My clown has laid eggs

fancyfish · #1 07/28/2007, 09:29 PM

Thought I would share some photos. I happened by the tank at the right time and saw my clown laying eggs. The female has been in my tank for a long time....not exactly sure but at least a year if not longer. The male was added about 4-5 months ago. I never expected this to happen.

fancyfish · #2 07/28/2007, 09:35 PM

a couple more

tanglovers · #3 07/28/2007, 09:41 PM

Nice looking pair are they perc or ocellaris?

skippy2 · #4 07/28/2007, 09:42 PM

That's too cool!!!! I've been waiting forever for my pair to get busy.

Great pics too!!

fancyfish · #5 07/28/2007, 09:47 PM

In all honesty I am not sure if they are percs or occilaris so anyone who can tell me please do so. Thanks skippy I tried to get up close and also tried to use a slow shutter speed to blur the action a bit so people could get an idea of their movement. You can see this especially in the last photo

onthecourt4life · #6 07/28/2007, 09:53 PM

look like ocellaris but could be wrong

tanglovers · #7 07/28/2007, 09:58 PM

I would guess ocellaris as well, if you count the dorsal spines that way you can tell for sure.

agsansoo · #8 07/29/2007, 01:58 AM

Great looking pair of clowns. Are you planning to raise the fry ?

SPARTAN VI · #9 07/29/2007, 03:19 AM

Don't A. Perculas have a bold black outline along their stripes vs. A. Ocellaris with thin black outline? Couple of those shots make that black outline look somewhat thick.

Congrats on the clutch!

fancyfish · #10 07/29/2007, 06:41 AM

I was not planning on raising the fry as I have no idea how. I guess I can see if someone local can help me out. I will post on the ARC web site...atlanta reef club and see.

Slakker · #11 07/29/2007, 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by SPARTAN VI
Don't A. Perculas have a bold black outline along their stripes vs. A. Ocellaris with thin black outline? Couple of those shots make that black outline look somewhat thick.

Congrats on the clutch!

As for identification techniques, the coloration is flimsy at best. There are Percula varieties (i want to say vanuatu) that don't have any black on them.

These, however, are Ocellaris. If you want to raise the fry, pick up the book "Clownfishes" by Joyce D. Wilkerson. It's a great read, and has tons of information in it. Also check out the FAQ at the top of this forum, there's a great rearing thread linked in there

henryjd · #12 07/29/2007, 10:38 AM

I have some eggs that will hatch tonight(I think). I have had them breeding for 8-10 months and each time the eggs hatch and I assume are eaten as it happens at night in the dark. The clowns are laying the eggs on the back wall of the tank in an area close to the live rock. There is no way to get the eggs out of the tank and with 7 other tank mates I assume there is a feeding frenzy. Any suggestions on how to possibly capture/save some of the babies? Will the fry eat frozen rootifers?

fancyfish · #13 07/29/2007, 10:47 AM

thanks slakker. will read the links as you mentioned.

SPARTAN VI · #14 07/29/2007, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Slakker
As for identification techniques, the coloration is flimsy at best. There are Percula varieties (i want to say vanuatu) that don't have any black on them.

These, however, are Ocellaris. If you want to raise the fry, pick up the book "Clownfishes" by Joyce D. Wilkerson. It's a great read, and has tons of information in it. Also check out the FAQ at the top of this forum, there's a great rearing thread linked in there

Gotcha chief.

Second on the book. I bought it last week and makes a great read before bedtime and during my breaks.

chrisstie · #15 07/29/2007, 05:51 PM

I think your male is actually smiling in the pic where he's fertilizing them

I would argue that they are true percs- with the orange ring around their eye - many many clowns look the same but from what I know I've been told to go by the eye coloration. If its a dark ring around the pupil they are ocy.

Good luck if you can raise the fry that's awesome!

Scubadiva7 · #16 07/29/2007, 11:16 PM

So cool.. Thats great to see those photos. Its a nice little documentation. Your clowns look so happy to be parents.

fancyfish · #17 07/30/2007, 10:00 PM

thanks everyone. Upon arrival home today from work I noticed someone must have eaten the eggs. They are gone?!! I am unsure who did this, cleaner shrimp my fox face or tangs or perhaps the parents themselves. I will wait patiently for more eggs to be laid.

Jovreefer · #18 07/31/2007, 11:16 AM

The first clutch going missing is not un-herd of. Unexperienced parents might not have properly fertilized the eggs or they might not have been healthy & the parents picked them off. They will do better with the second clutch.

As for what they are, they are Occ. They have the dark eye ring & the overall appearance of them & the bands scream Occ. Its also not super clear but I count 8 spines.

Just a quick note on id'ing... Eye ring is not 100% because if the pic is taken with a flash it can obscure the eye color (like red eye in human flash pics) & dorsal spine counting is not 100% either because both true percs and Occ can have 10 spines. (occ 8-10, perc 10-12)

fancyfish · #19 08/05/2007, 05:16 PM

Thanks Jovreefer. I appreciate your expert information. Hopefully they will have additional clutch. maybe by then I will have a system set up for them and have enough info to potentially take care of them.