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Unread 01/17/2018, 07:51 AM   #2
elegance coral
They call me EC
 
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Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: central Florida
Posts: 6,208
First, establish a pair. I personally have not figured out how to tell male from female. This will be the hard part. They often don't seem to get along. Unfortunately, I lost several trying to produce a pair.
Once a pair is established, they will need a nest building site and material. A small dark colored bottle with a small opening will work, or just a hole in a rock. The male will build a nest in this hole. I grew caulerpa in the tank to give him nest building material. I have been told that they will simply lay eggs on the interior walls of the hole if no nest building material is available. I have not tried this. The male will collect caulerpa strands and drag them into the hole and build a nest. Every evening, during breeding, the male and female will meet at the entrance to the nest. They will do a little mating dance, then disappear into the nest. The eggs are laid on the algae where the male cares for them. He rarely leaves the nest during this time. The eggs hatch in the order that they were laid. I forgot the time frame, but I think it's about a week from spawning to hatch. As they hatch the male collects them in his mouth, and spits them out of the nest opening.
This method of reproduction makes collecting the fry much more difficult than collecting clownfish fry. The only way I know to do it is with a larvae catcher. There will be a few fry produced every night.
This also poses a problem with raising the fry. With clowns, you'll have several hundred of the exact same age, and requirements. With RG's you only get a few of the exact same age, and requirements, but they are produced every night as long as you can keep them spawning.
HTH
Peace
EC


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Current Tank Info: I'm trying to see how many tanks will fit in my house before the wife loses it.
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