Ways to Correctly Breed Clownfish

1. Breeding Pair of Clownfish

So that you can breed this sort of fish, you need a mated pair. The simplest way to do is to find a mated pair and the second way is to obtain two clownfish if they are still young. Young clownfish usually are males but once the dominant fish was confirmed, the dominant fish is a female. You will be able to tell it's the female simply because it's usually larger than the male fish.

Once they start on mating, they'll lay eggs every 12-18 days on the piece of rock. Don't forget to make weekly water changes for at least 10% of the total amount of water. Trying to keep the water clean can 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. In case your clownfish has tank mates, the tank must be peaceful. It’s not advisable to put different types of clownfish together simply because they might fight and stress out each other. Remember that anemone fish do not lay eggs if they're stressed. An anemone helps the clownfish feel more comfortable in laying eggs however it is not required. You can use rocks with lots of hiding areas so that the fish will feel much more comfortable.

It’s advisable to use timer for your lighting for the aquarium. A timer will get the fish in the routine of sunlight and darkness. Feed the fish in a specific time each day with a mixture of flakes and frozen food. Note that if ever the fish aren't obtaining proper vitamins and nutrients, they're going to lay eggs which have a poor quality.

If the fish become acclimated and are on the regular schedule, they will 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 see that the fish is constantly cleaning an area on the rock with its mouth and fins, this means that the fish is cleaning the site for the eggs. The female will move over the site for a lot of 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 broken egg and unfertilized eggs.

2. Preparations for Clownfish

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

a. Hatchling Tank
You must raise the baby clownfish in different aquarium to ensure they will get proper food without competition from other tank mates.

b. Live Rotifers
Baby clownfish don’t eat flakes and any frozen food. They only eat live food like rotifers. You will also need Nannochlopsis or Rotifer Diet since it is food for rotifers.

3. Hatch Night

Clownfish eggs will hatch about a week or 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're going to hatch after the lights go out or at night. You have to remove clownfish fry from your tank and put them in the aquarium you prepared and ensure that the two tanks have the same salinity and temperature before you transfer the eggs.

Turn off the filter and pump in the aquarium. There should be no water current or flow in the fish tank. When the lights are off, wait for about half hour and turn on your flashlight into the water. Do not shine the light at the eggs because it will delay the hatchling process. The clownfish will be attracted by the light and swim towards it then begin siphoning the clownfish fry into the bucket. Then put it in the fish tank you prepared but make sure that the eggs are not going to 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 sufficient air to hatch properly.

4. Feeding and Care

Keeping your clownfish fry alive can be hard. Your fry tank must always be full of rotifers for the baby fish to eat. You will notice if the baby fish is dying because they could have trouble in swimming, you'll see them spinning in the water column, and sometimes they'll sink towards the bottom and then suddenly will start swimming again. If you see this in the tank, your clownfish fry are starving to death. If your fish starts diving like it is dropped to the bottom and is having a difficulty in swimming, they're going to 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 a week and then try feeding them with live shrimps.

Newly hatch brine shrimps are perfect for your fry. When brine shrimp hatch they leave a brown egg shell. The shells are always floating and the shrimps for the clownfish are usually at the bottom. For the first 2 days it is best to feed the fish with both shrimps and rotifers to make sure that they're still getting as much vitamins as possible.

Once the clownfish fry are already eating brine shrimps, their bellies will be orange. That is a good sign that they are getting more than enough food. Be sure that the clownfish fry never go without food for more than 12 hours. Just remember to always have live foods available for your fish.