HELP - My clowns had BABIES!!

[Janine1]

I have two clowns and apparently they've mated. I now have several fry swimming on the bottom of my tank. One of the fish is an Orange False Percula and the other is a Black Percula (so I have no idea what fish I'll end up with
My problem is this...all the sites I've read suggest that I shine a flashlight into the tank at night to remove the babies and raise them in a separate tank, feeding them rotifers. I don't have a separate tank, nor do I know what rotifers are, so I'm wondering if any fish will survive if I leave them in the tank.
Right now, they are hiding under the live rock on the bottom of the tank. I'm guessing I have about 20-30 (as far as I can see)
Thank you,
Newbie Janine

 

[blueoceandiver]

no i dont think they will make it in your tank.they need a speciel diet and a seperate tank to grow.

 

[blueoceandiver]

where are you located?there are some folks here in fl. that do raise them .

 

[Janine1]

I'm in NY and getting ready to go to the fish store to see what they suggest. I don't have an additional tank to put them in...

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Janine, welcome to RDO! :-D

As to your predicament, there's really not much you can do with this hatching. If your clowns did truly spawn, they will continue to do it regularly as long as they're happy. Most species of clowns spawn about every two weeks, with the eggs taking 8-10 days to develop and hatch.

Couple of questions:
- How long have the clowns been in the tank together?
- Have they exhibited any mating behavior, such as swimming next to each other, 'rolling around' each other, etc. over the past few weeks?
- Did you notice a patch of eggs somewhere in the tank within the past 8-10 days, usually near their anemone, on the underside of a sheltered area of rockwork, or on the back glass of the tank?
- Is one of the clowns noticeably larger than the other?

I ask because my gut instinct, seeing as how you have two different color-morphs of clown, is that you're not seeing clownfish fry, but rather copepods (small crustaceans). Copepods normally live in crevices and gaps in and under live rock, which sounds very much like what you're describing.

If you do in fact have spawning clowns, the fry can be rather difficult to rear, as they go through a couple different stages of larval and post-larval development that require very specific foods. Basically you will need a separate tank for the fry (I've heard of fry growing in a sump, but that's relatively rare), and a system for growing a stock of rotifers (which are a free-floating/swimming algae).

If you're interested in learning more, I suggest you pick up Joyce Wilkerson's book _Clownfishes_. It's an excellent reference for mating clownfish and raising the young.

 

[Ben1]

I second the recommendation of Joyce's book CLownfish. It is very good and explains everything in simple terms. You can easily set up a 10 galloon tank to raise the fry if you want to do that. You do need rotifers for the first stages then most people use baby brine shrimp (artemia) sp?
for the later stage then go onto flake. Some people use plverized flake as the second stage also.

If they are fry congrats! I wish mine would give me some fry and they have together years with no luck. They sleep together and do the mating dances but never lay eggs.

 

[Anonymous]

My maroons mated about a year or so ago and spawned regularly for about 3 months. Then I had some water quality problems and they haven't spawned again since. The tank is healthy again, and they're doing the 'dance', so hopefully I'll see some eggs eventually.

 

[MarkO1]

Janine,
first off "congats"
secondly, my Clarkii's regularly spawn (about every 11 days) laying about 300-400 eggs. The eggs incubate for about 7 days then emerge on the 7th and 8th nights.
I've had limited success raising the fry feeding them rotifers then weening them onto artemia, then crushed flake food. It is pretty time consuming, but absolutely awesome watching them transform from minnow like fry to little mini wabbly clowns.
I raise them in a 10 gal hex that is adjacent to my reef tank (water is syphoned from the main tank... this seems to work best). You will need another tank since the parents or other fish will consider the fry food.

Let me know if you're interested in raising the fry. Maybe I can give you some pointers.
_________________
history of recession

 

[Janine1]

I'm sure they're fry and not corepods and they definitely do the mating "dance"...I added an open brain to the tank about a month ago and I'm guessing they laid the eggs there (because they sleep there and dance there but I didn't see the eggs).
The orange clown is the larger than the black one (which sex would it be?) They've been together for about a year... Does anyone know what kind of fish I might get from the two types breeding?

 

[shalegac]

The larger of the two is the female.

 

[Janine1]

Thank you everyone...At this point, I'm gonna leave them in the tank and see what happens!

 

[Anonymous]

They'll probably just be food within a day. I've tried keeping clown fry in a separate container in the sump of a 200 gallon system, and feeding the tank as is just to see what happens. It's a large reef tank, and is fed every day with a lot of phytoplankton and zooplankton substitutes. None of them ever make it. Joyce Wilkerson's book is a really good one, and if you wish to raise the future hatches it's a great start.

Assuming both clowns are true perculas, Amphiprion percula, then there's no reason they couldn't produce viable offspring.

 

[reefland]

I've had my clowns spawning every few feeks for a few years now and I have yet to ever see a single fry free swiming anyplace in the tank. Are you possitive you see a fish? Mysid shrimp are quick moving, tend to swim in tight figure 8 patterns and are often mistaken for baby clown fish.

Pictures of my clownfish spawning: http://www.rl180reef.com/pages/fish/clownfish.htm

 

[Anonymous]

good point, reefland. Also, mysids and other copepods tend to hang out under rocks, while clownfish fry swim to the surface after hatching.

 

[Ralphyhp]

Awesome pics reefland, keep on the good work. Ralphyhp :wink: .

 

[MarkO1]

I only see fry on the nights of the hatch. By morning they are gone.
If you are going to raise them, you need to scoop them out about an hour after lights out on the night of hte hatch and put them into another tank.
_________________
Mercedes 200

 

[Saltykirk]

I will bet on them being Mysids, which is a great thing too. Fishes love them, even expecting parents! You could've gotten the mysids along w/ the green open brain you bought. I would think fry wouldn't last very long in an open tank w/ good current. Most people raise fry in tanks w/ sponge filters w/o water pumps. If they are fry, Congrats!

 

[Janine1]

OK - I was MISTAKEN -
I'm pretty sure they're shrimp - I don't know what kind...but they aren't fish. They have split tails and tiny antennas...Oh well, it was exciting while it lasted!

Thank you everyone for your help,
A newbie,
Janine

 

[Anonymous]

Janine - I was very sure you didn't have Clownfish fry but I didn't want to destroy your enthusiasm. You're not the first to make this mistake and you won't be the last.

Your "fry" are Mysid Shrimp. They are a beneficial tiny shrimp. It's still a good thing

 

[Anonymous]

First time my clowns spawned I thought the mysid swimming around my sump were the fry, too. No worries.