Ocellaris

[sean1]

I have two ocellaris in my reef tank that have been there for about a year. I have been trying to breed them with no success. I recently heard that some clowns will breed if they are given half a clay pot to lay on. I put one in about four months ago and they seem happy but there still hasn't been any spawning. Does anyone know what to do to make my ocellaris breed? By the way its a 29 with a 13 hour photoperiod and the nitrate, nitrite, ph, alkalinity and everything else except phosphate is under control. I am trying to get rid of it with phosban which I just added. If anyone has a suggestion about that it would help too. There is brown algae all over the bottom that I keep trying to remove.

[Morgman]

Feed your clowns at least 3 times daily a variety of foods including algae. That will help.

[lego]

I've had a pair of ocellaris clowns for 3 years.
I feed once a day.

I put in a 3" flower pot about 3 months ago, they ignored it for a few weeks, then one weekend after being away and no food for a few days, I came home to find them inside it. They have lived inside it and slept in it since.

Last weekend after 3 years they finally had their first clutch of eggs. They both tended to them for a couple days then the egss dissappeared.

So there is hope! I think the flower pot was key in making them feel comfortable enough to lay eggs... I had also lowered the temp slightly last week.

[Juck]

These may help things along:

Increase photo-period to 16-18 hours.

Feed with live-foods like Baby or Adult brine at least once a day (in addition to current feeding).

Raise water temp to 80f-82f.

Be patient,,, a year is about the minimum,,, two years is more realistic for a first spawn.