Spawning behavior?

Hi everyone!

Really excited to have found this place! Been reading around and have found some pretty good information for clown breeding

Had some questions, though!

I have two pairs of clowns, a pair of Snow Onyx, sold as a "bonded pair" from LiveAquaria. I'm not sure exactly what that entails, but the female is huge (2.5-3") and she and the male are inseparable. The other day, I saw them both "nipping" and the MagFoat and brushing around on it, as if they were cleaning it. I am not entirely sure what to make of that. They have been doing it for a few hours this evening. However, they stopped as the lights began to dim out. Hopefully they haven't stopped for good!

My other pair, is a pair of Black Ice that are absolutely beautiful. They even have spots of this very fluorescent blue that is stunning! The female is about 2" and the male is smaller, around 1.5". No signs of mating yet, but they are rather inseparable as well. They, too sleep together.

My boyfriend and I are planning a move here very soon to Florida. We are planning to make the drive straight thru (18 hours) from Austin, TX to Ft. Lauderdale. I am very scared this will disrupt their breeding efforts.

Anyways, back to my original questions:

Is there a way to tell how old the clowns might be? I keep reading they "must" be 2 years old to be breeding. Is this accurate?


Thanks!
Brooks

Congrats on some nice sounding pairs!
 
First, the bad news... a move like that can throw them off a spawning cycle if they are on one at that time. Getting them back into a stable environment as soon as possible will help get them back on track. You'll have to be patient.
 
As far as age goes it can take a couple of years for them to mature depending on species. IME, it's the female that you need to be concerned with. Males seem to be able to do their job at a fairly young age.
 
How soon are you moving?

http://www.fishtalpropagations.com/#!home/mainPage
"Making captive breeding easier."

Thank you!

I figured the move would probably postpone spawning for a while. Which is why I'm very eager for them to do it before the move! I keep checking the tank to see if they're cleaning again. :X hopefully this is a good sign!

We won't be moving for about 6 work 7 weeks.

Your time is best spent reading up on things. No need to keep checking on them more than once a day, or so. Give them a good diet and a low stress environment and they'll do their thing.

http://www.fishtalpropagations.com/#!home/mainPage
"Making captive breeding easier."

As I don't work, I spend a vast majority of the time reading. Thankfully I am able to do this, otherwise I would be totally lost!

Is it normal for them to be biting, and swishing their tails against a flat surface before spawning?

I have been feeding them a mixture of spectrum pellets, hikari mysis, and live adult brine about 3-4 times daily. Sometimes more as a snack. She is fat... And I mean really fat.

Sounds normal to me. Live brine isn't much good unless you're enriching it before feeding. Beta-Brine from Reef Nutrition is a good alternative as are any of Rod's foods.

http://www.fishtalpropagations.com/#!home/mainPage
"Making captive breeding easier."

Great! I enrich the NHBBS for my Seahorse fry. Didn't think about doing the same for the adults. ._.


Fingers crossed for some eggs soon!

Do you have a flower pot or tiles for them?
Mine have spawned many times on the Mag-float.  After I gave them a pot they alternated between magnet and pot for a while.

I have not put a flowe pot in there for them, as they're currently in a reef tank. So the pot seems unsightly in there. x_x I wouldn't have expected them to try and lay on it. I mean, it isn't necessarily a prime location... Or so it would seem. I have a perfectly flat (man-made) price of rock for them nestled in their side of the reef. But the magfloat is on the other side and raised out of the rock structure.

... Weird thing is, they still haven't cleaned it all the way :p

I have noticed a lump my mama clown has had on her lip since I got her from LA. It's not cottony, but it is on her lower jaw. It has t affected her big appetite or energy. She seems totally fine in every way, except that she has this bump. I have attempted to treat her with PimaFix, but she has reacted terribly two times now. One time almost killing her.

It almost looks like a big blister.

More than likely from her cleaning the glass/magnet/rock whichever.  Just make sure it doesn't get worse.  If it does you can treat with anti-bacterial medication.

Well, she has had this before the time I noticed her cleaning it. Actually, as she came out of the bag from Live Aquaria.

The two smaller ones had actually been biting the rocks a lot recently. The female seems to be becoming more aggressive to the male. Both of them are "shaking," at each other. Almost like vibrating. Is it possible they are mating, though they haven't been together a very long time? They have been in the same tanks for about 2 going on 3 months. They sleep together, swim together, host in the same anemone, so I wouldn't think this is part of the pairing process?

Sounds normal. 
 

http://www.fishtalpropagations.com/#!home/mainPage
"Making captive breeding easier."

Great! Hopefully some babies come of it

More shaking today! The male looks like he has a big fat belly. Right under the pectoral fins; right behind the ventral fins. Probably a full belly.

The female's mid section is looking a little more round. Very slight, though. I've noticed more aggression from the female today. She bit my hand as I was cleaning the bottom of the tank.


I set some Marvin Gaye on the speakers as I left the house today.

They now clean the mag float, as well as a flat piece of rock I laid for them a while back... Switching back and forth. And typically they are only cleaning during the evening, maybe a small amount during the early morning. Is that normal?

I have noticed one will stay at the flat rock and one will stay at the mag float.. Last night they were both "seizing" at each other while cleaning. :o