How to Breed Saltwater Fish

People want to be able to make money with their saltwater fish tanks since they are expensive to set up and maintain. This can be achieved by breeding fish to sell to either local stores or other saltwater fish enthusiasts. Clownfish are the most popular type of saltwater fish to own and breed.

Instructions

Difficulty: Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• Breeding pair
• Established tank
• Filter system that will not harm fry
• Live rock or anemone for fish to breed in
• 10-gallon tank for fry
• Heater
• Airstone for oxygenation of fry tank
• Rotifers and greenwater for feeding

1. Establish a tank with saltwater, live rock, sand, lighting, and a filter. If you're an experienced fish owner you can take items from your existing tank to help make sure your breeding tank does not cycle and kill the fry. This may happen early on but since clownfish are hardy enough to survive a cycle, this may not be a problem by the time the fry have arrived.
2. Get a pair of clownfish. They will have to mature before they will breed. But they do not have to be sexed. Both are non-sexual to begin with and as they mature one will get bigger than the other and become the dominant female, while the other will become the breeding male.
3. Set a timer on your saltwater tank light. Breeding will happen in the evening or dark. This is because in the wild there is less chance of the clownfish being eaten by a predator during breeding. Exercise patience as you may not realize the fish have bred.
4. Once the clownfish have had the eggs, observe them. The eggs will be bright orange at first. As they mature they change and the larvae eyes appear. The male clownfish will watch the eggs and keep them oxyginated as they grow. When the eggs turn silver, they will be ready to hatch.
5. Move the eggs to the established fry tank before they hatch so the baby clownfish will have more of a chance to survive.
6. Feed clownfish larvae rotifers and greenwater several times per day. This will lower the mortality rate in the tank and ensure more fish survive without competiting for food.
7. Expect most baby saltwater fish to be lost in the first 10 days. After the clownfish metamorphosis they will get their stripes and then can be added back into a regular tank.

Tips & Warnings

• There can be multiple clownfish in the tank at first but it's best to take all others out once the breeding pair have been established.
• You will lose some of the larvae as they mature. Nothing can change this.