My Black Ocellaris pair are spawning!!!

[rkelman]

Thanks. Yes its hard to find nice ones. Quite often people pick a BTA that looks really bright pink or green because its "neon". Usually one that bright is just bleached and will return to its normal colour (hopefully) which is usually much duller. Some like mine are naturally bright. Just be patient and don't rush into one.

 

[luamada]

I have read this whole post and I must say that I am impressed. I really loved it. Thank you for keeping us up to date. I want to do it also. This has been my dream since I got into the hob 3 years ago. I really love it. I had 2 perculas but one jumped out of the tank. Do you think that if I put aglass cover in my tank it will worm up the water? Thanks
Can you give me a summary of what I need to get some babies done like yours.I am in love with your babies. I want to do it. I have one clown that is about 1 year old and big. Do you think that if I buy another one and put them together they mayhave a chance to mate? I also have a yellow tang (very territorial), one blue tang(very nice), one cardinal (i had two but the other died and I never saw it in the tank). I went out of town when Icame back it was gone. The person Ihired to take care of my tank never saw it.
Thank you.
I loved the black ones. I may buy a par. Thank you so much for this lovely post.

 

[EileenLH]

rkelman, the other day I noticed that several of my oldest ocellaris juveniles (almost 3 months old) had flared gills. This was a couple of days after I changed their water - I usually pick up 5 gallon buckets of RO/DI SW from the LFS for the babies. I read back through all of your posts, but couldn't find what you used, so I picked up some Triple Sulfa since it said it treated flared gills. I used one pkt, as it recommended, for the 10 gallon tank. The next day, 15 of the 18 were dead. Maybe I should have done half-strength for juveniles?? This was heart-breaking because these were my oldest babies and they had been so healthy! I took the remaining 3 out and put them in new SW without the medicine and just an airstone. Only one has made it as of today. His gills are still somewhat flared, but he's swimming around and eating. Their tank was fully cycled (hydro sponge filter) with 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite. I looked at one of the last ones that died under a microscope, but I didn't see anything on his gills (I was looking for parasites), other than they were somewhat red. My microscope wasn't strong enough to see any bacteria in the water. Do you think the water from the LFS could have caused this? Do you (and anyone else) have any recommendations for how to treat the survivor? I have four other tanks of younger babies. I definitely want to be prepared should this happen again. ANY advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[rkelman]

I'm sorry to hear about your babies. I haven't had that particular ailment so unfortuneatly I don't know what to tell you... I've used Melafix with good results for a variety of problems with mine though..

 

[cabrego]

Do you have any pictures of the day by day progression of the eggs? I think that would be a great addition to this thread.

 

[agsansoo]

Also a day by day photo progression of the larvae through meta ! j/k

 

[rkelman]

I don't have a day by day progression... If I had a macro lens I might attempt it. I don't think I could get good enough pictures with my kit lens.

 

[cabrego]

I don't have a day by day progression... If I had a macro lens I might attempt it. I don't think I could get good enough pictures with my kit lens.

I ask becasue, I am in the process of estimating what day my newly found eggs are on.

Today was the first day the eggs had silver eyes and I am not sure if I should expect them to hatch quite yet. I got a pretty good pic using my father Nikon on the macro setting. The pic is posted in the clownfish and anemone section.

 

[SOULEMAN]

Wow, this was an amazing read. I just read the whole 29 pages and appreciate all the updates and info you have put into this. I read this because my True Soloman Onyx Percs have started laying their eggs and I am gonna try to hatch some for a little fun. Thanks again and good day to ya.
Dennis
p.s. I know where to throw my questions at now. LOL

 

[rkelman]

Checkout FB's thread. He did some macros of egg development that are really good. If you just got the silver eyes i'm going to guess Wed night depending on the temperature. Thanks Souleman ask away.

 

[cabrego]

Whats the purpose of wraping the tank in paper? Why white, I read you should use black?

 

[rkelman]

Honestly I don't remember my logic from back then I switched to black for a while but really nothing is necessary. I've found covering the sides is pointless and has no benefit at all.

 

[rkelman]

Oh I ordered a Neptune Apex.. I'm going to start with it on the display but will hopefully one day install a second display and some more equipment and have it run everything. I will use the extra inputs for auto top off on the new Anemone tank and the growout system. Or at least that's the pan. I have a JBJ ATO so that will at least be put into service on the growout if nothing else.

 

[thile123]

Can I ask where you got that RBTA, online or locally?

 

[rkelman]

Locally.

 

[Fishmonk]

Great read and great work with the clowns, rkelman. It was very informative and fun to read and see so many pics. Particularly, seeing the history of how things went over time in a real-life scenario was very telling, how you overcame problems, etc.

Tks and good luck with selling the fry.

 

[tabwyo]

Thanks for all the great ideas. I will refer to this thread once my guys start spawning.

I do maintain a 400g guppy breeding system and use a tank setup like yours. I had issues with 10g tank bottoms cracking. I fixed this by setting the drilled tanks on a sheet of wax paper with a cinder block weighing down both ends (top) and blew spray foam into the hole. If you stick the straw all the way in to the far corners the foam will just expand and reach the trim. It's an easy thing to trim for the bulkheads after the foam sets.

I also use a bio-ball common sump as you do. But I run 100% of all tank returns through a filter sock befor it runs over the bio-media. This has greatly cut down on how often I have to clean the bio-media and siphon out my sump. I figure we run into simular issues, detritus wise, because I also feed primarily BBS and Rots as well as crushed flake. A 100 micron sock lasts about 48 hours befor overflowing. I like the fats turn around in sock replacement as I don't get alot of sock rot.

I keep a bank of sponge filters going at all times in the sump as well. IME, you have to keep the connected to an an air supply or pump to season/maintain them properly. Just letting them float ina sump may seed them. but IME, to have a properly populated and functional sponge it need to have a flow through it. At the very least you have that much more effecting filtration by running them in the sump as you would in the tank. Big upside is I don't usually don't see even so much as a blip on my ammonia readings when I add a running filter to any QT tank (never plumbed to my common sump).

 

[iziko]

Great thread!!
I hope to bring onyx!
Plz don't stop to update us!

 

[rkelman]

Thanks for the compliments guys. I am going to start to run filter socks in the future. My issue is I don't have the height to filter the way I would like to.

 

[rkelman]

I picked up another breeding pair on the weekend from a fellow hobbyist that was breaking down his tansk. A pair of Reg O's that have been laying every week. I still haven't gotten any eggs from the last pair so hopefully these guys get laying fairly quickly for me. I've moved the Perc pair to the sump on the BTA / Frag tank and moved the other Ocellaris pair to the 30g fuge on my display tank. So the new guys are chillin in the BTA / Frag tank. They took to my ugly BTA quickly. I have too many pairs... I'm not going to keep the Perc pair. I kept them because I like them more than anything I don't have the space anymore. Here's some pics of the new pair.

My Apex came in too. I have it all setup. I love this thing. I ordered some float switches and a cable so i can to ATO for my display and maybe the frag / BTA tank downstairs. I'll take my JBJ ATO and put it on the growout system. I get sick of topping off those 2 systems daily. Eventually I'll order another EB8 and PM1 to control the growout temperature / ph etc. I also want to get a battery backup so I'll be alerted of power outages. Which happen to be my biggest fear when I'm away.