And we have Ocellaris Babies!!

[alaska clowns]

So I pulled the tile on Monday. Didn't hatch until Thursday night. What a miscalculation!!

Boy, did they ever hatch :bounce3: There must be more than 50 still alive, which is my personal record. I'm resisting the urge to count, because that will be depressing tomorrow.

But I think I can confirm that they are actually eating! Some have round bellies!! This batch is definitely different than the last ones. They seem more "alive."

Does anyone else slowly drop the salinity of the larval tank "drip by drip" as described in Wilkerson's book (down to 1.020 or so)? I've done it previously, but never got it down lower than about 1.024 before they all died anyway (from that or something else).

I'm trying not to be too excited, but I feel like a new mommy every time there is a new hatch of larval clowns.

I'm sure glad my kids are more resilient than my clownfish babies.

 

[alaska clowns]

And some pics just for kicks.....
my apologies for their poor quality.

 

[duncaholic]

I've never kept any of my tanks above 1.024. I usually keep my fish only tanks right around 1.022 and my reef around 1.024. Not saying that's right, just what I do. As far as for larvae, I've found anything between 1.020 and 1.022 to be really good. If you're removing the tile, you can definatley drop the sg in your larvae tank to wherever you want it much more quickl before the eggs hatch IME.

 

[alaska clowns]

I've never kept any of my tanks above 1.024. I usually keep my fish only tanks right around 1.022 and my reef around 1.024. Not saying that's right, just what I do. As far as for larvae, I've found anything between 1.020 and 1.022 to be really good. If you're removing the tile, you can definatley drop the sg in your larvae tank to wherever you want it much more quickl before the eggs hatch IME.

Well, bummer.... that would have been common sense! After all, I had 3 days to do it before they hatched!! Next time...

So right now the larval tank is at 1.024, and I'm dripping distilled water in at about 1 drip per second.

 

[rort]

where are you getting your distilled water at? That could be a problem depending on how it is made.

 

[reefstew]

Move the tile the night of the hatch not 3 days ahead. Start the fry tank with new water at the lower salinity but keep the temp. the same.

 

[alaska clowns]

where are you getting your distilled water at? That could be a problem depending on how it is made.

I don't usually use distilled - I just happened to have 1/2 a jug on the counter that my hubby had used part of to fill our piano humidifier. It's a jug we bought at Fred Meyer's. I was figuring that distilled water ought to be safe, and better to not add any extra nitrates/phosphates/minerals.

Usually I use water that we get from a spring (that's what I use for all my tanks and cultures).

So far, the 1/2 jug went in yesterday and there are no visibly adverse effects as of yet. It never occurred to me that the quality of the distilled water depended on how it was made - I'll certainly be wary of it now.

Thanks!

 

[alaska clowns]

Move the tile the night of the hatch not 3 days ahead. Start the fry tank with new water at the lower salinity but keep the temp. the same.

Thank you - I didn't realize that I could use new water! That would give the fry tank a better boost of cleanliness to start off with anyhow. So, just place the eggs into a new salinity, no acclimation? That sounds much better! Usually the parent's tank hovers a little above 1.025.

I think another problem was that my heater wasn't operating as usual, and the hatch/fry tank wasn't at 80 for the first day and a half.

And I did my best to get the eggs home carefully, but I'm sure they cooled a little on the trip, as its the middle of winter.

Hopefully next time my calculations will be better! I wasn't exactly sure when they laid, because the tank is 10 miles away from my house. Also, I was basing my calculation on what was typical from previous hatches, but I didn't figure in the fact that the parent's tank was at least 2 degrees lower than usual due to a colder house while the owners were away on vacation.

I so appreciate the input - I'm learning a lot! Maybe we'll have a successful family of clowns one of these days!

 

[alaska clowns]

I can actually see them doing curved-body-strike-rotifer hunting! I'm just hoping my rot density is good enough. I always have had too many rotifers... until now when I need them! I gave the larva 5 hours of lights out early this morning to give the rotifers a teensy jump start.

I estimate that there are around 50 larva- they are too spunky to get an accurate count. Probably only 10 or less losses last night.

 

[alaska clowns]

Right now my biggest problem is the electrical tape that's pulling away from the heater and trying to float away. Guess I didn't put enough on. Maybe I should use gel superglue to attach it under the water without having to remove the heater?

 

[Chelle's Ocean]

Congrats on your batch thus far Cool pics

(I get like that with each clutch as well...so excited )

Does your heater have 'bands' ? I have actually moved one of my bands a smidge and it covered the light of the heater...without using tape.

Following along- best of success

 

[alaska clowns]

Thank you, Thank you!

