Male clown rubbing on LR

[BigTomo003]

Hello, today I noticed that my male clown was rubbing against the lr, picking at it with his mouth and rubbing his belly on it too, its the same area which is a shallow overhang and relatively flat. He has no visible damage or diseases like whitespot or anything. The female is not doing this. He looks healthy and eats fine I got them when they where around 3cm long and the male is around 2" and female is about 3". I've had them for 7 months and there is no other fish in the tank atm. No corals although I have just ordered loads and an anemone for them. I've dosed medication just to be sure but he looks really healthy. As I said the male keeps rubbing and picking at the same rock what is it? They also seem to be hanging around that area. Thanks

 

[PicassoClown04]

Sounds like he wants the rock to host him. Clowns are weird, get a host coral in there for him and the behavior should stop

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Hello, today I noticed that my male clown was rubbing against the lr, picking at it with his mouth and rubbing his belly on it too, its the same area which is a shallow overhang and relatively flat. He has no visible damage or diseases like whitespot or anything. The female is not doing this. He looks healthy and eats fine I got them when they where around 3cm long and the male is around 2" and female is about 3". I've had them for 7 months and there is no other fish in the tank atm. No corals although I have just ordered loads and an anemone for them. I've dosed medication just to be sure but he looks really healthy. As I said the male keeps rubbing and picking at the same rock what is it? They also seem to be hanging around that area. Thanks

More than likely he is cleaning the area and then coating it with his slime. This is part of what the males do when ready to breed. In short, they prepare a spot for the female to lay her eggs on.

 

[BigTomo003]

More than likely he is cleaning the area and then coating it with his slime. This is part of what the males do when ready to breed. In short, they prepare a spot for the female to lay her eggs on.

Really?! I was going to mention she does look a bit fat lol. Hope that's what it is. That's exciting is I said I've raised them from babies and it's my first tank and I'd be upset if they died not to mention I've just splashed £300 on new corals and fish

How long does it take for her to lay them and what do u recommend to do as I'd like to raise the fry.

Thanks again

 

[PicassoClown04]

Really?! I was going to mention she does look a bit fat lol. Hope that's what it is. That's exciting is I said I've raised them from babies and it's my first tank and I'd be upset if they died not to mention I've just splashed £300 on new corals and fish

How long does it take for her to lay them and what do u recommend to do as I'd like to raise the fry.

Thanks again

I would set up a fry/kreisel tank. The fish breeding forum would be a good place to start researching

 

[PicassoClown04]

Clownfish Breeding questions?

Hello R2R members, I just stumbled across this page in my google travels so I am a new member. I have been breeding my Gladiator and Black Ice Clownfish for the last 6 months and have had some great success as well as a lot of failures. I am still working on trying to have better success with...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[BigTomo003]

I would set up a fry/kreisel tank. The fish breeding forum would be a good place to start researching

Thanks. Appreciate it. Just one more thing, aren't they too young to breed? Ive had them 7 months so there probably around 8 or 9months old.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

I would set up a fry/kreisel tank. The fish breeding forum would be a good place to start researching

This exactly. You will need a small tank or bucket, light aeration and rotifiers on hand to start.

 

[BigTomo003]

This exactly. You will need a small tank or bucket, light aeration and rotifiers on hand to start.

I have a 5g quarinteen set up, should that do?

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Thanks. Appreciate it. Just one more thing, aren't they too young to breed? Ive had them 7 months so there probably around 8 or 9months old.

Typically 1.5-2 years old. The behavior starts after they pair though. I have 2 gladiators that are about 6-7 months old and the male does it all the time, along with the “seizure dance”, as I call it. Scrapes the rocks, rubs his belly on it, then runs up to the female and does the dance. He then runs back to where he was cleaning and proceeds to clean, rub and dance there.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

I have a 5g quarinteen set up, should that do?

If they lay eggs, it will work. Read the post that @footgal posted and read up on it in the fish breeding forum as well. It can be very time consuming to take care of the fry.

 

[Mike N]

Thanks. Appreciate it. Just one more thing, aren't they too young to breed? Ive had them 7 months so there probably around 8 or 9months old.

If they are 2" and 3" they are probably older than 8-9 months old.

If you are serious about raising them (if eggs are laid) the first thing you want to do is invest in a rotifer culture as mentioned above.
You want a stable culture or two by the time the eggs hatch. (typically takes 3-5 days to build up the culture to the point you can harvest, so plan ahead)
You will probably want to get a vossen larval trap as well (unless the eggs are laid on something that is easy to move) to capture the babies after they hatch.

 

[BigTomo003]

If they lay eggs, it will work. Read the post that @footgal posted and read up on it in the fish breeding forum as well. It can be very time consuming to take care of the fry.

So would I just take the rock out with the eggs and put the clowns in with it? Yeah I'll check it out now

 

[BigTomo003]

If they are 2" and 3" they are probably older than 8-9 months old.

If you are serious about raising them (if eggs are laid) the first thing you want to do is invest in a rotifer culture as mentioned above.
You want a stable culture or two by the time the eggs hatch. (typically takes 3-5 days to build up the culture to the point you can harvest, so plan ahead)
You will probably want to get a vossen larval trap as well (unless the eggs are laid on something that is easy to move) to capture the babies after they hatch.

Yeah I have no clue how old they are I just know I got them relatively small and I've had them 7 months so there atleat u months old lol... Just noticed for the first time the female has joined him cleaning too

 

[Mike N]

So would I just take the rock out with the eggs and put the clowns in with it? Yeah I'll check it out now

You'd want to leave the rock in the tank with the parents until hatch night.
Then, transfer the rock with the eggs into the fry tank and let them hatch there. (dont transfer parents, they will munch the babies)

 

[Eagle_Steve]

So would I just take the rock out with the eggs and put the clowns in with it? Yeah I'll check it out now

If the rock is easily removable, yes. You want to do this when right before the eggs hatch. Also, @Mike N mentioned the rotifiers are key.

 

[PicassoClown04]

So the eggs will be laid on a rock/egg tile/glass. The parents should tend to the eggs and keep them healthy. I would put in the larval trap when you see the babies’ eyes. They usually hatch at night or early morning. They should be put into a fry tank (without the parents) and fed a steady diet of rotifers, some people leave the light on for the first 24-48 hours to help them hunt the rotifers. If you keep them fed and tank parameters stay good, you should have full fledged babies with coloration in about 2-3 months of course, this is super super simplified and you should definitely read some more detailed accounts of clownfish breeding

 

[BigTomo003]

If the rock is easily removable, yes. You want to do this when right before the eggs hatch. Also, @Mike N mentioned the rotifiers are key.

Thanks, yeah it's one of the main rocks separate from all of the others, I guess rofiters are like mysis or something? I need to look it up I'm still new to this lol

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Rotifiers are a small zooplankton, so to speak. Typically about 50-1000 µm in size. Think slightly larger than phytoplankton and smaller than copepods. In short, phyto are the microscopic plants and rotifiers are the microscopic animals.

 

[BigTomo003]

Rotifiers are a small zooplankton, so to speak. Typically about 50-1000 µm in size. Think slightly larger than phytoplankton and smaller than copepods. In short, phyto are the microscopic plants and rotifiers are the microscopic animals.

Okay, I'll order some online now after I research a bit. 100% want to try and raise them