Anemone Dominated Breeding Grounds.... The Journey Has Begun

[Tmoriarty]

Exciting moment for me in reef keeping, My clowns finally laid their first clutch last night. I'll start from the begging, when I started reefing not all too long ago my plan was to create a tank, Anemone Dominated, covered in clowns. This is the journey that puts it all in motion.

I setup my 203g just over a year ago now. I added in my Wild Caught Onyx True Percula (SI) pair that came from my 55g. Approximately 9 months ago I lost the male (never found him) and replaced him with a Wild Caught Black and White False Percula (Unknown location). The match was rough at first, my female (Coral) wanted nothing to do with the new male, well other than to terrorize him. This lasted approximately 2 days before she was willing to accept him in her domain.

I was never able to get my clownfish to associate with a host anemone (Tried numerous BTA's) for quite some time, so around five months ago I added a natural host, a Heteractis Magnifica. The bond was instant. Both the female and male were in the new host within minutes and have rarely left it since (although they now occasional swing through the BTA's).

Here is where it got interesting; around four months ago I added a Snowflake (Pickles Clownfish) to the tank and removed the Black and White. I moved the Black and White to the sump temporarily until I could get his new home ready. The next day after work I came home, and to my surprise, I had three clownfish in my Display tank. My wife felt bad for the poor clownfish in the sump, and moved him back to the display (not knowing the possible outcome that could have occurred) I was surprised to see no aggression towards the smaller snowflake from either the male or female. I have multiple anemones (Currently 5) so figured there was plenty of room for the trio, as long as I saw no aggression I decided to let them play out. To my surprise not only was there no aggression but some level of bond between all three. The snowflake occasional submits to the female (when she approaches) and has even shown signs of rock cleaning on a couple of occasions. I figured the pair would get aggressive if they decided to spawn, at which point I would remove the snowflake.

Last night it happened, they finally figured out what the birds and the bees and the fish are supposed to be doing together. Looked in my tank today and noticed a small clutch of eggs (around 85). Not only are there eggs, but there is still no aggression. All three fish have been seen looking over the eggs almost like they are an oddity in this world, something new. Currently the confirmed male has been tending the eggs, only time will tell what will happen with these fish but here we go, The Journey Has Begun.

First clutch of eggs

Coral looking over her first nest

The trio all near the new clutch

I will be posting many more pictures as the saga continues.

 

[blackgate]

That's awesome please keep us updated!!!!

 

[Tmoriarty]

I most definately will. This clutch came up fast so I will need to order some supplies from Reed for the next clutch to begin raising the fry.

I most likely see the babies hatching out as Black Phantom (True perc Onyx x False Perc B/W) but I will have to see when they hatch.

 

[ZekeS]

Maybe your snowflake is still a juvenile so its sex has not been determined.. Could be one of the reasons why there is no aggression towards it... But I could be wrong... Anywho, good luck with everything

 

[fishmanstan]

More pics!

 

[Tmoriarty]

Maybe your snowflake is still a juvenile so its sex has not been determined.. Could be one of the reasons why there is no aggression towards it... But I could be wrong... Anywho, good luck with everything

There is a good chance of this. The snowflake I got was directly from the breeder (Pickle on CVR) and he had it paired with a female to breed, but they had not started yet. They were together I believe for a couple months, giving the male sometime to mature, but maybe not enough to make the change.

Either way he has been accepted for now and is being monitored, he has shown submission towards the female a couple times and has also cleaned the rock a little but not much like the male has been doing.

 

[Tmoriarty]

I guess I will be taking a shot with the first clutch (barring they aren’t picked off completely). Here is my order list for the foods, not counting the rotifer culture (I will be getting it from Pickle, thank you very much BTW).

Item Description
Otohime B1 Marine Larval Diet, 3 oz bag x1 $8.80
RotiGrow Plus, 1 liter bag x1 $66.50
Otohime A, 1 oz bag x1 $8.12

Subtotal: $83.42
Shipping: $14.42
Tax: $6.67
Order Total: $104.51

Posting the prices to show everyone that raising clownfish fry is not something you decide to do with the intention of making tons of money, it gets pricey quick. I already knew this going into it, I have talked to Pickle about it at numerous meetings all the way back to last year’s open swap. It is possible to make a profit out of this endeavor but in all honesty to do that it is best to use some brand of designer clownfish (mine will fit the category of Black Photons, similar to Sanjays). But all of that disappears with losses, and from what I have heard that is a guarantee. Something I am also prepared for but I am adamant about breeding the little guys.

I am also ordering sieves (53 micron) to filter out the rotifers in the grow out.

Other supplies being used (already have most of them)

Air pump x2 (1 for the rotifer cultures, another for the fry tanks)
5g tank, 10g tank, 20g long tank (used for the fry, I will move them as they grow out)
Multiple 5g buckets (rotifer cultures)
Misc. air tubing/fittings (may still need to pick a few up)
Black Craft paper (to black out the sides of the fry tanks prior to meta)
Lights (fish have to see to eat, but not too much light, fragile little guys)
Misc. fish tank supplies etc. etc.

I have spent hours reading about breeding clownfish and still feel nowhere near prepared enough. Lucky for me there are some very knowledgeable people around to help make the learning curve all that much gentler.

 

[z's_N_p's]

good luck. that's pretty exciting with the trio tending the eggs. keep us posted on how it goes. thanks for the update.

