Amphiprion Percula Home Breeding

Nothing much to update. I had some major losses yesterday (25) and a small one today (4).
I've noticed that my broodstock takes about a day or two longer to lay eggs when I pull the pot and replace it with a new one. When the pot stays and the babies hatch inside the tank the pair lays either the next day or two at the longest. So far no eggs today (2 days post hatch) but should be laying again tomorrow or Thursday. Here's a video of the babies from today.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sL4vO9UmcFM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
Interesting observation:
I tore down the side walls tonight like Gorbachev and the clowns stopped hanging out there. For my next attempt to breed I am going to remove black background paper shortly after hatching.
 
CoralsAddiction said:
Interesting observation:
I tore down the side walls tonight like Gorbachev and the clowns stopped hanging out there. For my next attempt to breed I am going to remove black background paper shortly after hatching.
Click to expand...
I would advise you against that. Black painted walls with tinted water will keep the fish off the walls. If you have already tinted and have black painted walls then you aren't tinting enough. This experiment was outlined in Frank Hoff's book. I've tried without painted walls and my survival rate was dismal.
 
president89 said:
The water in your tank in that picture is not tinted enough
Click to expand...

Perhaps because I diluted it by adding some new saltwater last night. Doing a 10% water change today. Im trying to stay as close to 2-3 drops of RG Complete per gallon as possible. That's what Reed Mariculture recommended.
 
I did 10% water change this morning and tinted the water. Based on the amount of time and work I've put in so far, I will probably be able to breed 4-6 clutches per year, if that. It's fun though.
 
It's a little more manageable with less water in the tank. I usually keep about 5 gallons of water and add more after meta. Of course, this means less stability with less water, but it also means that the babies will have an easier time finding rotifers.
 
D-Nak said:
It's a little more manageable with less water in the tank. I usually keep about 5 gallons of water and add more after meta. Of course, this means less stability with less water, but it also means that the babies will have an easier time finding rotifers.
Click to expand...

That's what I'll do next time. I'm currently using a 5.5 gallon tank by Aqueon I picked up at Petsmart. I'm taking notes on how I could be more efficient next time because this project has taken a lot more time than I thought it would. However, caring for larvae and culturing rotifers has its own spiritual rewards, physical challenges notwithstanding.
 
After 2 weeks, it get easier, not have to worry about rotifers, unless you want to have new patches. However, once they get older, then keep up with the water change will be a problem. Don't try to raise more than 50-100 at a time. I swear not to have anymore than 100 baby clowns at a time. Too much work and not able to get them moving.
 
OrionN said:
After 2 weeks, it get easier, not have to worry about rotifers, unless you want to have new patches.
Click to expand...

Yes culturing rotifers is time and money consuming. i wish had room to culture my own phytoplankton for rotifers because they require so much feeding everyday. Between two containers with rotifers, one small (6 oz) bottle of RG Complete has not even lasted me for this batch. So I ordered a bigger bottle.
I can't wait for post-meta to see some colors and shut down one of the rotifer culture buckets.
 
A little behind the scene look at my breeding project. First pic is the larvae tank, 5.5 gallon Aqueon with a pump and a 25 W heater. The light is a cheap LED desk lamp from Walmart. Also in first pic is rotifer station #1 which is a 2.5 gallon pet food container from Target. Up until 20 mins ago it was a 5 gallon orange bucket from Home Depot but I got a little tired of it and decided to replace it.
Pic 2 is rotifer station #2 which has been running since I first harvested station #1 about 5 days ago. I'm trying to keep everything as simple and as clean as possible. The tank and the rotifer stations are airated by separate Tetra Whisper Model 10 pumps.


 
Last edited:
The clowns laid eggs today. It's a big and orange clutch. Heavy TDO feeding is definitely helping them with it but my corals are suffering due to algae growth.
 
5 days post hatch
They are bigger; have become better and more aggressive rotifer hunters. Only a few of them are coming up to water surface for TDO A pellets/powder but that's a good start
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YvharZv3oAA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
I'm happy to report that there haven't been any losses in the last 48 hours. I need all the wiggle room I can get for meta period. I've heard it can be brutal on larvae.
 
CoralsAddiction said:
I'm happy to report that there haven't been any losses in the last 48 hours. I need all the wiggle room I can get for meta period. I've heard it can be brutal on larvae.
Click to expand...
I did not think so, only loss I had was the first 2 night, after that everything live. About how may do you have right now?
 
They have grown a lot, 7 days old
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HWaJFH-4UE0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
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