Amphiprion percula "Onxy" (Onyx Percula Clown) Breeding Log!
- Thread starter mwp
- Start date
mwp
In Memoriam
Time for another update:
Batch I - 50 days old and 4 remain - we definitely have the start of stripe #2. The small one ("Runty") and one of the largest are not yet showing much in the 2nd stripe department yet though. See the pictures below:
Batch II - 38 days old, and our 1 has spent just over a week handing out in a 12 gallon nanocube at Old Orchard Aquarium. Renee saw him yesterday and said he lookd good - the guys at the shop simply love him (or so I'm told).
Batch III - 23 or 24 days old, and we have 3 vigorous juvies in the net breeder.
Batch V is a pipedream at the moment...cleaning activity in the female increased yesterday, and today it was full on hardcore rock scraping, combined with a dropped ovipositor, but ultimately nothing happened (but the night's not over yet)
FWIW,
Matt
Batch I - 50 days old and 4 remain - we definitely have the start of stripe #2. The small one ("Runty") and one of the largest are not yet showing much in the 2nd stripe department yet though. See the pictures below:
Batch II - 38 days old, and our 1 has spent just over a week handing out in a 12 gallon nanocube at Old Orchard Aquarium. Renee saw him yesterday and said he lookd good - the guys at the shop simply love him (or so I'm told).
Batch III - 23 or 24 days old, and we have 3 vigorous juvies in the net breeder.
Batch V is a pipedream at the moment...cleaning activity in the female increased yesterday, and today it was full on hardcore rock scraping, combined with a dropped ovipositor, but ultimately nothing happened (but the night's not over yet)
FWIW,
Matt
mwp
In Memoriam
Well, NO ovipositor showing on the female this evening....DARNIT! I guess they just gave up on spawning this cycle?!
An update on Batch II - our wayward son over at Old Orchard Aquarium is no more...he disappeared they told me. I'm not all that surprised...they enjoyed him immensely while he lasted (nothing like props from Allan...he strikes me as a hard guy to impress). So, Batch II is now defunct!
FWIW,
Matt
An update on Batch II - our wayward son over at Old Orchard Aquarium is no more...he disappeared they told me. I'm not all that surprised...they enjoyed him immensely while he lasted (nothing like props from Allan...he strikes me as a hard guy to impress). So, Batch II is now defunct!
FWIW,
Matt
mwp
In Memoriam
Our Onyx Percula Pair as younguns
Our Onyx Percula Pair as younguns
So I thought it might be interesting to look back through my old pics while taking a break from working this evening. I pulled up pix of this tank from 6-21-05 through 2-11-06. I found good pics of our pair from June, July and August of '05. By November of '05 the black between Little Man's 2nd stripe and 3rd stripe was starting to fill in fairly on ONE side, but even by February there was still a side that had a lot of orange, and the black was just barely touching. Just goes to show you how LONG it takes for that black coloration to develop. It's also rather amazing to look at the intensity of their orange coloration from June '05 vs Nov. '06...WOW I'm doing SOMETHING right
Here's some pics from "back in the day" when my step back into reefing consisted of a 24 gallon birthday present for Renee!
Come on already with Spawn #5 guys!!!
Matt
Our Onyx Percula Pair as younguns
So I thought it might be interesting to look back through my old pics while taking a break from working this evening. I pulled up pix of this tank from 6-21-05 through 2-11-06. I found good pics of our pair from June, July and August of '05. By November of '05 the black between Little Man's 2nd stripe and 3rd stripe was starting to fill in fairly on ONE side, but even by February there was still a side that had a lot of orange, and the black was just barely touching. Just goes to show you how LONG it takes for that black coloration to develop. It's also rather amazing to look at the intensity of their orange coloration from June '05 vs Nov. '06...WOW I'm doing SOMETHING right
Here's some pics from "back in the day" when my step back into reefing consisted of a 24 gallon birthday present for Renee!
Come on already with Spawn #5 guys!!!
Matt
First off great job breeding clowns! I can tell you I know how hard and expensive it can be to breed fish so my hats of to you.
Seems from what I have read..
The temp. is important. With higher temp. you can grow faster lowering the risk as little guys. Plus Mom and Dad spawn more giving you more chances on spawning getting you better.
Switching your little ones from one tank to another should really be done the LEAST amount of times. I think I would breakdown and get a 20 gallon tank if I were you. (buy a used one on www.craigslist.com) They can then grow larger faster and stay in the same place a longer period of time. The amount you spend for a good used 20 gallon tank you will make up in the fish you are breeding.
Prices on these fish My LFS (Denver) is buying these guys at $8-$15 (and of course marking it up3-4 times) On the wholesale market they are buying them for $6 depending on color and species of clown..
Bare Tanks from my experince with breeding fish having nothing in the tank works best. One it ads more room. But that is not the main reasons. It gets rid of alot of risks!!
Also, having all these tanks, equipment and heaters is going to cost you as you get more and more tanks. I know this is not your profession but if you can find a more efficient way like the big breeders do you might save some dough... HOWEVER, this all depends on how far you are going to take this?
