Clownfish Fertility problems

[clownfish75]

Hi all

I have had a few pairs of ocellaris breeding fairly regularly, in the last 1 month the fertility rate has dropped to maybe 5% in about 5-6 pairs of fish, and eggg consumption is on the rise again.

Does anyone have any good ideas what might cause it? this egg parasite i have heard of does anyone know how it manifests itself? or what it is?

has anyone ever checked heavy metal levels in water? could this have an effect?

i have recently started a constant monitoring of pH, and havent added any bicarb for at least month but the pH appears to have stayed over 8 and surposedly was up at 8.5-8.8 before any fertility probs occured.

Thanks for the help guys, this one has me stuck and i dont know what else to try.

Christian

 

[Fishboy42]

I know it might be obvious, but have you changed thier feeding schedule or foods? I've seen some bad nests and nest consumption after changing a feed or missing a feeding or three

Is the water quality, temperature, and lighing cycle still the same?

If it has only happened in the last month, maybe it could be something small that has thrown them off a bit; hopefully it will resolve itself. I don't know anything about the egg parasite, but if it doesn't improve, maybe it would be something to consider; I'm guessing that a medicated food might help, but knowing the parasite would be good first.

Matt

 

[David M]

Changing seasons- changing temp???

 

[clownfish75]

Thansk for ths surgestions guys, but temp fluctuates by maybe 1.5oC as the system has a serious chiller/heater and has been like that for at least the last 8-10 months, and before that for the previous 2-3 years has been similar except for periods the chiller was broken.

Food is pretty much the same, make my own and only vary the components very minimally, mostly due to astaxanthin etc, but this condition has occured during (3/4 way through) a single batch of food.

it probably started about 1 month ago and i changed the water about 2 weeks ago, probably 70-80% change, and it is still occuring, one pair of percs have no issue at all, so it doesnt seem to be accross the board, jus ton all the bloody ocellaris.

Christian

 

[clownfish75]

anymore good ideas?

 

[Fishboy42]

I'm thinkin', but right now I'm fresh out. Free bump for others to throw some ideas Is it possible the fish are being disturbed by something?..people walking around, noise/activity, etc?

I think your large water changes were a good idea, maybe do that again?! As you know big water changes won't cause you any trouble if done correctly, but they could help to dilute a toxin or fix a water chemistry problem. The problem is that this solution doesn't help you to identify your original trouble...

I routinely do 50% changes on a few free-standing broodstock tanks since they aren't connected into a properly filtered system--the fish don't seem to mind.

 

[David M]

Just "fishing" here but have you checked for stray voltage? ***** your finger, stand barefoot on the wet concrete floor and stick your finger in the tank :eek1:

 

[David M]

I can't believe I can't say a word that starts with 'P' and rymes with 'Rick"

 

[clownfish75]

Thanks for the ideas guys, and David i do have stray current in the tanks, when sorting them and the floor is wet it is so much fun!!! but it has been there for about 2 years + so i suspect that it isnt it, although i will probably be getting a bigger earth so this should solve that problem in the next few months.

they thing i did come up with that could be it.

About 3-4 months ago i added some algae scrubbers, these grew green filamentous algae well, but now (in the last few months) have started to grow a loose brown algae that goes into the system easily and grows very very quickly, perhaps it is puming toxins in tot he water, or it, itself is toxic. anyone else have any opinion on such an idea?

was going to put some carbon on the system, anyone else know of any other solution or a means to test such things?

Thanks

Christian

 

[damer]

hi christian,

i have a computer again


given that the problem seems to have started when this brown algae arrived, maybe remove the ATS and see what happpens?

damien

 

[clownfish75]

easier said than done damien!!!! nitrates will go skyrocketing again in no time flat.

Christian

 

[Kathy55g]

I used to have 700 clownfish juveniles in 90 gallons of water, and my nitrates never got above 20. I do weekly water changes, and lots of mechanical filtration including daily siphoning of the poop! It can be done!

I think the PURA filter pad and 100 micron filter helps keep my water clear, too.