mitch's B/W & O/W breeding clownfish thread
- Thread starter duncaholic
- Start date
Kbenjamin1
New member
This was really interesting. My clowns are pretty young I am hoping when they get older they will spawn. Until then I am going to start trying to breed Banggai Cardinals. I look forward to more pictures!
duncaholic
New member
Just got done collecting a massive hatch...or at least my fry catcher did... IDK how many but a LOT. 2 milestones in one day! Thanks for all your support and encouragment fellow reefers. I'll post more pics when the 1st batch gets a little bigger.
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duncaholic
New member
sad day for the little larvae. 100% mortality on the new hatch between 6 AM and 6 PM when I got home from work. The first set is still doing well though so I still count myself lucky for a first attempt. I think the new hatch may have died from a lack of O2, but I'm not really sure. Did everything the same as last time except that I had about 300 more larvae in the bucket this time. IDK! the water is still a little green so I can't read the ammonia test, but I suppose it could be that as well.
duncaholic
New member
Little fishes still growing strong. lost two yesterday. but I'm not sweating it. Seems like some are growing faster and stronger than others so I think those two ended up starving as they were too small to compete for food effectively. They are much more lively than I would have expected and already show a little aggresive behavior when the oto hits the water. Still a little concerned about the devestation of the second hatch, but she laid another nest day before yesterday, so hopefully I'll figure out what I did wrong and have better luck with this next batch. If all goes to plan, I should be up to my ears in fry pretty soon. How bout yours? Is she laying again? How do your fry look?
PS ... Will try and post new pics tommorow. Work is killing me right now.
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PS ... Will try and post new pics tommorow. Work is killing me right now.
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From my experience, the green water is the factor. I kept phyto growing, and what was happening was the ammonia being out of control in the fry tank. You can add the ammonia block, which I did but it was a constant battle to keep them alive. The people here who have success, tuned in their systems and it works for them. Mine have stopped laying so I shut down the phyto/rots lab until they start up again. Towards the end of their laying, I was culturing bad phyto which led to every jug I produced to be bad it seemed. Take some ammonia readings from the fry tank with a test kit. I stopped relying on the ammonia badge because I had 2 bad ones in a row. But I'm sure it was dumb luck... 
duncaholic
New member
new pic
<a href="http://s796.photobucket.com/albums/yy243/duncanaholic/?action=view¤t=20110206metapic2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy243/duncanaholic/20110206metapic2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
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<a href="http://s796.photobucket.com/albums/yy243/duncanaholic/?action=view¤t=20110206metapic2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy243/duncanaholic/20110206metapic2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
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duncaholic
New member
IDK if I should be worried about this. My fry are definately well into meta, but the past two days a group of about 50 of them have balled up into one corner of the tank. Still about 30 swimming free and seeming to eat better, but I'm concerned about these fry that are staying in this tight ball in the corner. Anyone who has seen this before, please help! Thanks!
<a href="http://s796.photobucket.com/albums/yy243/duncanaholic/?action=view¤t=20110207strangebehavior2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy243/duncanaholic/20110207strangebehavior2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
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<a href="http://s796.photobucket.com/albums/yy243/duncanaholic/?action=view¤t=20110207strangebehavior2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy243/duncanaholic/20110207strangebehavior2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
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duncaholic
New member
Just collected a new hatch, hopefully they'll live more than a day or two. First batch still kickin' strong with +/- 80 through meta and most showing the start of a second stripe!