Great Job!
Seems from what I have read..
The temp. is important. With higher temp. you can grow faster lowering the risk as little guys. Plus Mom and Dad spawn more giving you more chances on spawning getting you better.
Switching your little ones from one tank to another should really be done the LEAST amount of times. I think I would breakdown and get a 20 gallon tank if I were you. (buy a used one on www.craigslist.com) They can then grow larger faster and stay in the same place a longer period of time. The amount you spend for a good used 20 gallon tank you will make up in the fish you are breeding.
Prices on these fish My LFS (Denver) is buying these guys at $8-$15 (and of course marking it up3-4 times) On the wholesale market they are buying them for $6 depending on color and species of clown..
Bare Tanks from my experince with breeding fish having nothing in the tank works best. One it ads more room. But that is not the main reasons. It gets rid of alot of risks!!
Also, having all these tanks, equipment and heaters is going to cost you as you get more and more tanks. I know this is not your profession but if you can find a more efficient way like the big breeders do you might save some dough... HOWEVER, this all depends on how far you are going to take this?
Great Job!
mwp
In Memoriam
Kevin, thanks for the compliments. Regarding some of you comments:
Agreed!
No room or "spousal support" on that type of addition as long as we live where we live. 2 10 gallons is all we have room for, even those were more than just "a stretch". Going to make up for smaller spaces with more water changes and filtration as necessary.
The Onyx variety retails, tank raised @ Rod's Reef, for typically $50-70 at 1/2-3/4". Live Aquaria, when available, pairs start at $149.00. I already know I won't be producing the quantities to sell to our area wholesalers and don't want to anyway...giving away too much on a rare varient such as this. The LFS's in the area...well let's just say the STARTING price I'll consider is $10, $20 more likely, but again that's for SMALL fish. The more and more I think about it, the more apt I am to sell them in small groups to other hobbyists - because I am so limited with space etc, that's most likely what I need to do, especially if I continue to botch batches and only end up with 3-4 juveniles at a shot
Just like everything else, there are economies of scale involved. Due to the fact that I'm breeding in a CONDO, 3 24's, 1 6, and 2 larval 10's is the limit on tankspace. If I wanted to produce more *clownfish* I would ditch everything and empty out all my tanks save the pair of percs in their 24...the other 2 24's would be for growout, along with the 2 10's for larval rearing. To me, that is BEYOND boring!
Next move is ideally to a house with a basement, which I've already staked my claim on, destined to be a fishroom / rod shop, and a greenhouse for the orchids. OH, and near a great lake so I can continue steelhead & salmon guiding. I don't ask much else
FWIW,
Matt
Agreed!
No room or "spousal support" on that type of addition as long as we live where we live. 2 10 gallons is all we have room for, even those were more than just "a stretch". Going to make up for smaller spaces with more water changes and filtration as necessary.
The Onyx variety retails, tank raised @ Rod's Reef, for typically $50-70 at 1/2-3/4". Live Aquaria, when available, pairs start at $149.00. I already know I won't be producing the quantities to sell to our area wholesalers and don't want to anyway...giving away too much on a rare varient such as this. The LFS's in the area...well let's just say the STARTING price I'll consider is $10, $20 more likely, but again that's for SMALL fish. The more and more I think about it, the more apt I am to sell them in small groups to other hobbyists - because I am so limited with space etc, that's most likely what I need to do, especially if I continue to botch batches and only end up with 3-4 juveniles at a shot
Just like everything else, there are economies of scale involved. Due to the fact that I'm breeding in a CONDO, 3 24's, 1 6, and 2 larval 10's is the limit on tankspace. If I wanted to produce more *clownfish* I would ditch everything and empty out all my tanks save the pair of percs in their 24...the other 2 24's would be for growout, along with the 2 10's for larval rearing. To me, that is BEYOND boring!
Next move is ideally to a house with a basement, which I've already staked my claim on, destined to be a fishroom / rod shop, and a greenhouse for the orchids. OH, and near a great lake so I can continue steelhead & salmon guiding. I don't ask much else
FWIW,
Matt
mwp
In Memoriam
12-1-06 - I don't get it at all - the clowns have been like clockwork, hatching on days 8 and 9. Somehow, last night, 11-30, virtually 98% of the eggs hatched. We totally missed it (I was out in the alley fighting with a grill guard that was supposed to be on the car BEFORE the whole deer incident, all the while getting sleeted on and cursing it). So Batch V is over before it ever even really started.
FWIW,
Matt
FWIW,
Matt
mwp
In Memoriam
Well, I'm definitely not sure the eggs didn't get eaten - I noticed the male furiously attending the eggs last night, but didn't think anything of it. There are 6 or 8 unhatched eggs still on the rock.
Tank Temps have been flucuating here with the warm spell we had earlier in the week. Temps in general were up a bit - i.e. this morning 82.7.
Matt
Tank Temps have been flucuating here with the warm spell we had earlier in the week. Temps in general were up a bit - i.e. this morning 82.7.
Matt
