breeding false percula clownfish

[cutnup]

when breeding a pair of false percula clowns, how long does it take for the fish to grow to 1 to 2 inches after they hatch from their eggs? any estimate will help i cant find any information about it.

 

[gpsmart]

This depends on the water quality, stocking density, food quantity / quality etc. My conditions are not ideal (overstocked my first grow out tank and have limited space at the moment) but 4 to 6 months seems about the time frame i am looking at. Better water quality should bring this down but I'm not sure by how much.

 

[cutnup]

how many clownfish did you have in what size breeding tank?

 

[gpsmart]

I got taken by surprise a bit for the first tank. Two good batches and suddenly I had 250 juveniles in one 32G tank. They grew well initially but as they got larger they slowed down. I have now moved 50 of those to another tank. I have 250 more in a 37G. These have grown well but I think it is still overstocked. I have 130 of the Black ocellaris in a 37G growing really well and 170 of the orange in a 50G again growing really well. I am in the process of setting up a fish shed and initially I will aim for 150 to 200 per 37G tank but I may be able to increase this as the filtration will be much better than my current setup. You need to strike a balance between a fast growth rate and a reasonable number of tanks.

Hope this helps.

 

[oceanarus]

gpsmart, what are you feeding the parents? Also can you discribe their setup? I haven't had that many babies survive from one nest in a long time. This old dog could use new tricks.

 

[cutnup]

thanks gpsmart. information really helped alot.

 

[joesfiddy]

i just got 2 baby onyx clown that are 1 inch long they are 182 days old

 

[gpsmart]

Oceanarus, The orange parents are in a 55G with a 20cm masked angel, an 8cm bicolour angel and a 6cm coral beauty. All fish get along well except when the mask followed some frozen mysis too close to a nest of eggs and the male clown put him in his place. The tank has a 1200l/h cannister and a basic in tank skimmer. The black parents are in a very basic tank, 32G tank no other fish, internal 1200l/h filter.

All my breeding tanks have an air driven sponge filter which has two uses - insurance against the main filter failing (has happened once - 250 juveniles in the tank, lost none) and oxygen exchange (all tanks have cover glasses - filter pumps in fresh air and keeps the surface moving).

Food - currently using New Life Spectrum flakes and pellets (Have used Sera with success in the past). Must be good quality, the spectrum seems to be a bit easier for me to get in bulk. They also get frozen Marine Green and frozen Mysis. Have tried home made blend of seafood but the fish wouldn't touch it.

Hope this is what you were after.

 

[cutnup]

gpsmart, what do you use in the tank for filtration with the clownfish when they first hatch to keep the water from becoming stagnent and the ammonia levels from becoming harmful?

 

[oceanarus]

Gpsmart, thank you so much for the information. Can I also ask the salinity of the parent tanks? Cutnup, sorry to be asking Gpsmart so many questions.

 

[gpsmart]

Cutnup - Filtration has varied a bit. Initially I used an air driven sponge filter. This controls ammonia well but Nitrites are still an issue up until I move the fish to a grow out tank. Having said that, as long as the nitrites don't spike it doesn't seem to be a problem. It is surprising what they will tolerate if the change is gradual. I do bottom vacuuming twice daily and a small water change daily. Recently I have been trying with no filtration, just a couple of air stones and I have had mixed results and look like going back to the sponge filter. I have over 100 black ocellaris in a 7.5G tank for over 4 weeks with no filtration and they are doing really well - one of lifes little mysteries. Next batch not doing so well???

Oceanrus - I try to keep the Specific Gravity around 1.022 but if I get busy (or a bit slack) it may drift up to 1.025. As I said previously I do use cover glasses on my tanks. This has the advantage of reducing evaporation fairly dramatically so my S.G doesn't drift much.

 

[oceanarus]

gpsmart- Good for you on keeping your tanks covered. I once lost a batch of snowflake ocel to evaporation. I felt so stupid. I still want to kick myself. Thanks again

 

[Hendersonracing]

when doing your wc do you use tank water? or fresh salt? being the tank is small I would think using tank water would be better to keep everything stable, also what temperature do you use? 78-80?

 

[gpsmart]

I always use tank water for water changes until well after metamorphosis. This has the added advantage of constantly doing small water changes on the broodstock tanks. keeps their water quality up as well.

Temperature is 78 - 79 in all of my tanks. This means there is no need to reset heaters or set aside certain heaters for certain larvae. When a batch is hatching I just use the next available larval tank.