12 hr Clownfish Larvae

HoopsGuru

HoopsGuru

In Memoriam
Youtube really killed the quality, if anyone can't see much I can upload the full video to my server and post another link. My A. ocellaris are fresh from last night, per another unanswered post I still have a bit of a problem with a fair amount of larvae hanging out around the edges of the aquarium (shown at the very end of the video). I have experimented with covering the light with paper towels, towels, raising it, etc. and also increasing and reducing aeration in the tank and nothing really seems to change anything. Any thoughts? I am finally feeding with live cultured rotifers this time around.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-PziBlE-II
 
purchase a tank with no silicone corners most of the time they will get stuck in there, and by the way there needs to be just enough light for them to catch rots in the first 3 days if you see them diving to the bottom of the tank and standing on end there is to much light for them.

check this out for a breeding tank setup currently I have 50 or so 5 day old fry in it doing very well.
http://www.petco.com/product/10669/Exo-Terra-Faunarium-Plastic-Terrariums.aspx
 
Thanks for the input. In my observations thus far, they are not in the corners (will replace larval tank with no silicone in upcoming tries) nor are they at the bottom. They are collecting on the sides. I am now darkening the water more with phyto to see if that helps with possible glare in the tank.
 
You need to add more phyto to to your water that will cure them from hanging on the sides, also I would recommend a round tub instead of a tank.
 
Adding the phyto worked well, almost all are off the sides. I did notice in reading though that uneaten phyto may start to pollute water after 48 hours but I hope this is not the case since I am using live DT's. It does not get light 24/7 but I am on at least a 16hour photoperiod.

Here is a video for others as to how green I made it before almost all the larvae left the sides.

http://www.reefnut.com/Images/MPEGS/24hrclowns.MPG
 
Looks on the light side to me but I'm no professional. Is there a heater light on in the corner? if there is you definitely want to cover that up with black tape you don't want your baby clowns getting burnt they love light.
 
I have the heater light covered.

My fear apparently came true a bit overnight. When I turned on the light this morning the greenwater was very cloudy. No larvae came to the top and I feared the worst so after waiting 10 minutes I siphoned out most of the water. I replaced with fresh water from the broodstock tank (180g display) and put the siphoned larvae back in. They started to appear better pretty quickly although I lost about 35-40%. I'm not sure why this happened, as no matter how dark I make the rotifer tank with phyto the water itself remains fairly clear. I don't have enough phyto to siphon it all out at night and replace in the morning, I planned on enough to feed my rotifer culture.

Is it necessarily bad to use newly mixed saltwater instead of broodstock water on Day 2? I know it is not suggested in Wilkerson's book but I am not demanding commercial size results. I was thinking maybe more sterile water right away would not react with the DT's as it did? (nothing else was added but live rotifers).
 
I'd stick to using water from the display tank, as fresh mixed SW tends to be a bit "aggressive". Long term, the best thing is to mix up a large holding barrel of SW that can be made in advanced and stored for use has aged SW at a moments notice. As for the algae, you might want to try a bit less and see if that will work to keep the larvae off the sides and not be enough cause water quality issues overnight.
 
Thanks Bill, would using refrigerated DT's and adding it directly to the 78 degree larval tank be causing an immediate water quality issue? It seems as though even today when I direct add it, the water becomes cloudy and not just "green".
 
The phyto could be temperature shocked going straight from the refrigerator. Try letting the DT's warm up to room temperature slowly before adding to the larval tank.
 
for what its worth, I was adding DT's directly to the larvae tank with no ill effects, other than my wallet :) Using my own phyto now cause it's cheaper and I got the hang of it.
 
The water is cloudy when I add it, but it appears to have no affect on them during the daylight feeding cycle. We'll see when I turn the lights off tonight.

FWIW, I have started a phyto culture of my own and should be in full swing by next hatch (I agree, the shot to the wallet makes this very unappealing). I was a little behind on both rotifers and phyto but wanted to give it a shot so I purchased the DT's. So far day 2 is coming to a close and most have full silver bellies.
 
They made it through the night good, I only had about 5 more losses, still have approximately 50 - 75 larvae. I would have left the light on 24/7, but I'm barely making it on rotifers now because I started from cysts (20,000) from Aquatic EcoSystems the day before the eggs were laid. I was so psyched to have live foods I didn't want to have to wait until the next hatch. Each day has had just enough for almost all to have nice round bellies. Hindsight I would have waited, but after trying artificial rotifers many times it has been too fun actually watching them eat and grow.
 
fry fed on nonliving foods have a very small survivial fraction. I've seen or read approx<10%
live rots are really the most successful, straight forward way
 
Yes I use ammonia remover, prime by seachem to be exact. I put it in 20 minutes before I do a water change on the tank or a round tub is what I use.
 
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