tomato clownfish breeding

[bigfish_8]

can you give me the situation i'll need to have for a successful breeding for my tomato clownfish.....i only have one at the moment but im looking for a mate......he/she is first on my agenda of to-do list.....what kind of host should i get i will have low lighting for a while because of $$ problems but will upgrade asap ..........is their a certain food/vitamin you feed to them that will enhance breeding possibilities..... my tank specs are as follows.......20L,only 12lbs of lr and its going up though....,penguin biowheel 150(i know you all dont like them), penguin powerhead 660, 2 hermit crabs, 1 blue leg hermit crab(very small), 1 blue linkia starfish,and a 3-4in cc substrate(once again i know its not as good as ls but i got it for free and it was from a previous tank that was stabilized) please let me know of anything that i can do to increase the chances of them to breed thanks
Jon

[fish farmer]

Hi Jon,

I have reared Clark and Tomato Clowns. The first thing I would recommend is reading everything you can get your hands on involving ornamental mariculture. Two books I like that became my "bibles" are: Joyce Wilkerson's "Clownfishes" and a book by Frank Hoff called something like Rearing of marine fishes with emphasis on clownfish... Sorry I don't remember the exact title.

The best way to establish a breeding pair is to buy an already-established mated pair from a captive-bred facility like ORA (Oceans, Reefs, and Aquariums) at HBOI in Ft. Pierce, FL (www.hboi.edu) or C-Quest in Puerto Rico (don't know the http). Captive-bred clowns are much hardier, you know their ages, they aren't taken from already threatened coral reefs, they aren't as skittish, they eat like pigs, and they're acclimated to aquaria life. You can also buy a mate for the clown you have now, but even if this fish (probably a female if she's at least a year old) decides to accept a smaller male mate that you buy for her, it will not guarrantee that they will spawn. A proven mated pair increases your odds.

Clownfishes reach sexual maturity around 12mos. of age. They are protandrous hermaphrodites which means they mature into males first and then when there is an "opening" in their social hierarchy for a female, the largest male fish switches sex into a female. The female is dominant over the male who tends/aerates the clutch of eggs.

Again, I would strongly suggest reading up on this as you will also need to become proficient at microalgae, rotifer, and Artemia culture to provide your fry with food. Ornamental mariculture is a difficult, time-consuming, expensive field, but worth every penny and minute of frutration in my opinion!!!

HTH and Good Luck!!!

[billsreef]

The only thing I will add to fish farmers reply is that a host anemone is not necessary. Considering how difficult it is to maintain the host anemones in captivity that is a good thing.