Cali Kid Corals

Black Ocellaris Pre-Spawning Behaviors?

Hey Guys ... just came across this thread and *** Must Hold Back :) *** just had to jump in with a couple thoughts ...

Matthew, great, great, great enthusiasm and I encourage you to continue to pursue this passion. However, tonight hang on the back of your bedroom door a sign with the #1 Mantra of aquatics which is "Patience, Patience, Patience" . You are on a good course towards success, but do take time to ease your foot off the gas and pick up knowledge along your journey. Rushing to the destination ($25 per fish * 100 fish per nest * nests every 2 weeks = stars in one's eyes) means that you will miss picking up invaluable hints, knowledge, and contacts along the way that you can then apply when you go on to your next aquatic passion (be that LPS, SPS, or whatever).

Gresh and the others in this thread have given you some great practical advice, and it sounds like you will have the support of your parents in the beginning which is essential. However, unless you take it slow the inevitable bumps in the road (cultures crashing which means no food for fry, not being able to clean the tank every day due to school events / homework / vacation, the "unexpected", etc.) means that you risk falling hard when these things do occur. Start slow and the bumps will be just that - bumps, not cliffs.

Hopefully your fish will spawn soon, but realize the first few nests are questionable and you will want to leave them alone while they get used to doing their thing. After they have gotten the hang of it then you can harvest the fry. Doing so too soon will throw them off the nest for perhaps several months (that dang patience thing again!). Much like the fish that need to practice getting the hang of things, you will too. My recommendation would be to get one or all of the books referenced earlier in this thread and follow their advice to the T! Clownfish are not your father's guppies and they need quite a lot more care and attention. Pretend this is a lab exam for 100% of your High School AP Bio Grade. Be meticulous in your preparation and execution of your experiment, and buy a notebook and take frequent and thorough notes. I did this for the first year or so of raising fish, and the notes helped me diagnose what went wrong so that the next time I could try to be a little bit better. And finally, be persistant. If you are precise in your preparation and care of your animals you will be successful, and that will allow you to do more the next time.

Although I don't feel like I gave you many specifics, I hope this advice is helpful. If you are coming to the swap next week I would be happy to pass on other advice in person, so just come on over and we can chat for a bit. And ... keep the faith!
 
Ahhh ... that patience thing again ... how many years have I waited to hear those 5 sweet words :)!

Norm, would you be available to come over to my house, sit on the couch or stand around -- kinda like Shaq does in the Comcast ads -- and repeat that phrase for my teenagers?!?
 
GreshamH said:
can we move on now?
Click to expand...

I just responded to your PM, and like I said if you drop it it will be dropped, however if you contunie to post on the boards I will contunie to respond.

here is my source but it's not what you want

http://norcalreefclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=2106
 
fingerwrinkles said:
Ahhh ... that patience thing again ... how many years have I waited to hear those 5 sweet words :)!

Norm, would you be available to come over to my house, sit on the couch or stand around -- kinda like Shaq does in the Comcast ads -- and repeat that phrase for my teenagers?!?
Click to expand...

Haha... well, let's test it out on Matthew first. And if it works...

:D
 
OK, well when the time comes, I'll find stores that do. I'm sure all stores would like to, but only few would offer top dollar... :bigsmile:
 
Matthew, just an FYI most stores have a very high mark up for fish (to account for the massive deathes they suffer), so if they are selling them for 25.00 most likely they paid under 5.00 for that fish. I'm not saying you will only get 5.00 but I think your are counting money that you may never get (afterall this is about your 5th "my clowns are spawning thread" and thus far no babies.................
 
I've been pretty lazy about putting the video up but I finally did it! If you watch the entire thing you'll see lots of spawning behaviors that look like they are cleaning the rock, the female is laying eggs, and the male is fertilizing the eggs, however no eggs were found. It is hard to see exactly what they are doing since it is night and they are black which makes them look like a bunch of white stripes. The female is vibrating and rubbing her belly against the rock ever so often and the male followed and seemed to "shake" or jitter over the place the female was rubbing her stomach against. I didn't get the best parts on film. It was very late at night so I couldn't see any breeding tubes or anything and I could barely see the rock. I don't know if they laid eggs, but if they did they must have been eaten. Here's the link to the video and remember to watch then entire thing! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LYyqNeCvSs

Watch what they do very closely at 1:18 to about 2:45 which is the best footage I have of what seems to be the female laying eggs and cleaning the rock really hard and the male trying to fertilize. Also pay close attention to 1:45 - 2:10 where they're either cleaning rocks or eating newly laid eggs. What do you think? Did they lay eggs and eat them? This was their first time so I'm guessing they either tried to lay eggs and failed or laid eggs and ate them. :~
 
My clownfish are up to this again. Same thing. I've talked to some clown breeders on RC and they said it might be a "practice" spawn. However this time they have chosen a new site. They are also checking out the pot and tiles together. I'm guessing this is just a "practice" also.
 
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