Fry tank setup questions

[FDdragon]

Ok, so I am curious as to what is needed to setup a clownfish fry tank? my clowns are not laying eggs, just curious. I have read a few threads but a lot of the info is sporatic. Just wanted to try get it all together.

What I have read to do this is as follows:
1. set up a tank (roughly 10g-20g) using water from display/breeding tank.
is this tank setup permanently or should it be set up when you see eggs on the first laying?
2. install a heater and air stone in fry tank.
air line or air stone?
slow bubbles?
3. black out sides of fry tank. Is that all 4 sides or 3? is this necessary?
4. no light for the first couple of days.
after a few days use low light because the fry are sensitive to light.
I also read lights are a must at first....sooooo.....which is best?
5. set up rotifer tank/buckets a week prior to hatching. use air stone/line.
light or no light?
heater or no heater?
6. optional sponge filter in fry tank to help keep clean.
7. transfer eggs night before they hatch to fry tank.
or let them hatch (once lights go out) and use a flashlight to draw the fry to an area where you can catch them and move to fry tank.
8. once fry are in fry tank, feed rotifers for first 3 days. then brine shrimp for a few days, then pellets and flakes are ok.
9. do water changes often in fry tank. use water from display tank.
how often do you water changes?

I think this is the basics of setting up a fry tank. Is this accurate?

If my clowns (they are of age and hosting) do eventually lay eggs I will post pics of my setup.

 

[Postal]

Ok, so I am curious as to what is needed to setup a clownfish fry tank? my clowns are not laying eggs, just curious. I have read a few threads but a lot of the info is sporatic. Just wanted to try get it all together.

What I have read to do this is as follows:
1. set up a tank (roughly 10g-20g) using water from display/breeding tank.
is this tank setup permanently or should it be set up when you see eggs on the first laying?
Most people use 10 gallon tanks or food safe black round tubs as fry tanks and fill them up approximately 1/2 way initially. After hatching you can slowly increase water volume. Most people use display/broodstock water, but some use mixed/aged water

2. install a heater and air stone in fry tank.
air line or air stone?
slow bubbles?
Heater is definitely needed, and an air stone with enough bubbles to move water without blowing the fry around everywhere

3. black out sides of fry tank. Is that all 4 sides or 3? is this necessary?
All 4 sides and yes it is necessary initially. You can paint 3 sides and make the 4th side something you can remove later.

4. no light for the first couple of days.
after a few days use low light because the fry are sensitive to light.
I also read lights are a must at first....sooooo.....which is best?
Light is most definitely necessary, but bright light is not needed and can be detrimental because it will drive the fry to the bottom of the tank. There are two options which are currently most prevalent. Either provide light immediately while feeding rotifers and adding greenwater while keeping the light on for 24 hours through meta, or put the light on a 12-16 hour schedule and first add rots and greenwater the morning after hatch. For the first few days, it is often best to diffuse the light in some way.

5. set up rotifer tank/buckets a week prior to hatching. use air stone/line.
light or no light?
heater or no heater?
You need a rotifer culture (and a source of phyto to feed them) already established by hatch night. A week would give you enough time to build up the culture. I use a rigid airline and small air pump. My cultures are in my laundry room so they stay around 75 degrees without a heater. If you can't keep the water at least in the low 70's you will need a small heater.

6. optional sponge filter in fry tank to help keep clean.
Most people add a sponge filter (already seeded) after the fry reach meta

7. transfer eggs night before they hatch to fry tank.
or let them hatch (once lights go out) and use a flashlight to draw the fry to an area where you can catch them and move to fry tank.
If the clowns lay on a pot or tile that you can remove from the tank, then it is a lot easier for you. Make sure you know how to properly aerate the eggs when you put them in the fry tank. If like in my case, you clowns will only lay on a large piece of LR, then you will have to resort to the flashlight/scoop method. On hatch night, I turn off the tank lights, return pump and powerheads in the tank, and turn off all the lights in the room. Usually 30-60 minutes after that the larva will have hatched. I place a small led in one corner of the tank and gently skim the larva from the surface with a bowl. There are larval traps available, but the one time I saw someone use one, they trapped 4 larva and hundreds of mysids

8. once fry are in fry tank, feed rotifers for first 3 days. then brine shrimp for a few days, then pellets and flakes are ok.
You will need to feed rotifers (with greenwater) longer than that. At about day 4 you can start adding newly hatched brine shrimp. A lot of people (including myself) skip the BBS stage and start feeding a food called TDO at this point. It comes in gradually increasing sizes (A,B1,B2, C1,Small, Medium, Large. It makes things simpler than constantly hatching BBS. When you switch foods (from rotifers, to TDO A, to TDO B1, etc) you need to overlap the feeding of both foods since not all larva/fry develop at the same rate.

9. do water changes often in fry tank. use water from display tank.
how often do you water changes?
Water changes should be done daily (probably starting around day 4 but certainly no later than after meta). Although I siphon the bottom daily from the outset). If your display water is good, use it. If it is questionable (high nitrates, etc) then use aged/mixed salt water.

I think this is the basics of setting up a fry tank. Is this accurate?

This was the Cliff Notes version, but it gives you a guideline.

If my clowns (they are of age and hosting) do eventually lay eggs I will post pics of my setup.

 

[FDdragon]

cool. thanks!! the info really helps. I will know where to start if I need to.