| Thanks to Disney's Motion Picture 'Finding Nemo,' | | | | substances with a vertical surface, a layer of coral |
| almost everybody is familiar with clownfish. | | | | sand on the bottom, bright lighting, good filtration, |
| Clownfish, or Anemonefishes, from the family | | | | and a protein skimmer. Your clownfish should be |
| Pomacentridae, are one of the easiest tropical marine | | | | stress free, which means no aggressive tank mates |
| aquarium fish to breed. Clownfish regularly lay eggs in | | | | and good water quality. As for feeding, clownfish |
| aquariums. They have quite large eggs and larvae, | | | | need a mixed diet of fresh raw seafood and |
| and since the larvae easily eat cultured live foods, | | | | vegetables. A good diet includes prawns, mussels, |
| raising them is somewhat simpler than it is with many | | | | and squid. It is best to feed small bits at regular |
| other marine species. | | | | intervals. |
| You need to get a pair if you want to breed | | | | Spanning can begin 1 to 12 months after the fish |
| clownfish, and that's quite interesting - believe it or | | | | have settled into their new home. When the fish are |
| not, clownfish are all born as males! When they are | | | | ready to spawn, they become very aggressive. The |
| adults, the largest and the most dominant fish of the | | | | male clownfish will dance up and down in front of the |
| group will undergo a sex change and become a | | | | female (also known as "clownfish waggle"). They will |
| female. The second largest usually becomes the | | | | also start to clean their selected rock by robustly |
| breeding male, while all the other fish remain juveniles | | | | biting it. The spawning itself usually occurs in the |
| and gender-neutral. If the breeding female disappears, | | | | afternoon or early evening. Once the spawning is |
| the breeding male will change to a female, and so on. | | | | complete (within several hours) the male takes on |
| Buying an established pair may be a reasonable way | | | | responsibility for attending the eggs, whereas the |
| to go, but it is often better to have a group of | | | | female acts as protector of the eggs and supervisor |
| juveniles growing up together. If you choose to buy | | | | of her male. |
| a pair you should look for a pair that goes around | | | | Spawning is likely to occur again at intervals of 12 to |
| together. Sometimes you can be lucky enough to get | | | | 18 days. The eggs should be left in the care of the |
| a pair already spawning. Anyhow, establishing an adult | | | | parents and not removed, unless the parents are |
| pair can be a little tricky; and you need to keep your | | | | known to be egg eaters. At first the eggs are a |
| eyes on them to make sure that the female doesn't | | | | bright orange colour, but after several days this |
| kill the male. | | | | diminishes and the eyes appear. Hatching usually |
| The next thing is to set up the tank. The tank should | | | | takes from 6 to 15 days, depending on temperature. |
| be large enough, approximately 200 liters for the | | | | The most critical stage of the fry is the first 10 days |
| breeding pair. It is better to keep a pair alone in an | | | | of their larvae span. If you can get your fry to |
| aquarium when trying to spawn clownfish. | | | | survive this period the rest of their raising should be |
| The aquarium should be furnished with a nice | | | | easier. |
| anemone, a few live rocks and other rocky | | | | |