A. Ocellaris Hatch

[jacob30]

Well last night I collected 100-150 Black ocellaris larvae from my main display. This is the second time I have collected larvae. The first time I was unprepared with food so they did not make it. I have rotifers on hand this time but the density is low. I have about 25 gallons of rotifers culturing now. Two five gallon containers with a density of about 20-25/mil and an outside 15gallon batch with about 10/ml. My larval rearing tank is a ten gallon with about 7 gallons in it. (these estimates could be way off either way but is a best guess)

A couple of questions for the board:

1. Should I reduce the volume in the rearing tank?

2. Any suggestions about quickly increasing rotifer density with what I have(besides fedexing rots in)?

I have started two more five gallon batches today with an inoculation from my higher density cultures.

Thanks in advance!

Jacob

 

[Kathy55g]

1. I would not reduce the volume of the rearing tank. You have enough rots.

Do you have a rotifer sieve? You need one that will be about 53 microns. A paper coffee filter will work in a pinch. If you filter 3 gallons out of your 25 gallons, you will have enough to start your larvae off well. for today. Filter them onto the paper , swish the paper in a small volume of phyto in a small (around 1/2 gallon or so) bucket and rinse off the paper with ripe phyto so there is a high rot concetration in the small bucket with phyto. Let that sit for an hour or so to enrich your rots and then filter again over your rot culture bucket letting the partially used phyto go towards feeding future rots. Now rinse the rots off the paper and into your larval tank with some fresh ripe phyto. Make sure you add enough phyto to the larval tank to tint the water green.

What are you feeding your rots? 25 gallons is a lot of volume, and if there is too much ammonia, it can delay the reproduction of your rots. When was the last time you cleaned the tank?

In general, I have found that the rots have multiplied like crazy when I fed them ripe phyto enough to turn the culture significantly green. I also use some AmQuel or ChorAmX or other ammonia removal product at the recommended dosage.

When the green starts to fade to yellow, I add more phyto.

You've already got a good cuture. For a seven gallon fry tank, you don't need 25 gallons IMO. I would filter the old buckets (don't include the crud at the bottom), put the rots in the 2 new buckets with the cultures you just started, and feed em well. Now you've got all your rots in a couple of clean buckets, and you don't need so much phyto to feed them. Just make sure you siphon the crud out of the bottom every few days and keep em green. You don't need more than 4 gallons per bucket.

Good luck, it's easier than you can guess.

Kathy

 

[jacob30]

Kathy what lighting set up did you use for the larva on the first day? I had some head standers and quite a few have perished already. I shut off the light overhead and am relying on the ambient room light for now. It was a 13 watt PC from home depot about 2 feet off the tank.

To answer your questions:

I am feeding the rotifers Reed's Rotifer blend and I also have some Roti Rich.

The tanks for the rotifers were cleaned on Sunday and I have cleaned one this morning.

Thanks for the advice.

Jacob

 

[Kathy55g]

Greenwater in the larval tank will help to cut down on the light problem. Also, cover the sides of your tank with something black like construction paper or a black garbage bag.

Paper toweling draped over the tank makes a good shade.

I think you are alright with ambient light, but check the fish. You know about the head standing.

I just have a household compact fluorescent in the ceiling. I did not have a problem with light. I have only done this once though.
Other folks have more experience.

 

[npaden]

I usually start out with only 3 gallons of water in my 10 gallon hatch out tanks to keep the density of the rotifers as high as possible.

As they get older and can recognize and hunt down their food I start adding a little water each day until the tank is full.

FWIW, Nathan

 

[jacob30]

Well there are only a few left tonight
Looks like something was not quite right (like the light). I will try your suggestions for the few remaining and for next time (the parents are already showing signs). The few remaining look like they are eating so we will see.
Thanks for your replies.

Jacob

On a good note I have some cardinals almost ready to be released from the dad. I have reared them before so hopefully I will have better luck with them.

 

[Kathy55g]

Good luck, and keep trying!

 

[jacob30]

Well my clowns have laid a nest of eggs again. I will attempt raising this hatch again. I have figured out what hapened to the last batch and it was really stupid on my part (live and learn). With that knowlwdge I hope this next batch will thrive. There are more eggs than before so hopefully they come thru.