If you mean the bands that connect to the suction cups, yes - that's a good idea, though I'm not sure if mine are wide enough. For now, I adjusted the light to shine above the other side of the tank, so they are (mostly) preferring the side away from the heater and bubbles.
Later I'll see if I can't twist the heater in a way that the band covers the light! Thanks!

 

[duncaholic]

Right now my biggest problem is the electrical tape that's pulling away from the heater and trying to float away. Guess I didn't put enough on. Maybe I should use gel superglue to attach it under the water without having to remove the heater?

I can't see why removing the heater would be a problem. You only need to take it out for a minute or two. Just be sure to unplug it first. Then as soon as it comes out, take off all the old electrical tape. clean the glass tube carefully with rubbing alcohol and paper towels. rinse with fresh water, dry thouroughly, then apply the electrical tape. I usually go around the heater about four full revolutions. put it back in and plug it in.

Don't worry about the rubbing alcohol contaminating your tank. As long as you have rinsed and dried all the areas you touched with it completely, there won't be any harmful residue. I have done this many times. Cleaning and drying the tube seems to make all the difference. tape sticks good now.

 

[duncaholic]

btw

I'm soooooo jealous that you get to live up there. Or at least I'm jealous five months of the year. Must be pretty nippy right now. Hoping to get back up there next year. Maybe catch some king salmon, check out the Talkeekna bluegrass festival, visit Denali, Take a boat ride to see the glacier in prince william sound, watch the sun circle slowly around the horizon (a very odd sight I might add). Oh yeah and definatley take a ride down the Kenai penisula and see if someone will take me out to catch a Halibut (didn't get to do that last time).

 

[alaska clowns]

Thanks, duncaholic - I ended up pulling the heater and following your advice. Duh- I should have WRAPPED it all the way AROUND in the first place.

Yep - you're only jealous May-August, and maybe Sept It's actually a balmy 20 F right now - Quite a change from the -40F we had around Thanksgiving! You know you live in Alaska when.... you tell your kids (all 7 and under) that they can't play outside until the temp warms up to -20F

 

[alaska clowns]

Well, it looks to be a sad day in the nursery tank.

There's quite a bit of erratic swimming behavior, which always seems to be a sign of impending doom.

Is it possible that the broodstock diet (or lack thereof) could still affect the larva that have made it this far? I figure I'm just about at the 60 hour mark.

I seem to have lots of rots in the tank, but I still added more, as I've been doing every morning and evening. I figure it can't hurt to have a fresh supply of well-fed rotifers.

 

[alaska clowns]

4 DPH Today!

4 DPH Today!

Well...... I keep telling my husband that they're all gonna die. But I only lost 7 or 8 yesterday. About 5 are still spinning, but that leaves a little less than 50 still alive! I actually quickly counted around 54 from the picture below.

My rotifer density has been higher in the tank than in my rotifer bucket that I have been over-harvesting.

Today, I put a teensy bit of Otohime A in just to see what would happen. It could have been my imagination, but it seems that they came over to investigate. My kids needed me, so I couldn't watch long to see if they were trying it. I'm going to put a little more in later today.

If I get time, I'm going to try decapsulating some brine shrimp and start them up - I've successfully hatched some after decapsulating one other time just to see if it would actually work. But I don't think I'm going to do much more than put a few in when they hatch... it seems from my reading that recently people have been having more success with Otohime. Although, I think I do prefer the less processed option...

And this afternoon I'm going to go get some parent-tank water, and do a partial water change.

Here's a pic of my laundry room-turned-laboratory-fish room. I'm culturing phyto, copepods (it's an experiment), and rotifers.

And the teensy clownfish - my 6 year old was shopping with my husband, and saw these and wanted to buy them for me The lego guy reminds us of the person that runs the LFS in town, so we keep him around for laughs.
It'll have to do till the larvae turn orange and get a stripe or two

 

[nuccadoc]

I wish you the best in raising your little ones. My pair just laid eggs for the first time last Friday. How often do you do water changes?

 

[alaska clowns]

I wish you the best in raising your little ones. My pair just laid eggs for the first time last Friday. How often do you do water changes?

Thank you! And congratulations on your pair spawning

On the nursery tank, I have only siphoned out detritus/dead larvae, and added fresh (not salt) water to keep the salinity low, and also phyto to keep the water tinted. I've been trying to follow Joyce Wilkerson's schedule (no changes days 0-2, 20% days 3-7, etc.). However, it was not possible for me to change the water yesterday, so I'm going to do my first one today. I wasn't detecting any ammonia yesterday, but I did add few drops of amquel just in case.

 

[nuccadoc]

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately i do not have Wilerson's book, so I am really flying blind right now. Is it necessary to use live rotifers? I purchased some refrigerated ones from my LFS on Saturday.