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Whats eating my Clownfish eggs?
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seti007 View Drop Down
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Joined: March 19 2003
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    Posted: July 11 2009 at 3:46pm
My percula clowns have started to lay eggs but everytime they lay, something start to eat them usually at night. The eggs are attached to a flat rock under the anemone. Its day two today since they laid the eggs and I can see about half of them left on the rock. In a few days there would be none left. Thats exactly what happened last time they laid. Whatever it is, comes out at night to do the deed. 
Few of the possible culprits in the tank are Perrpermint shrimp, a single emerald crab, and a sally lightfoot crab which I think is probably dead since I have not seen him for a long time. Other than that the tank has the usual hermits and snails etc but I doubt that they are the problem.
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Aquaristnewbie View Drop Down
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It could realistically be any of the crabs and shrimps.
150 gallon Reef
Millcreek Utah
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It could be the clowns themselves eating the eggs. Emerald crabs are nocturnal. Eggs are probably a really yummy snack for just about anything in the tank.

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seti007 View Drop Down
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Points: 1157 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote seti007 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 11 2009 at 4:51pm
Hmmm, Ive had emeralds b4 without problem so I may have a rebel crab then. I just wanted to see if someone else has had a similar documented incident. I can always remove the crab but He's in there to control some bubble algae I have so I would hate to remove him if I dont have to.
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if the eggs are not fertilized or not of good quality the parents will eat them. They will also eat them if they arent fed well enough as they need the nutrition. try feeding them more heavily. this will ensure they are well fed and ensure the eggs are of better quality
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seti007 View Drop Down
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Originally posted by cl2ysta1 cl2ysta1 wrote:

if the eggs are not fertilized or not of good quality the parents will eat them. They will also eat them if they arent fed well enough as they need the nutrition. try feeding them more heavily. this will ensure they are well fed and ensure the eggs are of better quality
Good point, I will give them more food from now on and see if that helps. I think that the eggs are fertilized since I could see eyes in the few remaining ones last just before they disappeared.
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my clowns lay eggs about every 2 weeks and in order for them to be healthy you need to feed them twice a day. and if the eggs are getting eaten at night you might want to stay up and watch for a bristle worm sneeking in and eating some to. i had one doing it in my tank.
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cl2ysta1 View Drop Down
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Points: 4203 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote cl2ysta1 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 14 2009 at 10:27am
also if they have just started laying and you are doing all the things right this is still common behavior. GIve them a month or so before you start trying to raise them. I have a pair of percs that just started laying again after a month off (not feeding them enough because work has been busy) they've let them develop til about day 4 but eat the rest on day five. Just takes thema  bit to get back in the groove.
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