 

[Atticus]

Well my clowns have laid a nest of eggs again. I will attempt raising this hatch again. I have figured out what hapened to the last batch and it was really stupid on my part (live and learn). With that knowlwdge I hope this next batch will thrive. There are more eggs than before so hopefully they come thru.

Are you going to share what you found out so others don't do the same?

 

[jacob30]

I bleached them . I had several 5 gallon buckets and in between using them I was using bleach to sterilize the buckets. I was filtering rotifers to feed the fry and eneded up using about 2 cups of water (which I thought was fresh saltwater) out of one of the bleach water containers to place the rotifers in. I then dumped them in along with the 2 cups of bleach water. I did this twice.

Yes very stupid on my part. I also blasted them with light the first day for about 3 hours before seeing the head standing.

 

[Atticus]

Ouch... I can say I have screwed up and added saltwater instead of top off before. Really screws with the salinity and I found fish take droping SG much better than quickly rising SG.

 

[jacob30]

Another hatch tonight. Hopefully I won't kill this batch. Food is ready and the tank is better setup as well. Oh yeah, and I wont bleach them. Wish me luck!

Jacob

 

[Dman]

AS strange as this sounds, I did the same thing (capture B&W O fry from a buddies tank) and transported them home in a 3\4 full 5 gallon bucket. I'm at day 8 with only a handful of losses(+/- 10). The bucket is working like a charm, there's no corners for them to congregate in, the lighting can be controlled very easily, a single airstone in the middle keeps everything moving and siphoning the detrius off the bottom of a white pail is a cinch.
Dman

 

[FFFrog]

I like to have about 8-9 gallons in a tank.
Adding greenwater and running the lights for the first 48 hours really helps also.

 

[jacob30]

Well so far so good. No losses that I can see. I fed them this morning with rotifers. I also put in some greenwater. One thing that I am not completely clear on still is lighting. I read some places where no light is used for the first few days and then some people say they use light right away. Right now I am just letting ambient room light in and I also have a thin bartowel over the top of the eggcrate. Some light is getting in and they appear to be hunting so I am going to go with this for now. Tomorrow I will remove the bar towel and just have the egg crate. I will start their own light on day three.

Anyone have any other advice on this?

Thanks

Jacob

PS I did have a heater issue so far. I was nervous but they appear to be ok. The temp this morning said 87 (yikes). I have adjusted it down quite significantly and the temp is back down to 81.7. I hate aquarium heaters. (I even opchecked this one prior to last night).

 

[Kathy55g]

AS strange as this sounds, I did the same thing (capture B&W O fry from a buddies tank) and transported them home in a 3\4 full 5 gallon bucket. I'm at day 8 with only a handful of losses(+/- 10). The bucket is working like a charm, there's no corners for them to congregate in, the lighting can be controlled very easily, a single airstone in the middle keeps everything moving and siphoning the detrius off the bottom of a white pail is a cinch.
Dman

There is a school of thought that round is better, it seems. Edgar uses big round tubs, I've read instructions somewhere that suggest a round container is best, and Guy uses a clean black plastic oilpan like you would use to change the oil in your car! It does make sense that there would be no stagnant corners for bad bacteria to grow, or places for the fry to dig into and get confused and die.

Are you finding that the white sides of the bucket are confusing to the fry? They should not let in side light, but perhaps they reflect light....

 

[Dman]

kmleah
Actually they look more like they're just swimming around. We're at day ten and 95% of what survived have meta'd and they're pretty spread out. I've noticed with other species reared in rectangular tanks that they tend to congregate in the corners and then get aggressive.
Another plus with using pails is that they're super easy to clean when you're done they also stack and stow really nice.
One caveat for sure is the hatch size you could concieveably start in them. I don't think I would use them for larger nests.
Dman

 

[Kathy55g]

What Guy does with the oilpan is hatch the eggs, and keep them there until metamorphosis, then he slides them into a 22 gallon rubbermaid plumbed to his system (very large) to grow up some more. I think Edgar just keeps them in the 50 gallon tub turning on the flow when they are ready.

Round may be the way to go...just as I am getting my square tanks set up...food for thought...

 

[Kathy55g]

Congratulations on such success! You must have hundreds of fish!

 

[jacob30]

So far so good on day three! I am removing completely the bar towel from the top of the eggcrate. They look like they are eating and swimming around. A few tend to go to the side and sit there. I am not sure if this is temporary or if they do this continuously. Overall minimal losses so far but its still early.