A few questions on clowns

[vcnt]

So I currently have two clowns in my 110-gallon tank that I added on 7/12, and yesterday I added a blue tang and a purple firefish goby. I currently feed one cube of mysis (1/2 2x daily) and starting yesterday added some nori sheets although tang hasn't seemed interested in it yet, shes eaten some mysis. If I want clown eggs how do I make conditions for them to start laying? LFS Lady told me they were a pair already and they were in the tank together and there was a clown by himself in the next tank and she said that my clowns kicked him out. Should I increase feeding to make them grow more? or would it just pollute the water?

My inverts are 3 zoas 1 Kenya 1 monti 1 lepto 168 cuc and 3 anemone crabs if that matters

 

[Jekyl]

Get an auto feeder and feed 4-6 times a day.

 

[vcnt]

Get an auto feeder and feed 4-6 times a day.

Heres a full tank shot, along with my other options for feeding cause my brother has his 40b goldfish tank

 

[Tamberav]

Feed quality frozen foods. Mine spawn like clockwork for and I feed 1-2 times a day, stuff like LRS, mysis with spiralina, calinus, only occasionally quality pellets like TDO (must be refrigerated).

Then is takes some time.

 

[Dread Pirate Dave]

Is that a quarantine tank in the picture our your 110 gallon? Your clowns may just need time to settle in.

 

[vcnt]

Is that a quarantine tank in the picture our your 110 gallon? Your clowns may just need time to settle in.

Thats my 110 xd

 

[vcnt]

Feed quality frozen foods. Mine spawn like clockwork for and I feed 1-2 times a day, stuff like LRS, mysis with spiralina, calinus, only occasionally quality pellets like TDO (must be refrigerated).

Then is takes some time.

I am also soon going to be starting a phyto and maybe copepod culture if that makes a difference

 

[Tamberav]

I am also soon going to be starting a phyto and maybe copepod culture if that makes a difference

I don’t feed those but I’m Sure some pods are in my tank.

Main thing is to just feed a variety of quality frozen and then you have to wait for them to get into spawning condition. They don’t look to be anywhere near ready but most fish from LFS are not.

No need to pollute the tank.

They will start to clean a rock when getting ready to spawn.

 

[vcnt]

I don’t feed those but I’m Sure some pods are in my tank.

Main thing is to just feed a variety of quality frozen and then you have to wait for them to get into spawning condition. They don’t look to be anywhere near ready but most fish from LFS are not.

No need to pollute the tank.

They will start to clean a rock when getting ready to spawn.

Whats a way to tell the age?

 

[Tamberav]

Whats a way to tell the age?

How long have you had them? Unless you specifically bought an older adult pair, they are probably young ones as most LFS have lots of turnover on clownish.

My pair has been with me I think 10 years or so but consensus used to be that the female needed to grow to a decent size and be about 2 years of age and fat/healthy. Sometimes it takes longer.

 

[vcnt]

How long have you had them? Unless you specifically bought an older adult pair, they are probably young ones as most LFS have lots of turnover on clownish.

My pair has been with me I think 10 years or so but consensus used to be that the female needed to grow to a decent size and be about 2 years of age and fat/healthy. Sometimes it takes longer.

Ive had them 5 weeks

 

[Tamberav]

Ive had them 5 weeks

I’d probably expect it to be awhile then


Feed them quality food in the mean time.

 

[landlubber]

So while they're not necessarily directly comparable i've had experiences with encouraging spawning behavior in freshwater fish just by preforming water changes.
I can't speak whether my clowns were ever receptive to this as clowns always seem to pick the least viewable corner to spend the majority of their time there lol

 

[Tamberav]

Checking my book, it states Clark’s are the fastest to spawn, about 15 months after they swim out of their egg case.

My guess is you probably have a year on average before they would spawn.

Any scrappy tank mates may deter them from spawning as being pre occupied with self defense won’t spawn as easily.

It mentions live hatched brine shrimp can be helpful.

 

[Tamberav]

Goes on to say that using only dry food is unlikely to produce spawning and use should be limited.

There is about 12 pages in feeding and spawning condition alone but basically fresh marine seafood.

These days we have lots of quality frozen options. A pack of LRS fish frenzy should do ya.

 

[Tamberav]

Not sure if a library would have these but they may be available used for cheap on eBay or such

 

[JayM]

Whats a way to tell the age?

