beyond boring....
- Thread starter Kathy55g
- Start date
saltwater4life1
Member
Holy crab! dude you are bring in a lot of money from those 2 15 buck fish how much are you selling them for and do you ship?
BTW think you could give me some tips on maybe breeding clowns
Thanks and awesome fish!
BTW think you could give me some tips on maybe breeding clowns
Thanks and awesome fish!
Matt, I knew you would be tired after all that engagement celebrating!
Saltwater4life1, I would be a dudette, and the broodstock cost $30 a piece! I do not ship as of yet. Joyce Wilkerson wrote a marvelous book that will give you all the tips you need on "maybe breeding clowns". It is called Clownfishes, and Amazon has it. You are most welcome. And welcome to the fish breeding forum.
Luis, I feed them 3 times a day, following your recipe for top dressing Otohime C1(Reed Mariculture) with Naturose (Brine shrimp direct). Everyone comments on their vibrant color! Thanks so much!
I use Fishmate automatic feeders (turntable kind) from Drs Foster and Smith, and I feed pretty heavily. Temperature is about 79F year round. I siphon and change the 100micron filter daily as well as resupply the feeders with enough food for the next day, water change weekly, and change the PURA pad every 2 weeks. My nitrates are 10ppm (they are 5 ppm in the filtered tap water I use.), pH is usually 7.9 (I use baked baking soda in the top off water).
Water draining from the tanks goes over a 100 micron filter, bioballs in a wet dry, and then into the sump where they encounter more bioballs submerged this time, and the PURA filter just before the pump. The pump pushes the water through a 40 Watt UV and then up to the tanks. The water in the sump is a little yellow, but the water in the tanks is crystal clear thanks to the PURA filter.
That's it, no protein skimmer (although I skim the surface of the sump when I do a water change), and no ozone, but my water is clear and my nitrates are relatively low! What can I say, it works for me! When they start dying I'll be back asking what I am doing wrong!!!!
Thanks for all your interest.
Saltwater4life1, I would be a dudette, and the broodstock cost $30 a piece! I do not ship as of yet. Joyce Wilkerson wrote a marvelous book that will give you all the tips you need on "maybe breeding clowns". It is called Clownfishes, and Amazon has it. You are most welcome. And welcome to the fish breeding forum.
Luis, I feed them 3 times a day, following your recipe for top dressing Otohime C1(Reed Mariculture) with Naturose (Brine shrimp direct). Everyone comments on their vibrant color! Thanks so much!
I use Fishmate automatic feeders (turntable kind) from Drs Foster and Smith, and I feed pretty heavily. Temperature is about 79F year round. I siphon and change the 100micron filter daily as well as resupply the feeders with enough food for the next day, water change weekly, and change the PURA pad every 2 weeks. My nitrates are 10ppm (they are 5 ppm in the filtered tap water I use.), pH is usually 7.9 (I use baked baking soda in the top off water).
Water draining from the tanks goes over a 100 micron filter, bioballs in a wet dry, and then into the sump where they encounter more bioballs submerged this time, and the PURA filter just before the pump. The pump pushes the water through a 40 Watt UV and then up to the tanks. The water in the sump is a little yellow, but the water in the tanks is crystal clear thanks to the PURA filter.
That's it, no protein skimmer (although I skim the surface of the sump when I do a water change), and no ozone, but my water is clear and my nitrates are relatively low! What can I say, it works for me! When they start dying I'll be back asking what I am doing wrong!!!!
Thanks for all your interest.
saltwater4life1
Member
cool i'll check it out and ask for it on Christmas 
Thanks and when you start shipping i'd like to get a some to start out with thx for all this good info i really want to get into this it's just buying like 5 tanks and and heaters and stuff that'd put me back
BTW if you dont mind me asking how much do you sell them for?
and i seen your around ST louis we might have to move there a few years well close to there
Thanks and when you start shipping i'd like to get a some to start out with thx for all this good info i really want to get into this it's just buying like 5 tanks and and heaters and stuff that'd put me back
BTW if you dont mind me asking how much do you sell them for?
and i seen your around ST louis we might have to move there a few years well close to there
David M
New member
When the K dude starts shipping it's going to be in 100 lots Hope you have a BIG tank 
Luis, what would you consider average time to market? I'm with K here, many go at 12-14 weeks and the bulk of the reast by 16-18. Sure there are some laggers but the bulk af them are 1-1/4" by 4 months at the latest. I only feed 2X per day but a "feeding" is 90 minutes of gut loading until they look like golfballs with fins. It's a layered feeding; Otohime, CE, masago, Omega3 bs, Hikari mysis, PE mysis, live enriched bbs for desert. I feed every 10-15 minutes for about an hour and a half. I swear the little buggers grow while I'm doing it
Hope you have a BIG tank Luis, what would you consider average time to market? I'm with K here, many go at 12-14 weeks and the bulk of the reast by 16-18. Sure there are some laggers but the bulk af them are 1-1/4" by 4 months at the latest. I only feed 2X per day but a "feeding" is 90 minutes of gut loading until they look like golfballs with fins. It's a layered feeding; Otohime, CE, masago, Omega3 bs, Hikari mysis, PE mysis, live enriched bbs for desert. I feed every 10-15 minutes for about an hour and a half. I swear the little buggers grow while I'm doing it
Luis A M
Premium Member
Very interesting subject,if Kathy doesn´t consider it hijacking,let it run
My ocellaris at 4mo are reaching 1.5cm.TL I can sell them at this size,so it is "market size"for me (well minimum m.size,2cm TL would be better).So perhaps 6 months would be more realistic for ocellaris.In Japan m.size is 3cm,and I guess it is 2.5 (1")to 3cm in USA.
