My Clowns finally spawned!!!

[Rob]

im so excited i had to tell you guys...
for the past few months, i have been raising tomato clown eggs from a friends.
while waiting for my True Pecula's to start spawning.
i have had them for about a year now, and they have finally started.. :D
it looks like they laid them a few days ago, i just noticed the...

i will try and get some photos up soon.

[Jimm]

VERY cool Rob! I can't wait to see the pictures.

[Scott]

That is pretty cool. looking forward to seeing the pics, and to hear how it all goes.

[Rob]

yeah, i was so excited, i have been trying to get them to start for a LONG time...
will have some pics tonight, as long as they came out ok.

[gwen_o_lyn]

wooo hooooooooooooooo
w000000000000000000t!!
That's great Rob!!! YAY!! :mrgreen:

[Rob]

ok, here are the pictures of my clowns first clutch of eggs

http://www.talkingreef.com/forums/gallery/files/3/IMG_2953.jpg

and here are the happy parents... :D

http://www.talkingreef.com/forums/gallery/files/3/IMG_2952.jpg

[gwen_o_lyn]

looks like coralline to me Rob!! :p

[Rob]

yeah, the pictures suck...
my lens isnt good for those close up shots like that
the eggs are the little orange things under the males mouth (male is the one on the right)

[gwen_o_lyn]

That's what I thought- I can see em!!

[Scott]

Very cool, after you pointed out where exactly to look....I needed the help. :-)

[Rob]

yeah, they are hard to see in person...lol
i will not be trying to raise this clutch, as thy will likely eat them before they hatch.
i am going to let them eat the first few... but after that, they should be ready to go.. (yes this is normal..lol)

[gwen_o_lyn]

yum yum

...............

[Scott]

That'll be really cool to actually have a batch hatch....then I'm sure it will either be keep them or sell them to LFS for credit?

[gwen_o_lyn]

but keeping them alive isn't easy.. takes some practice... Rob will be a pro soon though, right?

[Rob]

yeah.. it definitely takes some practice...lol
i will be keeping at least one or two from the first clutch, but yes, i will be selling the rest... either to locals, or to the LFS's

[Reefbaby]

Hey congratulations to Mama and Papa! Are you going to name them all??? :-)

[Jimm]

Outstanding! Got rots? (That should be a t-shirt).

[Rob]

yes.. im going to name half coral jr, and the other half marlin jr...lmao..
sorry couldnt help it... :D

[Reefbaby]

:-) Cute!

btw...approximately how many eggs do clown fish usually lay?

[Rob]

a healthy clutch will have anywhere from 200-300 eggs

people who are really good can even get a +90% survival rate too..

im not that good yet..lol

[Reefbaby]

are you going to take them out into a separate tank and feed them there? It'd be great to log your follow-up! I had followed a pretty interesting thread from another site...would it be alright to post a link to it here?? Don't want to steal your thunder....

[pham411]

doh thats awsome that your clowns spawned... conditions must be perfect in your tanks.... good luck on the offspring.

[Rob]

are you going to take them out into a separate tank and feed them there?
yes, i have a couple tanks setup just for this purpose.

It'd be great to log your follow-up!
i am going to do my best to keep an active log here, but no promises..lol


I had followed a pretty interesting thread from another site...would it be alright to post a link to it here?? Don't want to steal your thunder....
by all means, if it has educational value, im all for it.

[JustDavidP]

Great news Rob...best of luck.

Even with a 90% success rate being reached by some hobbyists, that 90% will still have a fair number of misbars and other 'faults'. Nutrition is key now bro!

I want someone to try hatching clown eggs in a kreisel!

Dave

[Reefbaby]

Yeah...I was just reading about misbars. What's that all about? Does that mean that they're faulty and couldn't be sold?? Is it spontaneous mutation or what?

[Rob]

yeah, success rates can reach 98-99% if your good (i was being conservative)

misbars are when they have misplaces, or incomplete stripes.
so instead of it having a stripe all the way from the top to the bottom, it would be more link a spot on the top and a spot on the bottom.

in some species these are desired, not in many

[Reefbaby]

so what do people do with the misbars?

[JustDavidP]

Misbars are still wonderful pets.. they just miss the 'standard' and are not desireable to purists... like having a german shepherd that is too big, too small, too hairy to meet the standard... wonderful pets..just not 'show quality'.

[Reefbaby]

Is there such a thing as a "Fish Show"?? http://jm.g.free.fr/smileys/cute_smileys/roflmao.gif
...sorry to revive a dead thread...for some reason I just stumbled across this again...

[pham411]

question here about clowns. how do you choose a mated pair?

[Rob]

well sometimes you can buy "spawning pairs" but they are VERY expensive. easily costing $100 or more, sometimes much more.

the problem is that when disrupted (like when moving to a new tank) they will often stop spawning, and "may" never start again.

when i started mine, i choose to get a simple pair. which is just a pair that you know contains one male and one female. these are often found at LFS's for much less.

the cheapest way is to get two juviniles, or a femal and a juviniles and let them establish them selves. the catch to this is the farther back in the chain you go the longer you will be waiting for spawn.

the chain is as follows:
1.) non pair - two estranged, juveniles or any non "pair" set of clowns
2.) pair - a male and female
3.) bonded pair - male and female that have completed the multi month 4.) bonding rituals and have accepted each other as mates
4.) spawning pair - self explanatory

[fat walrus]

Rob, a lot of those spawning pairs are just wishful thinking. at best they will be a bonded pair, but more often than not, it just a pair. ever notice the HUGE female and the TINY "male" sold as a MATED pair? it is especially with any of the red type of clowns. i know that nature will not allow the most dominent of a group to mate with the tiniest of the same group. i think that a lot of the shippers just pick the biggest and the smallest together and call it a MATED or BONDED or SPAWNING pair. getting two juveniles will be in my opinion to be the most safe and cost effective way to go.

[Rob]

Walrus... when getting them from a common LFS, i agree..
what i was referring to was if you get them from specific organizations that deal in fish breeding. Many of these will sell you actual spawning pairs.

but i agree, when looking at a LFS, they are usually just "pairs" or 2 "non pairs" with a substantial size difference
this is not a bad thing, just dont pay too much for them.. ;)

[Warnberg]

Rob, if you where to estimate how old are your clowns? and did you do anything special to get them to start breeding? Reason I ask is because I have a pair of perc's that I have had now for about 18 months, they have found their spot in the tank, they never leave each other, they defend their spot, but no eggs yet. I have tried increasing light time and decreasing light times, increase temp and decrease temp, different foods but still not luck yet. Any ideas?

Thanks

[Rob]

i am not sure on age, but it sounds like your could be ready..
the thing that finally worked for me, was to feed the heck out of them.

if yours are in a community tank, then this might be harder
but basically, feed them as much as you can, an if they are ready they will start showing in a few weeks.. :)

i have found that nutrition is a very underestimated part in successful clown breeding

[thesaent14]

wow i just when to the hall thread this is relly good now i have a Q?? i have a sponing pair whitch i just got in my sump i will be moving really soon so i will have them in a beter tank by them self now my Q? is do i have to use dans rocks corals and al for them to start sponing back or i probaly don't have hope they my stop cus i got them out from there orijinal tank

[Rob]

well if i understand correctly, you should have to do anything to get them to start spawning again. granted, they will probably stop spawning, but keep them safe and well fed, and they should start spawning again.

[thesaent14]

i just got a nano cube for a good deal is a 12g it will be to small for them only some sand and some rocks

[Rob]

if i remember they are maroon clowns, yes a 12 gallon is not really big enough for maroons