Amphiprion Percula Home Breeding

[CoralsAddiction]

Heavy broodstock feedings 3 times a day caused significant deterioration of my underfiltered 40 gallon reef tank. Now the broodstock gets fed once a day to bring the reef tank back to good shape. Despite the reduced feeding schedule the clowns laid eggs today. It's not a small clutch. They just won't stop

 

[CoralsAddiction]

Here are some of the babies with fat bellies eating away rotifers
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[Pandagobyguy]

What brand of rotifers are you using?

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[CoralsAddiction]

What brand of rotifers are you using?

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Reed Mariculture, L type

 

[CoralsAddiction]

So, about probiotics...
I went to Petco to pick up some filter sponges to start seeding them for a grow out tank. The fish food section had these marine flakes made by Seachem which I bought. They contain probiotics. Even though the clowns have already gone through meta it probably wouldn't hurt to feed them this food now.
PS
I just pulverized these flakes and fed the clowns. Their feeding response was way better than with TDO. That's surprising because the parents love TDO the most.

 

[OrionN]

I would not buy into the "probiotics" hypes. Probiotic is suppose to be gut bacterial. I doubt that there are any "real live probiotics" in the food, or else you get soiled food. Probiotic bacterial are important if we are exposed to antibiotic that wipe out a lot of our beneficial bacterial population. Other than that it does not do much.

 

[CoralsAddiction]

I would not buy into the "probiotics" hypes. Probiotic is suppose to be gut bacterial. I doubt that there are any "real live probiotics" in the food, or else you get soiled food. Probiotic bacterial are important if we are exposed to antibiotic that wipe out a lot of our beneficial bacterial population. Other than that it does not do much.

I see, thank you.
The best thing that came out of new food is that the clown babies went right after it with more enthusiasm. That alone made me happy.

 

[Mo2]

I see, thank you.
The best thing that came out of new food is that the clown babies went right after it with more enthusiasm. That alone made me happy.

Although I haven't tested probiotics with clowns nor the type of probiotics that Sachem uses in their food, when I was raising seahorses probiotics helped the seahorses grow faster and helped my survival rate. And not just mine alone, if you google Dan Underwood, he swears by the stuff.

 

[CoralsAddiction]

And not just mine alone, if you google Dan Underwood, he swears by the stuff.

I'll check it out. There haven't been any negative side effects from Seachem flakes so far. It might become their staple food actually moving forward. TDO pellets seem to polute a tank faster than regular pellets at least in the DT so their use will be limited as time goes on.

 

[CoralsAddiction]

Rotifer station #1 has just been taken down and the clowns haven't eaten rotifers in 2 days. There weren't any losses during that time. I felt comfortable enough to end the rotifer culture. I kept the last harvest and put it in the refrigerator just in case. The harvest might get recycled in a week if there's a need for it.
As far as breeding goes, I seriously doubt I will try raising another clutch in the next 2-3 months. It's been a great experience so far but I don't have the time or space required to continue breeding long term.

 

[CoralsAddiction]

I've culled some skinny, underdeveloped and deformed clowns. Theres about 50 left. A more accurate count will be done in a few days when the clowns get moved to grow out.

 

[fcmatt]

Great thread. Tagging along for the ride. Thank you for posting.

 

[Pandagobyguy]

Reed Mariculture, L type

Thanks!
A little bit gruesome but do you have any pictures of the rejects??
Im just trying to figure out the difference between an acceptable deformity and an unacceptable one.
(Idk if youve heard of the "stubbies" that ORA sells)

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[CoralsAddiction]

Great thread. Tagging along for the ride. Thank you for posting.

My pleasure

Thanks!
A little bit gruesome but do you have any pictures of the rejects??
Im just trying to figure out the difference between an acceptable deformity and an unacceptable one.
(Idk if youve heard of the "stubbies" that ORA sells)

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I don't have any pictures of culled clowns but I might take some next time if I remember. Generally I just look for really thin ones that despite the stripe still look like pre-meta larvae especially compared to the rest of the clowns.
I am familiar with ORA Stubby clowns. I find them funny especially B&W stubby Ocellaris clowns. I once saw a wild caught stubby true percula clown for sale which was weird. Here's a pic of it.

 

[Pandagobyguy]

Wow!! I never thought a stubby could survive in the wild (they dont swim well right?).
Thanks for the info!
My clowns started "dancing" to each other each other just last week. Hopefully ill be raising something by 2017

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[CoralsAddiction]

Wow!! I never thought a stubby could survive in the wild (they dont swim well right?).
Thanks for the info!
My clowns started "dancing" to each other each other just last week. Hopefully ill be raising something by 2017

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As long as they have a host nem and fit into hierarchy they are good.
Good luck with your pair

 

[CoralsAddiction]

Working on a DYI project today for the grow out tank. The tank is going under a bathroom sink where rotifer station #2 used to be. Instead of putting the tank on the floor I am making a little mini stand/pedestal for it

 

[CoralsAddiction]

Here are the clowns. 3 weeks old today. They've almost completely lost peach coloration and are starting to turn orange like real clowns. Video quality could be better but it's the best I could do with a dirty glass tank (mostly water splashing from water changes). Clowns are seen eating TDO pellets.
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[CoralsAddiction]

Culling clowns :/

Culling clowns :/

I had to cull another one today. Since someone asked to show an example of my culls here's one for people to see. It's not particularly an exciting thing to do or talk about but it's part of the process. The clown had a pretty bad underbite and somewhat of a flat face at the same time. Video before culling and a photo after below. It's the reject clown to the left of the group. It's not as obvious as in person but it should give people an idea.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zveWKAzLwwI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[CoralsAddiction]

In her book Clownfishes, Joyce W. wrote that she kept 3 dozen baby clowns in a 6"x6"x6" breeder net in her DT. That sounds like an easier solution than a stand alone grow out tank. I went to Petco and bought one earlier this evening. However, it's been hard to imagine 40 or so juvenile clowns in that tight of a space. The breeder net idea has not been completely ruled out though.