duncaholic
New member
new hatch high mortality again. maybe 20 left. I ordered an autofeeder as I think the female is producing weak fry........ in the meantime.......... baby pics
<a href="http://s796.photobucket.com/albums/yy243/duncanaholic/?action=view¤t=20110214frychecker.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy243/duncanaholic/20110214frychecker.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
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<a href="http://s796.photobucket.com/albums/yy243/duncanaholic/?action=view¤t=20110214frychecker.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy243/duncanaholic/20110214frychecker.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
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duncaholic
New member
Well..... The babies are really interesting. I've moved them onto a centralized filtration system... sort of.... I'm currently keeping them in a 10g tank that's using the parent tank's sump in a sort of mini centralized fashion. They are doing great. Haven't lost one in weeks. It's really interesting to me how they grow though. At first they grew more like little orange worms, than actual fish. Even though I could definatly see that they were clowns right after meta, they were about .5" long, but very slender. In the past weeks, they have grown only slighly longer, but they have increased their mass about three fold. They have widened from top to bottom, and their fins have gotten much longer and more robust. I would liken it to the difference between a 2" clown and a 3" one. Their striping has seemed to stop, and they look like a bunch of extreme mis-bars. Not sure if/when the striping will crank up again, but live and learn. All in all I'd say they are doing great. Sorry no pics tonight as the lights are already off, but I'll try and post a video tommorow. Hopefully if I get done with work early enough, I'll be able to get some good footage of the babies as well as the new WC PNG percs I picked up recently from a local hobbyist. They are sweet, and have already breed in his aquarium, so fingers crossed. If they like their new home, I should have a new project soon.
As for the other hatches. 100% mortality on all so far, but, I spent presidents day (one of the few I actually get off) re-reading a book on breeding, and I'm very encourage that I've figured out what I've been doing wrong. Apparently the enrichment feed for the rotifers is very oily, and that can have drastically bad affects. A slick will form on the surface which itself can kill the fish, but also cuts off the O2. Also the way I was lighting the tank seems to be an issue. Apparently 14 or so hours of dim/dispered overhead light is the key. Lighting the side of the tank can cause dis-orientation and make feeding difficult. Also I was leaving a small lamp on the floor at night, so they were being side lit all night long. According to the book, when the lights go out, the larvae settle in for the evening and don't feed or expend much energy. Rest if you will. So keeping that lamp on at floor level, which was causing the side of the white bucket I've been rearing them in to glow, was probably a huge issue. They've got a nest right now which will hatch Sunday most likely, but I'm going to let this one go. My plan is to build a proper larvae rearing set-up next week. I also installed an auto feeder on the parent tank, so now they're getting fed at least 4 times daily. I think this will make the next batch much hardier.
All in all, I'd say that I got very lucky with the first batch, and despite the hundreds of hours of reading/experimentation, I kind of found myself in a "can't see the forest for the trees" kind of situation. Their is so much information that it can become overwhelming, but re-reading the book has brought me back down to earth. I think the next batch I try will be straight up by the book. I've already got all the equipment I need - except that I'm looking for somewhere to buy black marine epoxt paint for the inside of the bucket - which I will hopefully find soon, so now it's just a matter of actually doing it.
How bout you? Are they laying agian???? How are your babies??
As for the other hatches. 100% mortality on all so far, but, I spent presidents day (one of the few I actually get off) re-reading a book on breeding, and I'm very encourage that I've figured out what I've been doing wrong. Apparently the enrichment feed for the rotifers is very oily, and that can have drastically bad affects. A slick will form on the surface which itself can kill the fish, but also cuts off the O2. Also the way I was lighting the tank seems to be an issue. Apparently 14 or so hours of dim/dispered overhead light is the key. Lighting the side of the tank can cause dis-orientation and make feeding difficult. Also I was leaving a small lamp on the floor at night, so they were being side lit all night long. According to the book, when the lights go out, the larvae settle in for the evening and don't feed or expend much energy. Rest if you will. So keeping that lamp on at floor level, which was causing the side of the white bucket I've been rearing them in to glow, was probably a huge issue. They've got a nest right now which will hatch Sunday most likely, but I'm going to let this one go. My plan is to build a proper larvae rearing set-up next week. I also installed an auto feeder on the parent tank, so now they're getting fed at least 4 times daily. I think this will make the next batch much hardier.
All in all, I'd say that I got very lucky with the first batch, and despite the hundreds of hours of reading/experimentation, I kind of found myself in a "can't see the forest for the trees" kind of situation. Their is so much information that it can become overwhelming, but re-reading the book has brought me back down to earth. I think the next batch I try will be straight up by the book. I've already got all the equipment I need - except that I'm looking for somewhere to buy black marine epoxt paint for the inside of the bucket - which I will hopefully find soon, so now it's just a matter of actually doing it.
How bout you? Are they laying agian???? How are your babies??
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