Clowns laid eggs

[steelerguy]

I got a couple small percs a little over a year ago. Well they got their relationship straight pretty early on. Both grew but one got quite a bit bigger than the other. Didn't know if they would become a breeding pair, but they did.

So, I just realized that I have a decent sized bath of orange eggs on a rock in my tank. I am guessing there is really nothing I can do to save the little buggers once they hatch but I figured I would at least ask.

I know the fry go to the top after they hatch...well I have an overflow and they are going to end up in my sump either in the refugium or the protein skimmer if they do that. I could turn the filters off when the lights go out the next few nights to check for them, but the only place I could put them is in the refugium or my nano at work. In the refugium they will just spill into the return if they stay at the top and my tank at work is completely different water.

Should I just call this batch goners and try to figure something out for next time? Should I just not worry since I am not really looking to rear a bunch of fry and sell?

 

[Mike31154]

Raising any marine fish fry is quite an involved process. For clownfish you'll need to capture them as soon as they hatch and move them to a separate rearing tank. Before they hatch, you'll also need phytoplankton to raise rotifers which is pretty much the only thing the fry are able to eat for the first week.

Consider the first batch as part of the life cycle of your system, food for the other critters. Once you get a better handle on what's required to raise the fry, you might just consider all subsequent batches as fish food as well. I think there's a separate forum specific to breeding etc. Joyce Wilkerson's book Clownfishes is also a great resource if you decide to go ahead and try raising a batch.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=86

 

[steelerguy]

Raising any marine fish fry is quite an involved process. For clownfish you'll need to capture them as soon as they hatch and move them to a separate rearing tank. Before they hatch, you'll also need phytoplankton to raise rotifers which is pretty much the only thing the fry are able to eat for the first week.

Consider the first batch as part of the life cycle of your system, food for the other critters. Once you get a better handle on what's required to raise the fry, you might just consider all subsequent batches as fish food as well. I think there's a separate forum specific to breeding etc. Joyce Wilkerson's book Clownfishes is also a great resource if you decide to go ahead and try raising a batch.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=86

You are absolutely right, I had not been to the site in awhile (involved in a 69 Camaro project that is taking all my forum time..haha) so I forgot there was a breeding section.

Regardless, I figured the first batch was going to be a "part of the life cycle of my system"...I like the way you put that. Honestly, I never really expected them to become a pair and breed even though I knew they were one of the easiest marine fishes to do so. I also doubt I am going to do anything special as I used to have cichlids and would just let nature run it's course and remove the young once they were juveniles. Not really looking for a rearing tank or a green water and rotifer growing station. I'm guessing the refugium would actually have some good stuff to eat, but even then the surface is skimmed.

Thanks for your response, will look into things further and decide if I want to pursue raising a batch.

 

[tufacody]

Unless you are going into the clown profession, get ready to to consider almost all of the batches part of the life cyycle, as they should spawn regularly for you now twice a month or so.