 

[ernieq]

Not to discourage you, but you might find that the first few batches will provide you with limited success. It wasn't until my 3rd batch, that I was able to raise them past meta, those guys are now 80 days old. So if you have no success at first, chuck it up to learning. It gets better in the following batches as the eggs become more viable and in larger numbers. I've kept pretty detailed notes on my experience raising a few batches. you might find it helpful. The thread is over on the breeding forum, here's a link:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2209136

 

[Tmoriarty]

Not to discourage you, but you might find that the first few batches will provide you with limited success. It wasn't until my 3rd batch, that I was able to raise them past meta, those guys are now 80 days old. So if you have no success at first, chuck it up to learning. It gets better in the following batches as the eggs become more viable and in larger numbers. I've kept pretty detailed notes on my experience raising a few batches. you might find it helpful. The thread is over on the breeding forum, here's a link:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2209136

Thanks for the info but I have already planned to have limited to no success for the first couple batches, but I want to get into the cycle. There eggs are still a little scattered instead of tightly packed, new mama still needs to learn where to put them .

I would love to have some make it through meta from the first batch, but if none do I get another shot in a couple weeks so I am not to worried about it. The foods I got other than the rotifers are frozen, good for two years and the otohime which is good for quite some time in the fridge.

Spent a lot of time talking about stuff with a breeder in my area who is running hundreds of gallons of growout tanks with multiple spawning pairs. His information has been amazing giving me steps in the right direction. He gave me the info that the first few clutches may yeild very few healthy clowns if any. But never hurts to get use to the habit of taking care of them.

 

[Tmoriarty]

good luck. that's pretty exciting with the trio tending the eggs. keep us posted on how it goes. thanks for the update.

They have settled into the standard defense pattern. The snow has for the most part left the nest alone but stays in the BTA adjacent to it without instance.

The female has begun defending the nest from fish passing by with a quick dart out and a little head butting, but nothing to bad. She still didn't care much about my hand though.

Day 2 Eggs look to be the same in number as the previous day. Hopefully they leave them be and don't feel the need to pick to many off.

 

[Tmoriarty]

They have picked off maybe half the eggs so far, eggs have turned a nice silver color and I can see the little guys developing inside quickly. Today I picked up a rotifer culture from Pickle to get mine started (thank you again), got some new buckets with nifty measuring on the side and soft handles, needed probably not, but they are fancy nice .

Mixed up 2 gallons of fresh saltwater at 1.018 and added in the approx. 1 gallon rotifer starter. Got the air stone going with a heater to keep it at 78 or so (need adjustable heaters). The water has a nice green tint thanks to the addition of rotigrow+ that Pickle had with the culture he gave me. My rotigrow+ and otohime are on time to arrive tonight and I will begin feeding the culture tonight and should have plenty for any of the fry that may hatch out this time.

Currently at 3 days post spawn (DPS).

I will post new pictures tommorow, including some full tank shots.

 

[LittleBee]

This is pretty neat! I'll be tagging along as well!

 

[Tmoriarty]

This is pretty neat! I'll be tagging along as well!

Thank you much, I should have quite a few picture to upload tommorow, hopefully along with some video of the male tending the eggs and suprisingly leaving the snowflake alone.

 

[LittleBee]

Awesome to hear. I will be looking forward to it!

 

[Tmoriarty]

Update:

4 DPS and there is only about 30 eggs remaining, this was however expected from everything I have read and they should increase the clutch size dramatically as I increase feeding and they get better at it

A little egg fanning

5 Gallon tank ready for the spawn, painted three sides last side will be blacked with craft paper, at least for now.

These next pictures while not killer show the rotifers, at least the best I can at this point. I do have a microscope but the density is low still so it is hard to get good shots of them while they are moving (I could stop them but maybe another time). They are breeding though and their is a ratio of around 50/50 female -> male. Last picture is kinda cool, you can see a female rotifer (saw the eggs under the microscope) towards the right side of the bubble. Pitty I don't have a good macro lens to take even better pictures.

I still plan on testing out my system with this clutch but at this point I fully understand that very few if any will make it through meta.

 

[Tmoriarty]

Update:

6 DPS and it looks like tonight will be hatch night I hope.

Clutch is down to 30 eggs so I know I will lose most of them already at this point, but hopefully I will get enough to at least atempt to raise some and get use to the habits. Tank is ready and full, just need to wait until lights out to transfer the babies.

After one more spawn I plan on putting a piece of pot in the area where they are laying eggs in the hope they will instead lay eggs there, this will make raising future clutchs much easier.

Rotifer culture looks to be approximately at 100-150 p/ml, currently feeding 2ml of rotigrow+ twice a day to keep the water tinted green.

 

[chiblackhawks4]

This is great. Ive never heard of a trio of clowns raising eggs much less tolerating each other. I know you said the snowflake isnt doing as much but its still a pretty extraordinary situation. Good luck with the babies.

 

[Tmoriarty]

Update:

7 DPS, eggs didn't hatch out last night while I was home so looks like my wife gets to try to remove the fry tonight while im at work.

I have everything setup for her already including the fry tank with heater, a bucket to transfer the fry with a cup, flow to the sump is off. I showed her how to shut off the mp40's when the lights go out and gave her a flashlight.

Final count of eggs was 30 so I may not get many fry if any, but I am still taking a shot out it. If not everything is ready for the next spawn, the female already looks swollen so hopefully her next clutch is quite a bit larger.

After a few spawns I will add a piece of tile where they are spawning in the hope they instead lay the eggs there. This will make transfer of the eggs to the fry tank much easier.

 

[LittleBee]

Yay this is exciting!