New Nest!

[CTaylor]

Hi,
I'm very very excited. I have had fish off and on since I was 8 years old. Had my first marine tank at 12. This is my first marine fish nest! I've always wanted this to happen and it finally happened over 30 years after my first salt water tank.

I've have had this pair of oscellaris clowns for 5 years (maybe 4?). They just laid their next last night, right under and next to their RBTA. I dont have a ton of time to look for info on raising the young. I did do some searches and havent found much, though I know it's out there! Any good links?

**I'm hoping it would be be possible to let the eggs hatch and allow the young to be with the parents a few days (?). Then siphon off those young that remain, and keep them in a baby fish 'trap'/netted box in the tank itself. Is this a possibility? I want to let the parents do their natural thing for at least a few days after the hatching. I know much of the fry will disappear, but that's nature. If I can save a few and attempt raising with the above method that would be great! . I'm also willing to see about setting up a small tank -- in my tiny apartment with NO room lol. But I prefer not to. Even if I did that I'd have to wait til the eggs hatch... I do not want to remove the clowns anemone -- it's on the same rock as the eggs of course!

Any guidance greatly appreciated!

 

[bshow24]

Well...there is definitely a lot to say here, and I have all the links on my home laptop so can't help much, but I'll provide a "summary" if you will. Note, this is not 100% complete but maybe can get you going in the right direction.

First off, there is a ton of information out there.

Second, to answer your questions, no you cannot leave the larvae in main tank. They will get eaten or perish from getting blown around by the power head. This is the worst part, as the eggs usually hatch in the middle of the night and you have to fish them out very carefully and move them to their own little tank.

Third, these larvae don't eat normal fish food for a bit, you need to have a live rotifer culture going. You can find a lot of information on the internet about this, and understand this takes time to get set up before you can successfully feed all the new hatches.

Overall, do some more research and find what you need to do. Unless you spend some cash, you probably won't be harvesting this first batch. But the good thing is as long as you keep the clowns happy, they will continue to lay eggs!

edit: if I remember when I get home I'll provide you the links I have!

 

[CTaylor]

Hi bshow,
I'e done some reading.. Not a lot. But from I can see I need the rotifers, ideally have them prepared for the hatching, which seems to take time. But, would this work?: https://www.coralreefing.com/Live/r...8UPox7BSDNkLdTjVFxLOIg48lUWv3RFgyAaAgzS8P8HAQ
If I try to raise this batch, it would be a 10 gallon tank I have already and I have an air pump+ stone. I dont have a light yet. I have a heater, though it might be too high power. IF I can get by without the light, then great. The main thing I think is the rotifer food.
Thanks!

 

[CTaylor]

OR: http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3468+2190+3063&pcatid=3063

 

[bshow24]

Those won't last very long...you need to learn to culture rotifers.

http://reedmariculture.com/support_rotifers_culturing.php

Here's pretty much everything you need to know:

http://www.fellsman.se/akvarium/raising_clownfish.pdf

Also, Oscellaris clowns are the most common type. Before you spend the money and go through the trouble of raising the fry, check with your LFS or wherever you are selling them if you will get a credit and how much. For me, the store credit is so little that it would cost me money to raise them, not down. My Picasso's on the other hand....one day!

 

[CTaylor]

I didnt really have an plan or idea to profit from raising the clowns. I dont know what the endgame would be if I did pursue it. I'd just end up with a ton of clown fish and lots of tanks lol. But that's totally not practical. From a $ stand point, even if I were successful raising them from batch to batch I can't see it being worth the time just from the $ profit. I guess I was just hoping to see the babies grow up. But then what? lol. Like another thread said, if I give them to LFS or whoever, they'll likely end up dead anyhow. And a lot of people would probably get more than one at a time so i'm just perpetuating more clowns being directly related to each other (my clowns i'm guessing are siblings...then whoever gets more than one of mine may want to breed those siblings and so on).

 

[bshow24]

Exactly you want to have an end game here. Raising the fry isn't the cheapest thing, and obviously you don't want to overpopulate your own tank. Sure it'd be fun to watch them grow but at some point they'd have to go. It may not be about making a profit, but have to figure something out!

 

[ThRoewer]

Ocellaris are the easiest to sell as they get their adult coloration at a fairly small size. Percula can look pretty crappy until they reach 1.5 inches and may even then not show their final coloration. So stores usually won't take smaller ones or pay you far less than what they are actually worth.
With most other species you will have a hard time to sell many.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[CTaylor]

***
**The female has been more beligerant to the male today. The female just kicked the male out of the anemone for a while... he's back in now the lights are off. His fins are getting frayed even. It seems to have happened after 9 pm night. Earlier today I did put new fish in: a few sharknose gobies, 2 small pygmy files, and a blue tang ... All these fish have been mostly in hiding since introduced, they have not even hardly gone by the pair. **They were purchased the morning of the nest being laid (I probably would not have bought the new fish if I new the eggs were about to be laid).
What is going on with the abusive female now? This is night three of the nest. Should I worry about the male? He is doing his duty of caring for the eggs! thanks!

 

[bshow24]

Thought I posted this last night, must have fallen asleep!

Ocellaris are the easiest to sell as they get their adult coloration at a fairly small size. Percula can look pretty crappy until they reach 1.5 inches and may even then not show their final coloration. So stores usually won't take smaller ones or pay you far less than what they are actually worth.
With most other species you will have a hard time to sell many.

I guess it depends where you are...my LFS won't take oscellaris OR percula, ever since all these fancy clowns have shown up that's all they want because they sell a lot quicker.

The female has been more beligerant to the male today. The female just kicked the male out of the anemone for a while... he's back in now the lights are off. His fins are getting frayed even. It seems to have happened after 9 pm night. Earlier today I did put new fish in: a few sharknose gobies, 2 small pygmy files, and a blue tang ... All these fish have been mostly in hiding since introduced, they have not even hardly gone by the pair. **They were purchased the morning of the nest being laid (I probably would not have bought the new fish if I new the eggs were about to be laid).
What is going on with the abusive female now? This is night three of the nest. Should I worry about the male? He is doing his duty of caring for the eggs! thanks!

I wouldn't worry too much about the clowns. The female always beats up on the male, just make sure you're providing ample food as the male will sometimes "forget" to eat, as he is taking care of the eggs and that's a full time job.

The one thing I would look into is adding fish directly into the tank, more specifically the Blue Tang. Quarantining is obviously of huge importance especially with a fish known to transport ich. You obviously don't want to introduce a parasite into the system and lose the breeding clowns, or any other fish you may have! Hopefully nothing comes from it though!

 

[CTaylor]

No space really for a qu tank. Never had one, though yes I know I should :-/ . The clown have had visible parasites 1-2 times before. It was actually why I got my neon gobies. The gobies so far been keeping at least the external ones at bay.