The only way to know for sure is to know the birth date.

IIRC, clowns will be a year or two old before they are mature enough to start breeding.

 

[Jmcg89]

I had a pair spawning in my 180, I feed pellets in the morning and then a mixture of rods and mysis in the evening plus nori, I do feed pretty heavy though in those feedings.
Honestly if you aren't planning on raising the eggs which I did once it's kind of a pain if it's not a dedicated tank, it was for me anyway.
They became much more territorial after they started and were always chasing someone.
If I wanted a breeding pair again I would set their own tank up for them.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

What are the dimensions of your tank? Is it 110 including the sump or just by itself?

In addition to good quality feed (and feeding enough to actually fill the fish up sufficiently), I would also add something for the clowns to use as a host (BTA's are the go-to in the hobby, but breeders typically use things like clay flower pots).


Mysis is good for protein, but it's really lacking in healthy fats, so you would want to supplement mysis with some other foods to get a well-rounded diet for the fish to spawn with.

As mentioned, frozen foods like LRS, Rod's, and Hikari Mega Marine are really the top-quality feeds on the market (LRS in particular has the track-record to prove it), and they would be great choices for a primary/staple feed; but, being frozen, they are more expensive.

Pellets like TDO, Otohime (only available in larger quantities than most people want to buy), and NLS are good, cheaper options (though not as good as the frozen feeds) - TDO and Otohime are meatier feeds and would be good primary feeds while NLS has much more algae and would be a good supplement.


Also, as a note, Pacific Blue Tangs (Paracanthurus hepatus) are primarily carnivorous; they will eat some algae, but they prefer meat - these have been bred using LRS' now discontinued Fertility Frenzy feed as the primary feed:

For the blue hippo tang (Paracanthurus hepatus), A.K.A. the pacific blue tang;

"Feed on zooplankton and occasionally on algae (Ref. 9710, 48637, 27115, 83665)."***

"Pacific blue tang broodstock were fed a varied diet to apparent satiation three to five times daily. The diet consisted of a mixture of a commercially prepared seafood blend (LRS Fertility Frenzy, Larry's Reef Services, Advance, NC, USA); fish eggs (LRS Fish Eggs, Larry's Reef Services); frozen mysis shrimp, Mysis diluviana (Piscine Energetics, Inc., Vernon, BC, Canada); and a commercially available 1.7-mm extruded pellet ([EP1 – 46% crude protein, 16% crude fat, and 2% crude fiber], TDO Chroma Boost, Reed Mariculture, Inc., Campbell, CA, USA)."****

***Source:

Paracanthurus hepatus summary page

www.fishbase.de

****Source:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/action/oidcStart?redirectUri=/doi/10.1111/jwas.12426

 

[vcnt]

What are the dimensions of your tank? Is it 110 including the sump or just by itself?

In addition to good quality feed (and feeding enough to fill the fish up sufficiently), I would also add something for the clowns to use as a host (BTA's are the go-to in the hobby, but breeders typically use things like clay flower pots).


Mysis is good for protein, but it's lacking in healthy fats, so you would want to supplement mysis with some other foods to get a well-rounded diet for the fish to spawn with.

As mentioned, frozen foods like LRS, Rod's, and Hikari Mega Marine are the top-quality feeds on the market (LRS in particular has the track record to prove it), and they would be great choices for a primary/staple feed; but, being frozen, they are more expensive.

Pellets like TDO, Otohime (only available in larger quantities than most people want to buy), and NLS are good, cheaper options (though not as good as the frozen feeds) - TDO and Otohime are meatier feeds. They would be good primary feeds while NLS has much more algae and would be a good supplement.


Also, as a note, Pacific Blue Tangs (Paracanthurus hepatus) are primarily carnivorous; they will eat some algae, but they prefer meat - these have been bred using LRS' now discontinued Fertility Frenzy feed as the primary feed:

Thanks, my tank is 110 + sump, it's 48x18x29 I think and I do kind of dislike btas and in my opinion, macrodactyly do look better, so when the time comes, and if I can (if my clowns will like it, or it likes the clowns) have it I would want to have that. I was briefly looking into some varied food rather than just straight mysis 24/7, I think my LFS did say that he likes the LRS food so I'll probably vary by them as I've heard all good things from them. Thanks for the P. Hepatus info, I'll look into that.