Breeding Tomato Clowns - Amphipiron Frenatus

R

rbrusletto

New member
We've got our first clutch of eggs, which we noticed on the first day laid(tuesday), which would make Monday or Tuesday this next week the lucky day(correct?)!

Now, I came across the other thread in this forum yesterday afternoon which mentioned seahorsesource.com, I got my l-type rotifers from Reed mariculture(Reef Nutrition). $50 for a starter kit! I was a little depressed when I saw how much the rotifers @ seahorsesource.com were, BUT too late. Anyways, my order wont be shipped til tuesday next week, and received til Thursday, meaning I'll just barely be too late for this clutch. I'm still going to go through the process though, to get a pattern down, maybe if I'm lucky the clutch will hatch a day later than expected and I'll get the rotifers in time to put into the larvae tank.

Setup:

2x5G larvae tanks
2xair pumps, gang valves, tubing etc.
1 or 2 x 5G(3g full) l-type rotifer cultures
Brine shrimp eggs for hatching 3 days in(or so?)

20L w/ 144W of PC light and softies for a growout tank, HOB Filter


I'm going for the flashlight, and scoop up method to try with this first clutch, and see how it works in my tank, as it's acryllic, and theres not much room in the top for arms. I probably forgot something I've planned out as well, but cant remember right now! My two daughters and wife are excited to see the babies, and actually excited to go through the process and see how they do, plus it's a great learning experience for our 5 and 8 year old girls.
 
Cool. You'll love it. Its a great experience. As for the SG you want to use parent tank water for the first little while. In mine I gradually reduce it to 1.020 over time to save money on salt.
 
Would there be any reason not to use a 2.5G tank, I noticed in another thread that someone was using a 5g, half filled. I figured a 2.5G would be the same then.

I also got a 10" bubble bar to run the length of the 2.5g tank for the larvae, and will be using a little 5-10G heater, and a glass cover. Eggs should either hatch tonight, or tomorrow night I think, saw a few silver eyes last night.
 
It depends on how many fry really.. I have 10g tanks and I start 1/2 filled. Really its the same as any tank. Bad things happen fast in a small tank.
 
I can get some pics, but not tonight, lights are off already...

Tank is 4' 75G w/ 10G sump, seaclone 100 skimmer, *ahem 7 bubbletip anemones, split from 1, and chock full of coral... maxijet modded to 1600gph for flow, blueline aqua 20 for sump return..
 
bah! I missed it last night. Given that we live in Denver, I get the chance to go night skiing every once in a while, and last night was it.. I had checked on the eggs, and about half were silver eyed, and not necesarily as grey as I thought they would be. When I got home, I took another look, and still not enough silver eyes(I thought). Sure enough this morning, 3/4 of the eggs are gone and my main flow pump (maxijet-mod) cracked the rod, so there is very little flow in the tank. I'm worried with the loss of flow that the fish wont lay eggs again. Funny thing is, I got the rotifer shipment yesterday afternoon as well.

One question, before I start the rotifer culture, do they need to be at the same temp as the larvae tank water? The sheet from reed mariculture doesn't mention anything about rotifer temps, only that SG difference doesn't stress the rotifers, and to make sure the pH is good when matching the water.
 
I have found that the temp really doesnt matter. Mine sit in an unheated basement (62F) and do fine, they just reproduce faster at about 70-75F. I find the best advice is to not disturb them too much.

I use 2gallon "pretzel barrels" - the clear plastic containers that the stick pretzels come in from the warehouse club. I have several going at once.

I have found it best to start the culture small, and grow it by adding nano water each day. Enough to turn it a nice cloudy green. After a few days, the rot water will stay "yellowish green" no matter what, but you can tell if its clear or cloudy. Add enough nano to cloud it up.

I start out with about a quart, and after a week or so Im up to a gallon+. Then things usually take right off - especially if your temps are in the 70's. Once you reach volume of your container, and the rots get very dense, you can start harvesting an either using them or tossing them.

If you didnt get a rotifer sieve (53 micron) you need to get one. Indespensible piece of equipment. I got mine from florida aqua farms.
I dont do "water changes" for the rots - I simply harvest some, and throw out that rot water (about 1/3 of the total container). Then start adding back nano water daily.

This has worked very well for me. About once a week I take an air line siphon, and rigid tube, and suck most of the black dead nano/rot poop off the bottom and discard.

