I have a pair of common ocellaris. The female is consistently laying beautiful clutches of eggs now, and has been for about 3 months. The pair is older, I got them from a local reefer and they had been breeding for him as well (though he didn't raise them). They've recently restarted for me (in Nov.). The first clutch was sparse (maybe 40 eggs, scattered around the clay pot).
Since then she has been putting down a beautiful oval of tightly packed eggs about 2" by 1.5" on the clay pot. She lays a clutch roughly every 11 days (12 days in a couple cases). The first several clutches like this were fully fertilized, hatched, and I managed to kill them off in the larval tanks. (usually at around 3 days or so).
The last 3 clutches have been laid down perfectly by the female, but then only a few eggs develop. In particular, there are 400 or so eggs originally, but only 20 or so change colors as they develop. The rest stay orange, and then are eaten by the parents. Only the 20 make it to hatch day.
I take this as a lack of fertilization, is that accurate? Any suggestions for causes? Their diet was Thera A 4x daily, with a saturation feeding of mysis shrimp soaked in selcon 1x daily. (this is the same diet I feed another pair that is currently more successful.) The pair is fairly large (female must be 3" or larger, male is 2.5") and look great otherwise. No diseases or medication for last year.
Thanks for any help.