Broodstock Tank Cleaning

[Fishy Something]

Hi Folks,

Wondering if anyone altered their tank cleaning schedule according to where your pairs are at with their breeding cycle.

I find that I simply cannot put my hand in the tank without getting bitten by my female oscellaris when there are eggs in there so I tend to clean when there are none, but I have wondered if this was delaying the next spawn with the disturbance?

TIA

James

[rsman]

its what i do, i dont see it effecting anything too much, but my breeding tanks are not display tanks so "clean" never happens, and i dont want it to.

[Fishy Something]

Thanks for that.

BTW, I agree that there is clean & then there is clean. Mine are not display tanks either, but I do like to see the pairs through the glass occassionally & syphon the bottom every now & again - That is really all I am talking about when I say clean.

Cheers

[rsman]

i do keep the front piece mostly clear at least enough to see most things on a few tanks there is sand so ill siphon thru that a little now and then and when there is gunk on the bottom i do syphon it up, but only when the fish are between clutches.

[Atticus]

I built a vacum with a razor blade scraping edge out of pvc and a couple fitting that works great. It seems to bother the pairs less and I don't get bit by the black Ocellaris female anymore. Who would have thought the 6 inch maroon female would be chicken and the 3 inch black ocellaris will tear you apart???

[Fishy Something]

My female oscellaris is the same. When there is a nest she will jump out of the water trying to bite my hand when I feed them, & it is not to get at the food, she even does it if I keep my hand over the tank once the food is in there. She is only slightly less hostile when there are no eggs. It is making removing their pot on the night of hatch a real pain (literally)

[rsman]

my clarki just took skin, cause it was time to remove the pot and put a new one in

[David M]

Too funny, I was just sitting down to ask the same question I was wondering if cleaning disturbs a spawning pair, it doesn't seem to bother the seahorses one bit but now I have pairs of neon gobies in with them, I was afraid that if they start to spawn I might have to forego cleaning. The tanks have 1/2 of the bottom bare and the other half is a ug filter, this is so I can shut off the overflow when I'm expecting fry and collect them at my leisure. The ug filters need a good cleaning once a month or so.

[richardb42]

I clean the front glass when I find I can't tell if they've spawned or not. I might siphon the bottom if there's a huge buildup of brislteworms though...

[JHardman]

IME it really depends on the pair. I have pairs that I have to push out of the way and others that freak but keep spawning but sometimes they skip a cycle.