Clownfish eggs being eaten?

Caesar305

Member
Hi everyone!

My perculas starting laying eggs. Each time, about 6 days in and you can start to see the silver eyes inside the eggs they seem to start disappearing. The first batch I thought it was because they all hatched however last night I waited after dark for the last batch to see if they would hatch. To my surprise I noticed I had about 5 bristleworms eating the eggs! At least they appeared to be, not sure if they eat these kind of things.

The next morning half of the eggs were missing and now I checked again tonight and I would say there are about 10% remaining. :(

Not sure what I can do. It seems the worms are eating them before they hatch.

Any suggestions?

Thanks
 

DaveK

Well-Known Member
Are you attempting to breed the fish and raise the fry?

If that is the case, set up a breeding tank and make sure there are mo bristle worms or other hitch hikers in there.

If your not trying to raise the fry, then you really don't need to do anything. In the FW world, fish spawn in the display tank and the eggs almost always get eaten by the other fish.
 

shark32

Active Member
I caught my tang picking my clown's eggs off the rock... like Dave said, unless you set up a breeding tank, unfortunately the eggs will just be extra food for your tank inhabitants...
 

chipmunkofdoom2

Well-Known Member
Clownfish are one of the easiest marine fish to raise in captivity, but that doesn't mean "so easy you can just leave them in your DT and they'll grow to fully-sized clownfish." You'll need a separate breeding tank designed specifically for raising fry, as well as specialized foods to feed the miniature clowns.
 

Caesar305

Member
Yes I am planning to breed them. I do have a separate tank but I thought I couldn't move the eggs until the day of hatching. The problem is I am not even getting to that point before the bristleworms eat them!
 

silver97

Active Member
I read somewhere that if you see the silver eyes that means they will hatch within the next 24 hours, usually at night after your lights go out.
I'd try and maybe move them into the hatching tank when you see the eyes and maybe your bristleworms wont get to them?
What are the clowns spawning on (live rock, flower pot, tiles?) This might limit what you can move, but if you can and do decide to move them you have to keep them submerged underwater or else they will die from shock before they even hatch. If it is on live rock, there is probably a good chance that there will be a worm or 2 that moves over, so it might not be safe in that case
http://www.breedclownfish.com/
This is a great website I read a while ago that gives a lot of the basics and a lot of useful information. When my clowns start to spawn I am most likely going to leave them be for a while but will eventually make all the changes to try and raise the young.
 

Caesar305

Member
Yeah, I've been reading a lot. I thought they would hatch two days ago because I saw the silver (eyes). That is when I noticed the worms eating the eggs as I was waiting for them to hatch. There were about 20 eggs left last night but they still didn't hatch and they looked very very silver. I thought certainly they would hatch! This morning I checked and they were pretty much all gone.

My guess is, the worms start smelling them as they near hatching and eat them while the clowns sleep.

I'm going to place a piece of transparent plexiglass and see if they lay it on their for easy transporting. I wonder if I move them a few days earlier if that hurts their chances. I need to move them before the bristleworms start eating them.
 

silver97

Active Member
Another thing to consider is that some of the eggs don't even hatch, so the bristleworms might be eating the dead ones. You could just be really unlucky and the eggs just die off quickly too.
Plexiglass might not be the best, just for the sole fact that you can see through it. It might make the eggs stand out to the other fish and things that would want to eat them. I think the clowns would want something where, although flat, they dont see through because it might confuse them and so its more secure. This is why people use ceramic flower pots or flat ceramic tiles, the clowns host in them, lay the eggs and then you can easily switch them out with another one when the eggs are about to hatch.
Another thing to make sure of is that your hatching tank parameters are the same as the tank where the eggs are coming from. Even the smallest difference can have a major affect on the fry because they are much smaller and way more sensitive than older fish who can handle it.
 

Antics

Active Member
We have a mated pair of Picasso clowns in our display at work. Today the Mandarin challenged the clown's to their eggs and would not back down. Was actually surprising how aggressive the mandarin was.
 

silver97

Active Member
Yeah considering that mandarins are pretty much opportunistic feeders, I'm not surprised at hearing that. Probably a bit more filling than a few 'pods haha
 

Caesar305

Member
This time managed to take the live rock out and place it in a separate tank. I waited until say 7 before moving, the eggs did not touch air and I could see their eyes. I figured they should hatch within the next day or two.

Well, the live rock I transferred had about 50 worms! I've been taking them out when they come to feed on the eggs. (Also set some traps). It's now day 9 and half of the eggs have turned white! (See pic). Not sure what that means, some sort of fungus maybe? I have an air stone under and a hang on back filter that is barely moving the water (have it on its lowest setting).
 

nanoreefing4fun

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
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Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
None of my eggs ever turned white. They go from orange to silver w/eyes and then hatch. You will want enough current around the eggs to make them move. Clownfish continuously blow on the eggs to keep water flowing in and around them until they hatch. w/o clownfish in the tank doing this, you will want to make sure there is enough current that does this.







I've had my fair share of predators in the tank eating the eggs. The clowns were horrible at first in defending their eggs. Hermit crab, nasarrius snails, and cleaner shrimp were all predators that I witnessed. I'm sure in the middle of the night worms and other critters also partook of the eggs as well. The clowns are much better at defending their eggs now. Just give your clowns time and they should get better at it.
 

Caesar305

Member
Well, I tried the Pot, plexiglass, tile, etc. nothing worked, they just wouldn't lay the eggs on anything I put in the tank. When I tried moving the live rock, the eggs never hatched. I bet it's because the worms poked holes in the eggs. I tried removing as many as I could but sometimes I would find 3 or 4 in the middle of all the eggs.

:'(
 
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