Monday, September 27th my percula pair spawned for the first time. They had a half dollar sized egg mass at the base of their favorite mushroom.
I have spent most of the last week reading threads on clownfish fry raising, and now feel that I have a pretty solid idea of the basics of setting up fry tanks and food cultures. Based on what I have read, and the pictures of egg development, I expected the eggs to hatch tonight.
Since this was their first spawn I didn't have a tile in the tank for her to lay on and I was unable to order and set up feed cultures, but I decided to try to catch the hatch anyway using the scoop method. Tonight I shut off the lights and pumps early, and wrapped the tank with black trashbags to block ambient light. After two and a half hours of lights out I shined a small flashlight on the surface, and had a few fry react to the light. I was able to scoop a few of the fry up with a collection cup, but I didnt see most of the hatch.
I am going to try to get a tile in the tank for her to lay on before the next spawn. If she lays on the rocks again before I get a tile, or she rejects the tile, I am going to have to use the scoop method again, or make a larva trap.
I have a question about using a flashlight to attract the hatch. Is the light shined down from above like a spot light, or in from the front glass so that it lights the surface? When I held the light above, the beam was lighting all the way to the sand and the fry I could see were staying fairly deep, when I shone the light through the front glass at the water surface the brightest point was on the back glass and I saw very little fry response to the light.
Eggs at 3 days, he is looking at the mass.
I have spent most of the last week reading threads on clownfish fry raising, and now feel that I have a pretty solid idea of the basics of setting up fry tanks and food cultures. Based on what I have read, and the pictures of egg development, I expected the eggs to hatch tonight.
Since this was their first spawn I didn't have a tile in the tank for her to lay on and I was unable to order and set up feed cultures, but I decided to try to catch the hatch anyway using the scoop method. Tonight I shut off the lights and pumps early, and wrapped the tank with black trashbags to block ambient light. After two and a half hours of lights out I shined a small flashlight on the surface, and had a few fry react to the light. I was able to scoop a few of the fry up with a collection cup, but I didnt see most of the hatch.
I am going to try to get a tile in the tank for her to lay on before the next spawn. If she lays on the rocks again before I get a tile, or she rejects the tile, I am going to have to use the scoop method again, or make a larva trap.
I have a question about using a flashlight to attract the hatch. Is the light shined down from above like a spot light, or in from the front glass so that it lights the surface? When I held the light above, the beam was lighting all the way to the sand and the fry I could see were staying fairly deep, when I shone the light through the front glass at the water surface the brightest point was on the back glass and I saw very little fry response to the light.
Eggs at 3 days, he is looking at the mass.
