dots that look like dried liquid paper on a paper. Only 1 pair does that every 2 weeks. The pair only secretes that white stuff but they dont have eggs. That is why im thinking that one might be infertile. This march if they still dont make eggs, I will try to pair up the same species of clowns ( true perc + true perc, black ice + black ice etc ) and see if they lay. I will take a picture of the white mat if they make it again maybe next week. Im not sure about sick clowns, but one black clown is always darting his face on the glass underneath him. Probably seeing her reflection there but im not too sure. I put in blue paint under the tanks. Maybe its thinking to dive in it because its blue. The rest are acting normal and eating OK ( not great ). Next time im also thinking of adding chaeto and mangroves. I did not put any Liverock,sand or anything. Just foams, skimmer and lots of ceramic rings for filtration. I also add live brines to let them know that food is abundant but still no eggs.
Now I have seen the pair that has been trying to lay eggs for quite a while now and all i see are white dots. This is what I saw while theyre doing it. Theyre doing the normal "passing" on the pot, female first, then the male "tries" to pass to the eggs too. For every pass, I saw the female lay 1-2 eggs. Then the male and female eats them. Then the female lay eggs again then eat again. So they have been doing this for 5-6x already. I thought they never had eggs but theyre were just eating them. What should I do? My big problem here is that even the female eat the eggs. They both eat their eggs. Is there even a chance that the female will stop eating her eggs if I change her partner? Or she will never learn from it because its already been 6x atleast?
lbiminiblue
Well-Known Member
so they're actually laying?? that's great!! I hear that clownfish take a while to really get some experience in the mating process and eat their first few. But 6 times?? I think that's a little too much. i'm not sure if BOTH fish or just the female eat the eggs, but I don't think a sex change will help a ton. Keep us posted.
yes! they are laying. after every 2 eggs laid, they will eat them then lay again and yes they have been doing this ever since. This is the first time i saw them do it but probably they do it every time. now i see LOTS of white dots in the pot. so if they dont eat the eggs, i will have lots of eggs by now yes both the male and female are eating the eggs. the thing is, i have 8 pairs in the tank and this is the only pair thats laying regularly but they eat all the eggs. i wonder whats wrong with the other pairs? theyre atleast 2 inches big already.
and yes they have been doing this ever since. This is the first time i saw them do it but probably they do it every time. now i see LOTS of white dots in the pot. so if they dont eat the eggs, i will have lots of eggs by now yes both the male and female are eating the eggs. the thing is, i have 8 pairs in the tank and this is the only pair thats laying regularly but they eat all the eggs. i wonder whats wrong with the other pairs? theyre atleast 2 inches big already.
lbiminiblue
Well-Known Member
That's bizarre. I know clownfish need to maintain their eggs. Maybe, when they lay the eggs, net the clowns before they can eat them. THen, get a mated pair that has the most interaction between themselves and put them with the eggs. MAYBE, they'll take care of the eggs like their own, or they may eat them. If they eat them, it may trigger a response to lay, I'm not sure. I know this method is used with finches- i.e a zebra finch lays eggs and a baby falls from its nest- the parents will REFUSE to receive the baby, and will continually push it out once it's left the nest prematurely. If you put that baby with society finches, they'll accept it and raise it. Not sure if this will work with fish, which i believe are a little less personal. But it's worth a shot, and if you don't stress the clowns too much, it should be fine. I would try this.yes! they are laying. after every 2 eggs laid, they will eat them then lay again
i was thinking to do that also to the eggs but the problem is, theyre laying the eggs per 1-2 pieces only then eat then lay again one or two eggs then eat. they dont lay a lot then eat. thats the problem. I have heard that they do this normally for the first to 3rd batch. if they still eat the eggs past the 3rd batch, theyre a bad pair and should be either separated or dont use at all... sad... theyre the only pair i have thats laying and theyre not taking care of their eggs at all...how bad can it get really