Heres one other odd "trick" ive noticed. Smell your rot culture. Make sure you are smelling a healthy one, and remember that smell. Its not nasty, just unique. Every once in a while, sniff your cultures and you will be able to tell when things are going wrong before it crashes. A healthy culture has a unique smell.

Jeff
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14163045#post14163045 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jbrinker
I have found that the temp really doesnt matter. Mine sit in an unheated basement (62F) and do fine, they just reproduce faster at about 70-75F. I find the best advice is to not disturb them too much.

I use 2gallon "pretzel barrels" - the clear plastic containers that the stick pretzels come in from the warehouse club. I have several going at once.

I have found it best to start the culture small, and grow it by adding nano water each day. Enough to turn it a nice cloudy green. After a few days, the rot water will stay "yellowish green" no matter what, but you can tell if its clear or cloudy. Add enough nano to cloud it up.

I start out with about a quart, and after a week or so Im up to a gallon+. Then things usually take right off - especially if your temps are in the 70's. Once you reach volume of your container, and the rots get very dense, you can start harvesting an either using them or tossing them.

If you didnt get a rotifer sieve (53 micron) you need to get one. Indespensible piece of equipment. I got mine from florida aqua farms.
I dont do "water changes" for the rots - I simply harvest some, and throw out that rot water (about 1/3 of the total container). Then start adding back nano water daily.

This has worked very well for me. About once a week I take an air line siphon, and rigid tube, and suck most of the black dead nano/rot poop off the bottom and discard.

Heres one other odd "trick" ive noticed. Smell your rot culture. Make sure you are smelling a healthy one, and remember that smell. Its not nasty, just unique. Every once in a while, sniff your cultures and you will be able to tell when things are going wrong before it crashes. A healthy culture has a unique smell.

Jeff
Click to expand...

is rotifer diet from reef nutrition concentrator nanochlorpsis? it seems that only a few drops will turn a bucket green..
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14164676#post14164676 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rkelman
Its Nano and Tet I think. I'm heating my cultures. My basement is very cold.
Click to expand...

I put a heater in mine as well. Only ended up getting one hatchling last night in four hours, the rest hatched later on apparently, because there are only three left on the rock today. The one I did get went right into the larvae tank, after being scooped out of the show tank with a small cup. He was eating rotifers right away last night, but this morning, seemed dead(sleeping maybe?). Hopefully sleeping is the case and he'll be at it again this afternoon eating.. I added more rotifers this morning, as well as fed the rotifers in both the larvae tank, and the rotifer bucket. Unfortunately I'm having a hard time seeing the color in the rotifer bucket due to the orange color of the bucket, so I'll be cleaning and switching to a white bucket tonight.
 
Don't clean the bucket too well. They like dirty buckets I find. If I put my culture in a clean bucket it seems to take a while to produce like it was.
 
The only advantage of the 2.5g (which I use) is if you are breeding multiple species and need to keep them in separate tanks. Also I don't heat my rotifers and the temp of my basement is 60-65. I would recommend getting them to lay on a tile, it is much easier to collect them and usually higher survival rate.

How long did it take your pair to start laying eggs. I have a pair that I've had for a month or two and I was wondering when they would start spawning.
 
Updates! Three Clutches laid so far, originally got 7 babies from the second clutch, 5 left at 1 week, and 2 left at 2 weeks, lost the last two over the weekend.

Clowns have since laid and hatched another clutch, which we missed over the long weekend.

No heater in my rotifer cultures, and brine shrimp from sera brine shrimp hatching kit didn't hatch, unless I put them directly into the 2.5G tank, then they hatched, lol.

Gonna try again on the next clutch, and should be alot easier with the pattern/habits down.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14424925#post14424925 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rbrusletto
Updates! Three Clutches laid so far, originally got 7 babies from the second clutch, 5 left at 1 week, and 2 left at 2 weeks, lost the last two over the weekend.

Clowns have since laid and hatched another clutch, which we missed over the long weekend.

No heater in my rotifer cultures, and brine shrimp from sera brine shrimp hatching kit didn't hatch, unless I put them directly into the 2.5G tank, then they hatched, lol.

Gonna try again on the next clutch, and should be alot easier with the pattern/habits down.
Click to expand...
give the brine shrimp eggs ALOT of aeration. I found they hatch better with heavy aeration.
 
2/23/09 Clowns laid another clutch of eggs, should see them hatch 3/1 or maybe 3/2.

I'm going to split the rotifers again, making a third mason jar full, and then rotate feeding from each every day.

I'll try the brine shrimp again this time with more aeration.
 
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