Clownfish Breeding

[zeuss zoso]

Clownfish Breeding
I am about to begin on my adventure in fish breeding. It will be a small set-up, with only 1-2 pairs of clownfish. One pair will be B&W Percula and the other will be pink skunk, or a rarer type, but that will be in the future.

The broodstock will consist of one 15g tall aquarium, with an Eheim Canister filter, a heater, some LR, and a pot. SG will be 1.022 and pH will be at 8.

The larval rearing tank will be a 10g tank, with a sponge filter and a heater. The larva will be here for 3 weeks.

The growout tank will be a 20g with a sponge filter and a heater. The fish will be here for 8 weeks.

I will use algae paste Nanno, and will have a 2.5g-5g rotifer culture. I will be keeping low density until they spawn, and then increase phyto additions so that density increases. I will also culture artemia, most likely day by day rather than having a continuous culture.

If the broodstock spawn on a 14day cycle like in nature, I will only use every 3rd spawn, due to time issues, and not wanting to have 500 clownfish in a 20g. Once the fish become marketable, I will sell them to local stores. I am not trying to make money, but get even so that I can expand and one day try to make it a side buisness.

Tell me what you think. All input is welcome. This is just for edu and fun so any help is welcome.
Thanks
Alex

 

[David M]

It all sounds well planned except your timeline, it will take much longer than 11 weeks to grow them out to market size. In the case of the skunks it will be close to a year. The black ocellaris maybe 4-5 months. If you mean onyx percula you are back to almost a year. ( There is no "B&W Percula" )

 

[zeuss zoso]

Oops, I knew it was either ocellaris or percula. I see that you breed a lot of clowns David. I was wondering what the best sources were for Rots and phyto or brine. What would my ideal growout situation be for one pair, and using the eggs every 1.5 months?

 

[Kmiec123]

I would guess that to start off you won't be letting any spawns go until you get some success rearing them through Meta. That's my limited experience anyway.

Florida aqua farms is good for Rots.
https://3kserver7.com/~frank/secure/agora.cgi
Reed for cultures
http://www.reed-mariculture.com/
Brineshrimp direct
http://www.brineshrimpdirect.com/

Joyce Wilkersons book-Clownfish

Should get you going...Hope this helps...Carl

 

[zeuss zoso]

Well, I am going to be assembling the broodstock tank shortly. Hopefully within a month or two. As for growout tanks, I will most likely have 4-5 10g tanks with sponge filters. I will have 2 broodstock tanks, and 2 -5g for laval rearing. The broodstock will have sponge filters as well, and the larval tanks will just have airstones. Heating is next, and I am wondering what the most cost effective way to do this is.

 

[Morgman]

Just for your information, it may take a little longer than you think to get your pairs to spawn. This can take anywhere from a year to two years depending on species. This changes if you score a pair from another reefer. Then you can worry about larval and grow out tanks.

 

[zeuss zoso]

I am going to set the 15g for the pair up and wait until they start spawning to worry about the other stuff. I will probably let the first 2 spawns go. I will have 4 growout tanks, so I will most likely collect larvae every 3 or 4 spawn depending on their sizes. I will stock each 10g with 100 clowns.