First attempt and raising baby snowflakes.

[ajdiver]

So I figured seems I'm new to the breeding aspect of clownfish I figured I'd start a thread for all the other people that are thinking of trying it.

Here's the pic of the eggs a few days before they hatched

 

[ajdiver]

A day before they hatched my rotifer culture crashed on me and of course there wasn't anyone local that had any on hand. My LFS suggested I feed them otohime seems I had no rotifers. We'll I had nothing to lose so off I went. It is now day 2 and there's is about 15 that survived and I just received my reed mariculture order of my rotifers and more RG Complete along with more otohime. Not sure if I should go ahead and start feeding them rotifers or not seems it's already day 2 or just keep them on the otohime. Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[ajdiver]

So obviously the otohime wasn't enough so they all died on day 3. She's prego again so I'll update as soon as she lays again.

 

[Xtremeclownfish]

Rotifer is definitely crucial for the first 7 days after they hatch. I found out after a few time I lost all my frys within the same day, you have to feed them rotifer immediately after they hatch.

 

[Xtremeclownfish]

I see also you have light on the tank. It's best to keep the tank blacken except the bottom put something white under the tank. The night they are going to hatch even cover the top so that there is no light introduce while the eggs are hatching. Other wise they are going to head to the bottom and die.

 

[ajdiver]

Thanks for the info xtreme. She should be laying again tonight. I have a local guy selling a 5 divided tank for $200. You think it's a good deal?

 

[ajdiver]

I'm getting bored with my 65 gallon red sea max so I was venturing towards the breeding side of clowns now..

 

[shifty51008]

I think that would be a good deal, but how many gal is each section.

you do want light over the fry tank just very little though, I will usually put 4 sheets of copy paper under the light to difuse it and remove 1 sheet every 2 days.

and yes rotifers are key to a good survival rate, I lost about 90% last time I only used otohime but the survivers are doing great

 

[ajdiver]

The whole setup is about 48" long. My light I have over my fry tank isn't very bright. One thing I noticed with my rotifers is that I'm going through quite a bit of RG Complete. It says that if my water starts to foam I need to feed them. I do that twice a day for the rotifers. Is this about average feed to keep them alive?

 

[shifty51008]

If your water is foaming then you have to turn down the air. A water change would help also. And yes it does seem like you use alot of rgcomplete, i use one of the big bottles a month to keep my rotifers going, along with plenty of salt.

If that setup is only 4 foot long and devided into 5 sections i would pass, dont seem like it will be big enough for breeding pairs of clowns.

 

[ajdiver]

How do you do a water change with rotifers? And I just received my rotifers on Wednesday so it's only been 4 days. How often should I do water changes on my rotifer bucket?

 

[ajdiver]

Do I just do a 25% water change as I do my main tank? Just remove water and add fresh saltwater? Do I strain the rotifers out of that 25% old water or just discard them?

 

[ajdiver]

This is my second try. She laid a good amount and they haven't been eating the fry so hopefully I can get this somewhat right this time.

 

[shifty51008]

i change about 30% daily, just wipe down the inside of the bucket and scoop out the water and replace with new. just discard the rotifers, there will be plenty left in the bucket. if you don't remove at least 25% daily (more is better) the rotifers will get to a point where they will become over populated and crash.

 

[ajdiver]

My directions from reed mariculture say to clean filter daily so I'll start to do the water change along with cleaning the filter. Thanks for the help shifty!

 

[shifty51008]

anytime, good luck

 

[Blackice33]

I'm trying to breed clowns i got a great book its called ''the complete illustrated breeders guide'' got it of amazon really good book everything you need to know to breed anything.

 

[ajdiver]

I'm a hands on person. I'd prefer trail and error before I read a book. I read quite a few forums people wrote so hopefully with this help pertaining to my rotifers I can get some to live.

This will be my next setup as soon as I get the kinks worked out.

 

[Ryannn]

How long did it take your pair before they started breeding?

 

[ajdiver]

I bought the snowflakes from my LFS and they were breeding them at one point but they stopped laying eggs. I had them for about 4 months now. I had them in a nano and fed them a lot but they didn't like the environment so I moved the snowflakes to my 65 gallon and within a month she started laying eggs. So it all depends on if their happy and a lot of food. I also run my salinity a little lower than normal and I also keep my temp at 79 degrees.