Ways To Proficiently Breed Clownfish

Submitted by: Bince Olear

1. Breeding Pair of Clownfish

So that you can breed this kind of fish, you will need a mated pair. The most effective way to do is to obtain a mated pair and the second way is to own two clownfish if they are still young. Young clownfish usually are males but once the dominant fish was confirmed, the dominant fish will be the female. You will be able to know it is the female because it is usually bigger than the male fish.

Once they start on breeding, they will certainly lay eggs every 12-18 days on a section of rock. Be sure to make weekly water changes for at least 10% of the overall volume of water. Trying to keep the water clean will make them almost certainly going to spawn. A good protein skimmer a very good idea to be able to decrease the regularity of changing the water. If the clownfish has tank mates, the tank should be peaceful. It s not advisable to put different species of clownfish together simply because they may possibly fight and stress out each other. Remember that anemone fish don’t lay eggs if they’re stressed. An anemone helps the clownfish feel much more comfortable in laying eggs but it’s not required. You can use rocks with plenty of hiding places so that the fish will feel more comfortable.

It s best to use timer for the lighting for your tank. A timer will get the fish in the schedule of sunlight and darkness. Feed the fish in a particular time everyday with a mixture of flakes and frozen food. Note that if ever the fish aren’t receiving proper vitamins and nutrients, they’re going to lay eggs that have a bad quality.

If the fish become acclimated and they are on the regular schedule, they are going to begin to act differently around spawning time. If the female has a thicker line in the middle of her body, the fish is pregnant. If you notice that the fish is constantly cleaning a spot on the rock with its mouth and fins, it means that the fish is cleaning the site for the eggs. The female will swim over the site for a few times until she lays the egg, then the male follows to fertilize it. The eggs are orange in color and about 3-4mm in length. The male fish will protect and guard the eggs, and also eat the damaged egg and unfertilized eggs.

2. Preparations for Clownfish

In the first day the eggs are colored orange. After a couple of days they’ll appear grey, and then finally grey with silver eyes. If the silver eyes already appeared, they’ll hatch the following night. Before the eggs hatch, you will need to prepare the following:

a. Hatchling Tank

You should raise the baby clownfish in separate aquarium to make sure they can get proper food without competition from other tank mates.

. Live Rotifers

Baby clownfish don t eat flakes and any frozen food. They simply eat live food like rotifers. You’ll need Nannochlopsis or Rotifer Diet since it is food for rotifers.

3. Hatch Night

Clownfish eggs will hatch about a week or maybe more depending on the water temperature. You should check the eggs every day and when you notice that the eggs has a silver color this means that they’ll hatch after the lights go out or during the night. You need to remove clownfish fry from the aquarium and put them in the tank you prepared and ensure that the two tanks have similar salinity and temperature before you move the eggs.

Switch off the filtration system and pump in the tank. There shouldn’t be water current or flow in the tank. When the lights are off, wait for about half hour and switch on your flashlight into the water. Don’t shine the light at the eggs mainly because it will delay the hatchling process. The clownfish will probably be attracted by the light and swim towards it then begin siphoning the clownfish fry into the bucket. Then place it in the container you prepared but make sure that the eggs won’t be exposed in the air.

Once the eggs are in breeding tank, place an air stone or airline tube towards the eggs to make sure that the eggs gets enough air to hatch properly.

4. Feeding and Care

Keeping your clownfish fry alive can be hard. Your fry tank must consistently be filled with rotifers for the baby fish to consume. You will notice if the baby fish is dying because they may have problems in swimming, you’ll see them spinning in the water column, and sometimes they’ll sink towards the bottom then suddenly will start swimming again. If you see this within your tank, your clownfish fry are starving to death. If your fish begins diving like it is dropped to the bottom and is also having a difficulty in swimming, they will usually die in 24hrs. Add rotifers as quickly as possible. You’ll able to see your fishes eating the rotifers by noticing them swimming then stop, curving their tails and darting forward. Continue to feed rotifers for about a week then try feeding them with live shrimps.

Newly hatch brine shrimps are good for your fry. When brine shrimp hatch they leave a brown egg shell. The shells will always be floating and the shrimps for the clownfish are usually in the bottom. For the first two days it is best to feed the fish with both shrimps and rotifers to ensure they are still acquiring as much vitamins as possible.

Once the clownfish fry are already eating brine shrimps, their bellies will appear orange. That is a good sign that they are getting more than enough food. Make sure that the clownfish fry don’t go without food for more than 12 hours. Make sure that you always have live foods available for your fish.

About the Author: Bince loves fish and nature. For more about breeding clownfish visit his site about nature aquarium at

natureaquariums.org

Source:

isnare.com

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