Clownfish pairs

[PhishMonger84]

I’m stocking a 40 breeder mini reef and my next addition will be clownfish (pair?)

What’s your preference for obtaining a pair?

 

[Peace River]

It can depend on the species, but I typically add a small and medium (or small and large). I have also added two small clowns as well.

 

[exnisstech]

Buying a bonded pair can be easiest especially with larger aggressive clowns like maroons. Personally I grow out one to female and whe she gets larger I add the smallest one I can find at the LFS and introduce it with an acclimation box. Just how I like to do it.

 

[fodsod]

I just bought two that were already in a tank together. Both were about the same size and they paired up immediately. One is now female and almost twice as big. Very cool to see them pair up.

 

[o2manyfish]

Getting clowns to pair is not too difficult. They all start out as males and get along well. Then someone becomes a lil bossier and turns into the female.

Getting them to pair is not usually a problem at all. Getting them to spawn is a little trickier.

Some people have clowns that spawn like clockwork every 6-8 weeks.

I always have clowns in my reef tanks going back over 30 years and have only been aware of egg laying a handful of times.

My wife has decided to try clownfish breeding as an early retirement plan (not holding my breath) but we set her up a rack of tanks and are now trying to find or make pairs of clowns.

But if you want to spawn you need to be smart.

Thankfully the majority of clowns available these days are aquacultured. But this also means that when you, or the previous clown pair owner, gets their pair of clowns - there is a good chance those clowns are closely related - If not from the same brood, from the same in-bred farming facility (not said derogatorily - just a fact).

We are trying to avoid this and are buying pairs of clowns from different breeders and splitting them up to mix-match, to try to end up with a little stronger genetics.

Dave B

 

[exnisstech]

Getting them to pair is not usually a problem at all.

While this is true for most clowns it can be difficult for the larger species. I have had female maroons kill rather than bond.

 

[PhishMonger84]

While this is true for most clowns it can be difficult for the larger species. I have had female maroons kill rather than bond.

its a shame maroons have personality disorders the gold striped maroons have to one of the best looking fish available for smaller tanks ( sub 100 gallons)

 

[PhishMonger84]

Getting clowns to pair is not too difficult. They all start out as males and get along well. Then someone becomes a lil bossier and turns into the female.

Getting them to pair is not usually a problem at all. Getting them to spawn is a little trickier.

Some people have clowns that spawn like clockwork every 6-8 weeks.

I always have clowns in my reef tanks going back over 30 years and have only been aware of egg laying a handful of times.

My wife has decided to try clownfish breeding as an early retirement plan (not holding my breath) but we set her up a rack of tanks and are now trying to find or make pairs of clowns.

But if you want to spawn you need to be smart.

Thankfully the majority of clowns available these days are aquacultured. But this also means that when you, or the previous clown pair owner, gets their pair of clowns - there is a good chance those clowns are closely related - If not from the same brood, from the same in-bred farming facility (not said derogatorily - just a fact).

We are trying to avoid this and are buying pairs of clowns from different breeders and splitting them up to mix-match, to try to end up with a little stronger genetics.

Dave B

I wish you guys the best of luck. Will you focus on natural types, captive bred strains or creating your own line in the long run?

 

[exnisstech]

its a shame maroons have personality disorders the gold striped maroons have to one of the best looking fish available for smaller tanks ( sub 100 gallons)

I had a pair of Gold stripe for several years. I ended up having to rehome them. They were in a 6ft 150 gallon and the female took over half of the tank and chased away any fish that got near even larger fish like my naso. The final straw was when she started ripping corals of off her rocks even tho she had nems to hang out in.

 

[PhishMonger84]

I had a pair of Gold stripe for several years. I ended up having to rehome them. They were in a 6ft 150 gallon and the female took over half of the tank and chased away any fish that got near even larger fish like my naso. The final straw was when she started ripping corals of off her rocks even tho she had nems to hang out in.

They seem like overgrown convicts or midas's from the freshwater space

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

Ive done both methods, bought 'paired' clowns and paired them on my own. I'm with @o2manyfish the pairing isn't a big deal but imho the spawning is.

I currently have a small skunk pair that's occasionally laying eggs. No pattern, but I notice the female getting fat and suddenly both are hovering at a rock & pecking at the rock versus hanging out it their host mushroom, I figure eggs are being deposited on the rock. Downside its the cuc or some other fish is devouring the eggs in typical fashion.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I’m stocking a 40 breeder mini reef and my next addition will be clownfish (pair?)

What’s your preference for obtaining a pair?

I started with a dozen and all seemed to have paired- lucky me. I have sold two pairs in the past and have 4 breeder pairs of percs along with 2 other clowns currently .

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

While this is true for most clowns it can be difficult for the larger species. I have had female maroons kill rather than bond.

Ive done a few maroon pairs over the years (regular & gold stripe), they arent too terrible, lol. Tomatoes IMHO are the worse, the spawn of satan in the clownfish world. Downside is my current maroon pair cant have ANY anemones as the female is so aggressive to the nem as she smothers it to death. I've lost two RBTA's and a giant seabe to her madness.

 

[PhishMonger84]

I started with a dozen and all seemed to have paired- lucky me. I have sold two pairs in the past and have 4 breeder pairs of percs along with 2 other clowns currently .

This is what I’d like to do but I’m not sure I have an avenue to distribute the oddballs.

The coral reef TN has great prices on clowns but I don’t know how I can avoid getting siblings.
I like the misbars, mai tai, gold stripe maroon, nearly naked and true percs

 

[marcosnano]

I bought a pair, female is much larger and they are really fun to watch.

Yesterday I noticed a male is cleaning one specific part of the rock with his mouth, is he preparing the rock for the eggs? Rock is right next to torch coral, which he might think it's anemone.

 

[o2manyfish]

I wish you guys the best of luck. Will you focus on natural types, captive bred strains or creating your own line in the long run?

Unfortunately the natural types are so widely bred that the volume she would need to raise to make any money is staggerring. So I am starting her off with Desginers and mixing them with Longfins to see what shows up. Her system as built can handle 8 pairs of clowns. If she makes this easy, then I would look into getting rarer wild strains like from the Red Sea or Seychelles so she has something different to work with.

Dave B

 

[Rusty_L_Shackleford]

I really wanted a pair of onyx Picasso percs, so I drove 2 hours to buy direct from a breeder. I bought 2 with one being significantly smaller. I've had them 6 months and it's worked out fine.