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My clownfish laying eggs.
In order to breed clownfish, you will need a mated pair. The easiest way to do this is to purchase a mated pair. Often times fish stores can order a mated pair or many online shops carry them as well. The second way you can be sure you have a mated pair is buy two clownfish when they are young. When clownfish are young, they are always males. Once they have determined the dominant fish, it will change sexes into a female. After some time, you will be be able to tell which is the female because it will always be larger. This comes after much fighting between the two fish.
Often times the female will nip at the males tail and the male will look like he is having a seizure. He will roll on his side and start twitching rapidly. This is his way of saying I give up to the dominant female. My fish took 6-8 months before the sex change was obvious. Any species of clownfish will work. I breed true perculas in my 150 gallon tank. Once they start breeding they will lay eggs every 12-18 days usually on a piece of live rock.
A tank of at least 30 gallons is needed to keep clownfish happy. Clownfish are not as sensitive as some other marine fish but keeping the water clean does make them more likely to spawn. Be sure to make weekly water changes of at least 10% of the total water volume. A good protein skimmer can make water changes less frequent. The other tank mates (if any) must be peaceful. Beware of putting different species of clownfish together. They often will fight and stress each other out. Stressed fish will not lay eggs. Having an anemone helps to make the clownfish feel comfortable to lay eggs. However, an anemone is not required. A good amount of live rock with plenty of hiding places will make the fish feel more comfortable. The lighting for the tank should be on a timer. A timer will get the fish in the routine of sunlight and darkness. Try to feed the fish at the same time everyday with a good mix of different kinds of frozen and flake food. If the fish are not getting the proper vitamins and nutrients, whatever eggs they do lay will most likely be of poor quality.
Once the fish have become acclimated and are on a regular schedule they will begin to act differently around spawning time. You will notice that the female suddenly gets thicker in the middle of her body. This could be an indication of a pregnant clownfish. You also might notice that the fish are constantly cleaning off a rock with their mouths and fins. This is to get the site clean for the eggs. When the day to lay eggs does come, you will notice a small tube sticking out of both the male and the female. On perculas it is in the center of their middle white stripe. This tube is where the eggs and sperm will come out of. First the female will swim back and forth on the clean part of the rock depositing eggs. When the male gets his turn he also will swim over the eggs to deposit sperm to fertilize the eggs. For close to an hour the fish will swim back and forth over the rock depositing eggs and sperm and constantly airating them with their mouths. If you missed the laying of the eggs, they will be stuck to the rock the fish have prepared and appear as an orangish color. The male cares for the eggs and will constantly swim back to the eggs and wave his fins on them to keep them aerated. You might also see him blowing on them or picking off the eggs that are dead. The clownfish will be very territorial about the eggs. Any fish that comes too close, regardless of size will be chased away or nipped at. This also goes for hands in the tank.
Happy, healthy, and comfortable fish will be more likely to lay eggs. Be patient with your clownfish and one day when you are least expecting it, your fish will begin to spawn. It can be a rewarding experience if the proper steps are followed.
hey,
i have a marine aquarium and i am only 12. i hope to buy a mating pair of clowns soon and hope that i will have the capability to bring them up. i would like to thank the creator/s of this website for giving me this valuable information. so thanks guys, keep it up!
Best of luck to you. Let me know in the forum if you need any more help. http://www.breedclownfish.com/forum
–Scott
what do you do with they eggs after? someone said you should take them out and put them in another tank so the corals won’t eat them?
I am so excited to find you site! I have a mated pair of gold strip maroon clowns that I have had for about 1 1/2 years. I noticed some eggs in my tank the other night and your site confirmed that they belong to the clowns! I had no idea that they would start breeding. I am not prepaired to try and hatch them in an controlled environment now. But I have gotten excellent information for the future. One question I have is if I were to take all the other fish out of my tank will the eggs survive?
The eggs might survive but it depends on the size of your tank. If the tank is too big the fry won’t be able to find the food unless you have a ton of rotifers. I really think you have to remove the clownfish babies and put them in a smaller tank where they can find food.
Thank you for the information about breeding clownfish. We have had a pair for almost 2 years and in the last month have laid 2 sets of eggs. But both times the eggs look small and are white-ish or clear. I have never seen them looking orange at all. Is there something we should be feeding them that will help with healthier eggs? We currently feed them frozen prepared cubes (called Formula 2). Thanks for any help.
The eggs are only orangish the first day or two then they turn a greyish color. The first couple time that the clownfish lay eggs, they sometimes are not a healthy batch. Keep feeding them high quality food and they should improve. The fish also improve with practice. Please see the forum.
can i breed clown fish in artificial sea water /
all of the information that you put on here is great and i may have missed the answer to my question. but anyway here goes. i have a 38 gallon tank all i have in the tank is live rock and 2 small clowns that i am raising for breeder fish. if that is the only two fish in my tank, is there ever a time that i need to remove the eggs or babies from the tank and put them in a separate tank. thank you for your help.
lance
I would put the clownfish fry into a separate tank. It allows the clownfish babies more of a chance of running into food (live rotifers). If they have to search an entire 38 gallons for food, they are less likely to find any since the tank is so big (unless you really really use a ton of rotifers). There is also a risk of the parent clownfish eating the babies. Keep us posted in the foum.
this was great. I’ve noticed the larger clownfish being aggressive to the smaller one and figured what was happening but didnt know what was going on wih he smaller one as he was acting as though he was having a seizure. I’m so glad I read this, yo’vereally helped me out and answered the question that has been running through my head for a couple of weeks now. Thanks!
hi my names sim and im only 13 im going to buy a wall tank and marine fish but i want to use the money from breeding clown fish to buy better marine fish so i just wanted to know how long does it take for the proses of sexing mating and laying the eggs take because i would like to see what i should do,,,
Also when i but the clown do i have to use live foods I.E. shrimps and small foods like that in sted of flake food
thank for you’re time
Sim
thanks for the information. really helpfull! these arent my fish set of clownfish but these r the first pair to be in breeding mode for me. im quite excited! but pretty scared at the same time. thanks very much!
