spawning clowns

[divedeep1689]

hi everyone i have my two false percula clowns in my main tank right now my 55 gal i still have my 29 gal tank my false percs look like they are trying to mate its just that other fish keep bothering them wat do yall think could i possiby set my 29 gal tank up by using two hang on filters that are currently in use on my 55 gal and some of the water from my 55 gal which would help my 55 with a good water change and its salt level is already a little high right now si it could help lower it and also a hang in tank heater from 55 and a few pounds of live rock from 55 . so bassicaly wat i am saying is that is it possible to run my 29 gal tank with two hang on filters already fully cycled filters a few pounds of live rock a hang in heater no substrate a clay pot and clay tile is it possible to run my 29 on that with my two clowns in it to spawn just once?

 

[Ziggy953]

Yes you could do that.

How long have you had the clowns? Have they actually laid eggs before? Clowns exhibit a very distinct behavior when they are about to spawn. Female clowns will not lay eggs until they are at least 2 years old. You will know she is getting ready to lay eggs because her belly will look very swollen. The male will spend most of his time cleaning an area. Typically the eggs will be laid right before the lights go out on the tank. They take anywhere from 6-9 days to hatch.

Paired clowns will show signs of spawning long before they actually spawn. I have a pair in my main tank that have been cleaning and carrying on for at least 9 months but neither is old enough to spawn yet. I also have a pair in my frag system that spawn every 11-13 days. They have been together for over 3 years.

To answer your question, yes you can use a 29g tank for the clowns, however you will need to make certain that the temp, ph, sg and all other water parameters are near perfect to get the clowns to spawn. If they are still young you may be spinning your wheels at this point though.

Go to amazon.com and look for Joyce D. Wilkerson, she has a book called Clownfishes, buy it and read it. Great information in there about clownfish and breeding them.

 

[divedeep1689]

the clowns not really sure how old they are i bought them from petco i have had them oh about 4 months now the female looks larger and her belly every so often does look swollen to me even my gf noted that to me after i noticed it the both have been rubbing thier bellies against the pipping of my diy overflow box that you can see in my pics on my profile they take turns doing that but never lay eggs they do it against the vertical pipe not the horizontal would eggs even stick to thaT? OTHER FISH IN MY TANK INCLUDE TWO DEVIL BLUE DAMSELS THREE BLUE YELLOW TAIL DAMSELS ONE THREE STIRPE DAMSEL ONE SGT MAJOR ONE LAWNMOWER BLENNY AND OF COURSE MY URCHIN AND SAND SIFTER STAR

 

[divedeep1689]

And yes i have that book you mentioned i bought it back when i got the clowns this has been my intentions with these beautiful fish

 

[Ziggy953]

If you have had the clowns for about 4 months then I would venture to guess a few things. 1st they are probably about a year old. PetCo and most LFSs will get clowns when they are 6-10 months old. Breeders are usually shipping them out at that age, sometimes sooner. 2nd, there is a very good chance that your clowns came from the same batch of eggs.

Clowns will rub and "host" just about anything in the tank. From what you are describing they are hosting your overflow. The pair I have in my display tank go between my rose bubble tip anemone, my duncan coral and some mushrooms. The behavior is a good sign but not necessarily an indication of spawning.

I couldn't help but notice that you have 12 fish in a 55g? That's a lot. Just an observation.

 

[divedeep1689]

yea it is alot i know i kinda thinking about getting rid of the three blue yellow tail damsels but no one wants them i used them to break the tank in and they are still the clowns and other damsels came from my other tank when i moved everything over only tank besides the 55 i have is the old 29 but i would like to make it a breeding tank besides that i have a cheap cheap one gallon tank thats not suitable for no type of salt water fish lol altho wonder how the yellow tails would do in there lol on my night stand beside my bed lol