I feed Oto.3 (sometimes 2)times a day.Would that alone explain different results?.An experienced Japanese breeder feeds 5-6 times with Oto.and obtains 3cm TL ocellaris in just 50 days!.
So how often is best?.Automatic feeders,like Kathy is using could be a perfect tool for playing and finding out.
Another possible factor is NO3.Some people believe high levels affect clown´s growth.Kathy keeps it at only 10ppm!
My ocellaris at 4mo are reaching 1.5cm.TL I can sell them at this size,so it is "market size"for me (well minimum m.size,2cm TL would be better).So perhaps 6 months would be more realistic for ocellaris.In Japan m.size is 3cm,and I guess it is 2.5 (1")to 3cm in USA.
I feed Oto.3 (sometimes 2)times a day.Would that alone explain different results?.An experienced Japanese breeder feeds 5-6 times with Oto.and obtains 3cm TL ocellaris in just 50 days!.
So how often is best?.Automatic feeders,like Kathy is using could be a perfect tool for playing and finding out.
Another possible factor is NO3.Some people believe high levels affect clown´s growth.Kathy keeps it at only 10ppm!
I change around 15%. Fresh saltwater that is cooler than the sump water goes in slowly, gravity fed.The the sump's surface water is skimmed slowly via an overflow and exits to the floor drain of my basement. No buckets, no heavy lifting, and no water spilled. Easy, too.
My thinking is that since one must do water changes, one should try to get the nastiest water out. Everyone agrees that the nastiest water is at the surface of a bare bottom tank. All my tanks skim to the sump, so the surface of the sump should have the nastiest water. Protein skimmers remove the crud from the surface water. Water changes, as I do them, will perhaps accomplish the same thing. And without the expense of a skimmer. I may break down and get one anyway, but as a fledgling small business, it is important to keep start-up costs down. When the fish earn enough $ to buy a skimmer, I may just get one to be on the safe side.
Right now I am building another system, protein-skimmerless again. This past weekend I got my broodstock tanks on a sump system. Pretty soon I will have a nice 3 system operation, small, but hopefully, effective.
My thinking is that since one must do water changes, one should try to get the nastiest water out. Everyone agrees that the nastiest water is at the surface of a bare bottom tank. All my tanks skim to the sump, so the surface of the sump should have the nastiest water. Protein skimmers remove the crud from the surface water. Water changes, as I do them, will perhaps accomplish the same thing. And without the expense of a skimmer. I may break down and get one anyway, but as a fledgling small business, it is important to keep start-up costs down. When the fish earn enough $ to buy a skimmer, I may just get one to be on the safe side.
Right now I am building another system, protein-skimmerless again. This past weekend I got my broodstock tanks on a sump system. Pretty soon I will have a nice 3 system operation, small, but hopefully, effective.
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FishGuttz
New member
Kathy,
Gorgeous, exciting, and fun. Oh and the fish are nice too.
haha.
I saw Ocellaris for sale at LFS. They were about 1/2" or smaller for 10 bucks a piece. Must have been a local breeder. Would fish that size survive shipping? A lot were dead on the bottom. Is it worth buying these?
Gorgeous, exciting, and fun. Oh and the fish are nice too.
haha.
I saw Ocellaris for sale at LFS. They were about 1/2" or smaller for 10 bucks a piece. Must have been a local breeder. Would fish that size survive shipping? A lot were dead on the bottom. Is it worth buying these?
David M
New member
From reading Kathy's posts there is no question that her fish reach met faster than mine, I average ten days to "headbands". I suppose it's the temp, 84 is too risky for me as that can quickly become 86-87 in the afternoon, we have extreme temp swings here as I have said before. I keep them at around 82f to be safe. I just lost a huge nest the other day from high temp I believe, they certainly looked "cooked" and the tank was at 86 when I checked it, could have been higher previously. And you never know how accurate the thermometer was. After met they grow quickly enough though so I'm satisfied.
No way you cold sell a fish here at 1.5-2 cm Luis!!!! They would laugh you right out of the store :lol: 1-1/4" (3cm) is what they want.
No way you cold sell a fish here at 1.5-2 cm Luis!!!! They would laugh you right out of the store :lol: 1-1/4" (3cm) is what they want.
Yes, my basement air temperature varies by the seasons(77summer, 64F winter), not by the day. It makes it easy for me to keep a constant temperature. Also, I heat the water, not the air as David does.
Surprisingly, so far the difference in my energy bill is only 10-20 bucks a month, and only in the winter months when I need the heaters more. But all that may change with the additional new system, and even with that, I will likely have a much smaller system than David, or even anyone else, has.
Surprisingly, so far the difference in my energy bill is only 10-20 bucks a month, and only in the winter months when I need the heaters more. But all that may change with the additional new system, and even with that, I will likely have a much smaller system than David, or even anyone else, has.
I agree it is not significant to overall growth rate if they meta at 5 days or meta at 11 days. But since they seem to die less after meta, an early metamorphosis should be a good thing. Also, the sooner they are fish and not larvae, the sooner they can go "on system" and the less I have to worry about ammonia build up.
I put mine on system today. Just a trickle, but it provides a continuous water change with ammonia free water.
I do think that temperature can play a role in growth over the months that they are juveniles. In the past, though, the temp in my grow out system has been around 77-78F. Recently, I have increased the temp to 79-80. We will see.
