How to mate clownfish

[daniefern764]

Currently received longfin clown fish from a friend of mine and I wanted to see if it would mate with a snowflake onyx clown?

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Assuming one or both are still small (and male) introduce the two and see if they bond; if they bond, then you feed them well and give them good water to live in with a place they can safely lay their eggs - eventually, one will become larger and dominant (and female), they'll do a mating ritual/dance, and they'll lay eggs (mate) for you.

For introducing them, putting the new one in a breeder box in the tank for a few days where the two clowns can see each other and have the water pass through (allowing chemicals in the water to reach both fish so they can also "smell" each other) can help prevent some aggression and increase the odds of pairing (see below):

I can't find the paper where it was discussed, but I remember reading through where someone tested four different methods for introducing/pairing broodstock. 3 of the 4 were pretty effective for getting them to pair while the fourth had frequent aggression.

I only remember two methods off-hand: one method was just dropping them into the same tank; the other was putting them in breeder boxes (or breeder box like setups) where they could see each other and sense the chemicals in the water from each other but not actually interact with each other physically. Dropping them in is the one that often resulted in aggression, so I wouldn't recommend that. I'd introduce them through the breeder box method. In theory, you should be able to tell if they're aggressive/calm and if they're bonded or not within a few days/weeks.

 

[D-Nak]

If you're wondering if they can mate, they can. If you're curious about the process, check this out:

Pickle’s Guide to Breeding Clowns