Background
I'm expecting my pair of Black Ocellaris to lay eggs this year. I picked them up from the LFS 16 or more months ago or more and they were already bonded. They were wild caught so I don't know exactly how old they are. I'm guessing they were from the same family group because they were both the same size which means that they were probably both juvenile males in the hierarchy. Anyways, they remained the same size for about a year and then I moved them from my 14g to a brand new 34g Red Sea Max. They slowly changed size over the last year and now one (the female) is 3" and the other (the male) is about 1.75". I notice that the female is continuing to get larger and the male is continuing to get smaller. There's no doubt that they're a pair now since they sleep in the same anemone at night. :love:
My Questions
OK so now on to my questions! For the past few months the male has been biting (cleaning I guess?) the same place on the shaded underside of a rock. He hits it with his tail, too. He cleans off the sand around it and does this a lot while I'm watching them. The female doesn't seem to be too interested, but she occasionally helps. The place on the under side of the rock is right next to a 10"+ GBTA and right below a 10"+ RBTA. I think this is where they'll lay eggs if they do and sometimes after the male cleans it he'll do his special vibration dance. I think the male is very overly enthusiastic and the female doesn't really care. The female will sometimes "kiss"/bite the male's stomach. Not like as a threatening bite or angry/dominant bite, but more of a gentle "kiss" sort of thing. I'm guessing that these are pre-spawning behaviors but they've been going on for a few months. Are these actual pre-spawning behaviors? Are there any other behaviors I should be looking for? What are some other pre-spawning signs? I want to know what exactly to look for so if they do lay eggs later this year I'll know in advance to do my reading and research on raising their babies so that I can hopefully successfully raise and sell/trade the babies. Any information/conformation on my information and experiences will be well appreciated.
I'm expecting my pair of Black Ocellaris to lay eggs this year. I picked them up from the LFS 16 or more months ago or more and they were already bonded. They were wild caught so I don't know exactly how old they are. I'm guessing they were from the same family group because they were both the same size which means that they were probably both juvenile males in the hierarchy. Anyways, they remained the same size for about a year and then I moved them from my 14g to a brand new 34g Red Sea Max. They slowly changed size over the last year and now one (the female) is 3" and the other (the male) is about 1.75". I notice that the female is continuing to get larger and the male is continuing to get smaller. There's no doubt that they're a pair now since they sleep in the same anemone at night. :love:
My Questions
OK so now on to my questions! For the past few months the male has been biting (cleaning I guess?) the same place on the shaded underside of a rock. He hits it with his tail, too. He cleans off the sand around it and does this a lot while I'm watching them. The female doesn't seem to be too interested, but she occasionally helps. The place on the under side of the rock is right next to a 10"+ GBTA and right below a 10"+ RBTA. I think this is where they'll lay eggs if they do and sometimes after the male cleans it he'll do his special vibration dance. I think the male is very overly enthusiastic and the female doesn't really care. The female will sometimes "kiss"/bite the male's stomach. Not like as a threatening bite or angry/dominant bite, but more of a gentle "kiss" sort of thing. I'm guessing that these are pre-spawning behaviors but they've been going on for a few months. Are these actual pre-spawning behaviors? Are there any other behaviors I should be looking for? What are some other pre-spawning signs? I want to know what exactly to look for so if they do lay eggs later this year I'll know in advance to do my reading and research on raising their babies so that I can hopefully successfully raise and sell/trade the babies. Any information/conformation on my information and experiences will be well appreciated.