Clown Breeding/Grow Out Setup

[cball86]

Well... 4 months running this was my first attempt to build any sort of a rack system. Using a combination of common sense and someone online research I'm happy with the results although I know there is much that could be improved. I'm in the beginning stages of planning a second larger rack to allow for more stock.

thoughts and concerns:

1. Drilling 10 gallon tanks was a nightmare, after several breaks I was able to get the process down. However my decision to drill towards the top corner of the tanks in combination of only using 3/4 inch bulkheads leaves me constantly nervous that I will a plug or in my sleep a tank will over flow. So far it has not been an issue.

2. I'm currently using a Rio 3200 pump lifting vertically about 7 feet. I'm still not sure if I have enough circulation within the system. So far so good with water quality and I have put air lines in each of the tanks to break the surface of the water to stop a film from forming.

3. As displayed in the pictures, the top 5 tanks drain into the bottom tanks before draining into the sump. Is this type of waterfall like system acceptable or used often or should every tank drain directly into the sump?

4. 30 gallon sump with approx 50 pounds of LR for a total system including sump of 120 gallons. Currently nitrates running about 10ppm. Also keeping 83 degrees, salinity 1.22, ph 8.3.

5. New rack will allow me to separate the broodstock and grow out systems... I can see this being a disaster down the road.

Sorry if anything I have mentioned is very novice but I really am learning all this as I go.

Any comments, questions or suggestions are very welcome.

 

[ernieq]

since you are skimming the flow from one level to the next, you are potentially moving gunk from one level to the next. I would drain all to the sump. Also as the fry grow, and I don't know how long you are going to keep them in the system, the bioload will be really huge when they go past 6 months old, I don't believe 50lbs of live rock for potentially 200+ growing juvis will be enough. In my situation I have 50 lbs of live rock in a 55g growout with about 200 9moth to 1 year old clowns and it is very difficult to maintain a high PH. Since they are so little right now, at least from what I can tell, your water parameters will be good for now, but once they get to a certain size around 6 months of age, the bio load will be too much for your current filtration in my opinion.

BTW Your clowns look awesome. Are they Picasso with something else?

 

[cball86]

since you are skimming the flow from one level to the next, you are potentially moving gunk from one level to the next. I would drain all to the sump. Also as the fry grow, and I don't know how long you are going to keep them in the system, the bioload will be really huge when they go past 6 months old, I don't believe 50lbs of live rock for potentially 200+ growing juvis will be enough. In my situation I have 50 lbs of live rock in a 55g growout with about 200 9moth to 1 year old clowns and it is very difficult to maintain a high PH. Since they are so little right now, at least from what I can tell, your water parameters will be good for now, but once they get to a certain size around 6 months of age, the bio load will be too much for your current filtration in my opinion.

BTW Your clowns look awesome. Are they Picasso with something else?

Thanks for responding...... when I first built this I was planning on having 10-20 per tank up to about an inch before I sell them and before long that turned into 40-80. This is why I was going to build second much larger setup and then convert the current one into just a breeding rack with 8-10 pairs of adults.

Another problem I think I am running into is stunted growth or slower than optimal growth with 50+ fry in a 10-gallon. I have a smaller younger batch with about half as many passing the larger batch in size.

The parents of all the fish currently in the rack are a Onyx Perc and Platinum Perc pair (pics below). Over 300 fry hatched from this guys in 6 batches and not a single Platinum offspring, thought that was strange. However Ive had a very high percentage (about 50%) of Picasso-ish pattern looking ones like this guy(below). The pics above of the group were at 3 months old and I think the single one below is almost 6 months.

 

[Jaypilot]

Beautiful fish.

As far as your set it. It looks great but I think the plumbing could use some improvement. I may not be able to see it but it looks like there is no quick or easy way to remove a single tank from the system for cleaning/maintenance.

This is not my setup and I would admit its not as nice as your set up but you can see the concept of a system that you can vary easily remove tanks. http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1723125

 

[cball86]

Beautiful fish.

As far as your set it. It looks great but I think the plumbing could use some improvement. I may not be able to see it but it looks like there is no quick or easy way to remove a single tank from the system for cleaning/maintenance.

This is not my setup and I would admit its not as nice as your set up but you can see the concept of a system that you can vary easily remove tanks. http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1723125

Thanks

yeah the ease of tank removal was an after thought.... I cracked a tank while installing things and had to re plumb the section to replace it, just as I will have to do when I add the 5th tank on the bottom.

 

[reefstew]

I went from 3/4 to 1" bulk heads for better flow & it drains into an open 2" manifold so their is no vapor lock or air in the line to slow the flow down.

I also stock around 200 fry per 20 gal tank & at 4 months some are ready to sell.

 

[cball86]

I went from 3/4 to 1" bulk heads for better flow & it drains into an open 2" manifold so their is no vapor lock or air in the line to slow the flow down.

I also stock around 200 fry per 20 gal tank & at 4 months some are ready to sell.

Yes i instantly regret the 3/4 bulkheads...

what size is typically normal to start selling? My oldest batch is getting close to 6 months and i still feel like they would suffer in a majority of reef tanks. I plan to approach some lfs to help me move them, most I see in their tanks are larger then what I have now.

 

[reefstew]

At the very least 1". Ask your local store what size they need to be or bring them some to see.

 

[cball86]

cmantis.... I received your pm but when i attempted to respond it said your inbox was full. please email me at ballequipmentsales@gmail.com

 

[cball86]

At the very least 1". Ask your local store what size they need to be or bring them some to see.

that's what I thought... sorry for all the questions but what is a recommended feeding schedule? currently I'm using TDO-B2, 2 or 3 times daily, about as much as they can consume in 2 minutes.

 

[cball86]

Update

The first batches finally getting to the point where I can start selling them. Posted pics and videos below. The rack is still going strong without changes except for some new lighting. Occasionally after cleaning I will go to start the pump back up and the water wont initially drain at all in the top tanks... just as everything is about to overflow it all of a sudden goes again. has to be some sort of air pocket right? After its running correctly not a single problem.

Hoping to purchase a new house next year with an actual devoted fish room... At that time id like to do a "real" rack system with severely upgraded engineering lol.


Group 1... mostly Onyx, Misbars, and 1 sided or low grade Picasso patterns.


Onyx/Platinum Clown Fish Offspring Part 1 - YouTube

Group 2... The more unique variations.


Onyx/Platinum Clown Fish Offspring Part 2 - YouTube

Onyx Picasso Ultra Premium Pair featuring "squiggles".


Ultra Premium Onyx Picasso Clown Fish Pair "squiggles" - YouTube

 

[gmneil]

nice clowns .. its amazing the variations we get seeing as they differ so much from the same parents.

 

[mwilliams62]

Very nice.. how often do you change their water? What dalt mix are you using for their water changes?

 

[hgfeef]

Absolutely stunning clowns

 

[Atticous]

Are your clowns for sale?