I am interested in breeding clownfish, I would like to know if I can put different species in the tank together, or will this cause chaos?
Thanks.
Thanx i bought two clowns not a mating pair about two days ago and the big one was biting the small one and getting the seizure thing.Most people strugle to get them to go in the anemone but myne was in straight away. I wil post again if there is any progress or if i need help. Great forum thanks
Bazza
hi do you think they will lay eggs on dead coral rock
I got my clownfish about a month ago and been seeing the clownfish are folowing each other. One clown has been getting bigger than the other. I am trying to breed them. Are these a good sign that they will be good breeding fish?
Thanks!!!
About how old should the clownfish be when they start breeding? Thanks
I have two clowns that r soon to lay eggs, do I remove the eggs when they turn the grayish color or do I wait until they hatch? If I wait til they hatch how will I get the little shits out of the 220 gallon tank they currently reside in?? Thanks for any help u can give me!!
I would say up to a year for them to become sexually mature.#But usually less.
[...] it is here is a good link to check out A Breeding Pair of Clownfish | Breeding Clownfish _________ Perfection is attained by slow degrees; it requires the hand of time. [...]
okay i have a 45 gal salt water aquarium that i had just recently purchased about 4 months ago and i also have 1 black clown and also 3 orange clown fish. okay so here goes my Q now can the black and my orange clown fish breed and also is there to many fish in my tank i have a total of 6 fish including my clown fish.
hi great website.
i have had 2 clown fish in my tank for a year now and are both together in and out of an anenome. there are others in the tank including an eel and some crabs. naso tang yellow tang. 2 damsels. Obviosly any eggs that are laid will not last long. whats the chances of them laying eggs anyway. every thing in my tank get along fine. ive never really thought of breeding clowns but would love to give it a go. The 2 clowns were the first fish in the tank and they seem to be really happy and healthy. n e ideas.
thanks for all the info given. a very good site
You never know they might start breeding. Keep us posted in the forums.
Yes 6 fish of almost any size are too many for a 45 gallon aquarium. You are also creating a stressful situation for your clownfish, if you want them to breed. Yes black and orange clownfish can breed together.
Remove the rock when the eggs turn grey and you can see the silver eyes of the fry. Only remove the rock right before the lights are about to go out and it is time for them to hatch. Allow the parents to take care of the eggs as long as possible.
Yes clownfish will lay eggs on just about anything including dead coral heads and rocks.
Best of luck to you. Thanks for stopping by. A varied diet is good for the clownfish including flake, pellet, and frozen food.
Hi
how big should my fry tank be and how long can they stay there For on an airstone only. Will I need to fully cycle tank or can I use water from my excisting tank. Cheers
Use water from your existing tank. A 10 gallon tank works fine and isn’t too big that the fry can’t find the rotifers. You will have to closely monitor the water quality and do daily water changes.
Hi, I have two false black ocellaris clowns, I bought then as a pair. Watching them at the fish store week after week both of the fish have been following eachother, the guy at the place of purchase thinks they will breed. We currently have a 60 gallon setup with alot of live rock. I wanted to know if they will or have determined a sex yet? One of the fish is a bit bigger but it is not that noticable, does this mean they are to juvenile still? When they do decide to breed, when it comes time to pull the rock out of the tank you would say it is best to make sure the eggs are not exposed to the air ? I am really interested in breeding my clowns if this is the route they will take. How much is the Rotifer culture and the food that this culture eats ?
Thank you for all of your advice I have learnt alot !
i want to start breeding clown fish for my store. in the article you said to put them in a smaller tank. how do i get them from 1 tank to the other?
can pumps push the baby clowns into the filter and die??
i had shrimp eggs hatch before and it looked like they were getting pushed around everywhere from the pumps
As noted, you need to create a siphon with air line hose. Siphon the fry out of the tank and into a smaller tank.
Do Adult Clown fish eat baby clown fish ? plase tell me ok ?
You dont have to siphone them out you put a small flash light point it on the top of the water when the fish are hatching they go to the light hold a bowl in the water where the light is shining then siphone the rest of them out,
I’m starting a black & white true percula breeding 10 gallon with 8lbs. live rock and 6 2inch square tiles 15lbs live sand and crushed coral. aqua tech 5-15 filtration till eggs are laid then switching to octogon shaped undergravel modified to sponge filter. This is the identical setup that i’ll be using on two other breeding tanks for a pink skunk pair and a fire clown pair. i always have several tanks on stand by in case of ammonia spike or any other type of contamination. This is my first time breeding i feel totally prepared having read everything and the internet is wonderful, and remember you can never have too much knowledge or back-up equipment just in case. Remember you could ultimately be growing MONEY so treat them that way
Yes adult clownfish have been known to eat the young fry. This is why you need to move the fry to another aquarium.