My Black Ocellaris pair are spawning!!!

[billsreef]

Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution.

http://www.hboi.edu/index_07.html

 

[billsreef]

What they are publicly best known for is the deep sea submersible, the Johnson Sea Link.

 

[rkelman]

I haven't updated in a while so here it goes. There really isn't much exiting going on. I keep having mediocre hatches and survival rates. I seem to be getting about 100 or so from each nest. The one hatch that had done really well had a tragedy when the heater malfunctioned and boiled the tank. I have one survivor. I had him in a plastic container with holes in it but he escaped through one of the holes. I put him back in and he escapes again. They don't seem to be bothering him so I stopped trying to protect him. My 25 gallon has quite a few that are almost ready for sale. They are looking really good and are a nice dark black. Some are even getting almost black in the face already which is a great sign. I currently have probably 600 in various stages of development. I'm collecting plumbing supplies so I can get everything hooked up on a central system. I think I'm going to drill the bottom of the tanks mainly because I don't have room behind them for the plumbing. I plan on 1" bulkheads all draining into a 2" drain. (all Schedule 40 of course) I'm going to have them just sit into the 2" T's with a bushing to help with salt spray as I've seen other do so I can just lift the tank off for cleaning / maintenance. The return is going to be 3/4 inch with ball valves over each tank to adjust flow. I have a Eheim 1262 for a return pump, Pentair Aquatics 40w sterilizer (needs bulb), and a Coralife SS220 Skimmer. This should work out good I figure my overall volume will be somewhere around 120 gallons. (I don't have a sump yet) I have 2 large pails of Bioballs and some rock to use for filtration as well. hopefully I will be able to cut back a bit on the water changes and save some salt / labour.

Here's my latest nest laid last Wed night. This is the biggest yet I think.

Here's some growout pictures. Various ages / sizes.

 

[rkelman]

Here's the big guys. Looking good.

Here's the little guy that thinks he's a big guy.

 

[vaporize]

Looking awesome Rob

Forgot if you mentioned in the earlier 17 pages, are you taking out the tile on hatching night or you using a snatcher?

 

[rkelman]

I'm taking the tile out on hatch night. I also forgot to mention I'm no longer blacking out the sides of the larvae tank. I haven't noticed any difference by not doing it. The fry haven't been sticking on the sides yet. I've found some hatches are more prone to doing that than others anyways. One less thing I have to do

 

[Lifes A Beach]

Nice pics! Keep up the good work!

--Barbara
:fish1:

 

[vaporize]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13627150#post13627150 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rkelman
I'm taking the tile out on hatch night.

Do you run medium or low air bubbles on them? I tried to do that with my last batch but only half hatched.

(hahah yes, I have been only doing cup scooping)

 

[dazed]

WOW they look great; nice job, I am interested in how you decide on setting up the system as i keep thinking i want to do the same, just not sure how i want to set it all up at this point.

 

[rkelman]

Thanks Barbara

"Do you run medium or low air bubbles on them? I tried to do that with my last batch but only half hatched."

I'd say medium Hubert. I have them so the bubbles beat on the eggs pretty good. I'm getting only a couple that don't hatch. I've had less than perfect hatches with low bubbles. I'll try and get some pics Thursday night for you when I pull this tile.

Thanks dazed. It may be after christmas before its ready. I don't know. I don't really want them all joined together without having the uv running. I just don't think its going to be in the budget before then. I guess it depends on what I sell.

 

[Kdocimo90]

can I ask you a favor rkelman... could you pm me a list of what you're using to cultivate these clownfish... If you have time. If you dont, I completely understand.

I just want to have a whole stock of stuff ready in case one day my GSM hatch a batch of eggs.

Thank you very much! and good luck with your clowns!

 

[rkelman]

If your clowns aren't laying eggs I wouldn't start buying stuff. Basically you can do it with a very short list of must haves.

5-15 gallon tank / container for Larvae / growout
Heater
Airstone
Sponge filter
Airpump
Phyto cultures or Instant Algae paste
Rotifers

 

[vaporize]

I'd say medium Hubert. I have them so the bubbles beat on the eggs pretty good. I'm getting only a couple that don't hatch. I've had less than perfect hatches with low bubbles. I'll try and get some pics Thursday night for you when I pull this tile.

Thanks Rob, my tile had medium bubbles beating on it but not sure if I use too hard. VERY little seems to survive after that hatch night, not sure if it's because it actually 2nd hatch night. Seems like it spanned two in the last one.

Will see how your bubbles look like in your picture, thanks.

 

[rkelman]

2 nights sucks. I turn my bubbles down after they are hatched.. I think the amount of bubbles needed to keep the eggs aerated is too much for them as they are free swimming. Hmm. Maybe I'll borrow a camera from work and record a little video... My SLR doesn't do video.

 

[fefo23]

This is one of the best thread i had seen exelent job thanks for shering with us keep the goog work, i hope one day i can do the same

 

[sandman12]

this thread is awesome, your the man! What are each of the 5 15g's for?

 

[6 man reef]

What a fantastic read and so well photo documented.

 

[Rick55555]

Rkelman,

I just spent the last 45 minutes or so reading this thread. It's definitely a page turner!

Congratulations on your continued success.

 

[sandman12]

Are your clowns black ocellaris or black true percs. I see your title says ocellaris but LFS just said black clowns are true percs and come from aussy

 

[vaporize]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13649946#post13649946 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sandman12
Are your clowns black ocellaris or black true percs. I see your title says ocellaris but LFS just said black clowns are true percs and come from aussy

obviously black ocellaris