Maroon Clownfish Babies- 3-days old. Update (not all good)

[flamehawkfish]

hi Everyone

Quick update: After collecting 200-300 baby Gold-rimmed Maroon Clownfish on Friday night, the task of raising them ensued.

In the first 72 hours, I lost about half my baby clownfish population. I guess that's to be expected, but it's somewhat discouraging. For those who raised clownfish, what's the normal survival rate (i.e. 60%) of frye through the first 72 hours? Just curious...

Now, about 100 or so are really chowing down on rotifers, gaining weight. Their bellies are full and silvery- as large as their eyes. They're gaining a feint shade of black, and growing- slightly. Another 30 remain skinny, struggle, and don't seem to acknowledge food.

I'm only feeding rotifers so far. I need to syphon waste and dead larvae (alas!) daily. I'm keeping an eye on the Ammonia, and everything is going OK. I'll keep you posted if you'd like.

Take care,

Flamehawkfish

 

[seastar12]

Wow, I bet that's a site. 100 baby clownfish all swimming around.

 

[rkelman]

P-I-C-T-U-R-E-S-!-!-!

 

[flamehawkfish]

Yeah- but "baby clownfish" is actually a generous description.

They're really just 3-day old larvae- and haven't even metamorphized into clownfish. Still cool, but the real payoff is still a couple weeks away.

 

[zach0660]

That is awesome, what an achievment. What are you going to raise them in?, please post some pics.

 

[salty420]

wow that's great that you're trying to raise them. best of luck to you!

 

[MarinaP]

IMHO, maroon babies do not have very high survival rate in captivity. My pair have been laying eggs for years. Raising babies has been tough. I do not know why. Percs, occelaris, tomatoes, cinnamons, etc. grow like weeds.

Good luck.

 

[flamehawkfish]

hi Marina

That's good to know. Now I feel a little better about my Maroon casualties. It's Day 4 now, and I still have 80-100 healthy baby Maroons.

Have you tried to raise baby Maroons, as well? If so, can you share any advice for me? What stage of their development presents the most challenges?

I've read (and re-read) Joyce Wilkerson's book, but am also very curious about other breeders' first-hand advice.

Please let me know.

Sincerely,

Flamehawk

 

[phender]

Are you putting a little green water in the tank with the babies?

If you tint the water a little green with live phytoplankton, it will help control your ammonia and also help keep the rotifers fed so they don't die off. With a the relatively small number of babies that you have, you can grow the rotifers in the baby tank almost as fast as the babies eat them by adding a little phyto.

 

[flamehawkfish]

hi Phil

Thanks for the tip. I did add a bit, but was nervous that it would pollute the tank (rather than help clean it- as you described). I'll give it another shot. What do you suggest- about a tablespoon per day?

The remaining baby maroons (only about 40-50 of them now), seem to eat the rotifers readily, but every day, I endure a new round of casualties.

Meanwhile, the parents- in my main tank- seem to be somehow protesting by not laying any new eggs! Nuts. I feel like this is my only shot.

It's day 5, but I'm holding off on baby brine shrimp for another couple of days. Any other advice? I'll keep you posted.

Take care,

Flamehawk