ClownfishSushi
New member
There is a secret to strain with a coffee filter. Rotation. You'll see a big difference.
Picasso Clownfish Breeding Project
- Thread starter ClownfishSushi
- Start date
mwilliams62
New member
I think I might already be doing that if when you say rotation " turning it around and around".. or do you mean replace it with a new one when it starts to do that? Also hopeful last question here do you use the Rotifer floss that comes in thr starer kit from Reed Nutrition?
ClownfishSushi
New member
I never bought the starter kit and I've never used rotifer floss. And I'm refering to centrifugal force through a rotational movement of the culture fluid in the filter.
ClownfishSushi
New member
Picasso eggs at 6 days post-spawn.
Tmoriarty
New member
By rotating the fluid you keep the larger particles and the rotifers in suspension, this prevents the filter from getting clogged as fast.
I would still advise buying a 53 micron sieve, they are pretty cheap on ebay, and are very efficient. No dealing with coffee filters. If you want an even better way, use a 200 micron filter first to remove the large particles that may be in the water and only keep rotifers.
I would still advise buying a 53 micron sieve, they are pretty cheap on ebay, and are very efficient. No dealing with coffee filters. If you want an even better way, use a 200 micron filter first to remove the large particles that may be in the water and only keep rotifers.
ClownfishSushi
New member
Picasso eggs at 7 days post-spawn.
ClownfishSushi
New member
Picasso eggs at 8 days post-spawn. Starting to show some signs of silver but don't look ready to hatch.
mwilliams62
New member
Oh my gosh how cute I can see their eyes....
ClownfishSushi
New member
Picasso eggs at 9 days post-spawn. Just over 50 eggs remain (roughly 25% of the initial clutch). I would have preferred if the fry would have hatched already. The tank temperature was running 75-78 degrees during this incubation period so I'm going to raise the temperature to 79-82 degrees for the next clutch. I'm anticipating a split hatch tonight and at this point I don't anticipate overall good results from this attempt. But I've been feeding the clowns heavily and I think the next clutch will do better!
ClownfishSushi
New member
Thanks.
Well the good news is that as of 2 hours past lights out I didn't have any hatching early. It'll still be worth it if I can snag 40 fry tomorrow. Anything less than that and I'm really not interested in collecting.
Tmoriarty
New member
Thats the point I am at as well. I have the 17 or so in the fry tank and a hatch set for tonight.
I may collect them and add them to the current fry (possibly a bad idea) but will only make that decision if I can get 50+ strong fry.
They may get tossed in a grey bucket as a temporary solution, if not enough hatch I may not raise any though unfourtanetly.
I hope you get a lot of fry, I do like me some picassos (but I prefer the Grade C/B's as to the connecting whites)
I may collect them and add them to the current fry (possibly a bad idea) but will only make that decision if I can get 50+ strong fry.
They may get tossed in a grey bucket as a temporary solution, if not enough hatch I may not raise any though unfourtanetly.
I hope you get a lot of fry, I do like me some picassos (but I prefer the Grade C/B's as to the connecting whites)
ClownfishSushi
New member
Have you ever had one of those days where everything goes wrong and it's not even 11AM yet?
The lights went out at 8PM last night over the clutch. I monitored the tank for 2 hours just incase anything hatched and they showed no signs of movement so I assumed it was safe to go to bed... wrong.
Fast forward to this morning and every egg is gone.
So I missed the hatch and I figured I'd make the best of this opportunity to clear the nest site of those threatening aiptasia. I carefully removed the frogspawn and was chiseling away the nusiance anemones when the base of the coral snapped. Great. So now I have to figure out how to remount a baseball-sized frogspawn. I've never used an underwater putty but this is probably going to require some combination of base rock, a drill and some sort of underwater adhesive.
I took a break from this mess to give the juveniles in growout their morning feeding. I immediately notice one of the tanks full of onyx males has very little movement in it. The heater must have crapped out and the tank was reading 64 degrees. I immediately replaced the heater and I think I managed to get by without and losses. I'll know for sure in the next couple of hours.
To top it off, my rotifers also look like they thinned out overnight. I did a 33% water change yesterday afternoon and gave them their normal feeding. The culture hasn't crashed yet but it really thinned out.
I picked the wrong week to quit carbohydrates.
The lights went out at 8PM last night over the clutch. I monitored the tank for 2 hours just incase anything hatched and they showed no signs of movement so I assumed it was safe to go to bed... wrong.
Fast forward to this morning and every egg is gone.
So I missed the hatch and I figured I'd make the best of this opportunity to clear the nest site of those threatening aiptasia. I carefully removed the frogspawn and was chiseling away the nusiance anemones when the base of the coral snapped. Great. So now I have to figure out how to remount a baseball-sized frogspawn. I've never used an underwater putty but this is probably going to require some combination of base rock, a drill and some sort of underwater adhesive.
I took a break from this mess to give the juveniles in growout their morning feeding. I immediately notice one of the tanks full of onyx males has very little movement in it. The heater must have crapped out and the tank was reading 64 degrees. I immediately replaced the heater and I think I managed to get by without and losses. I'll know for sure in the next couple of hours.
To top it off, my rotifers also look like they thinned out overnight. I did a 33% water change yesterday afternoon and gave them their normal feeding. The culture hasn't crashed yet but it really thinned out.
I picked the wrong week to quit carbohydrates.
woodnaquanut
Active member
CFsushi,
Sorry about the eggs.
At least the frogspawn is easy to fix. Get some gel super glue and using a good amount, stick it to a piece of rubble. You can do this out of the tank. Rinse it/let it sit in another container of tank water till the glue sets some, then put it back in the tank. Low flow area for a while so glue gets really set.
Sorry about the eggs.
At least the frogspawn is easy to fix. Get some gel super glue and using a good amount, stick it to a piece of rubble. You can do this out of the tank. Rinse it/let it sit in another container of tank water till the glue sets some, then put it back in the tank. Low flow area for a while so glue gets really set.
ClownfishSushi
New member
I've tried super glue "gels" before and I never had any success. The last time I tried I thought I was so clever. What I did was suspend the frogspawn upside-down in a jug of tank water. That way the coral was underwater but the bottom of the base was exposed to the air. I applied plenty of that super glue "gel" (the one that came in a gray container with squeezeable sides) and I let it set in the air for about 20 minutes. Nothing. It was a gooey mess and absolutley no adhesion. I'm not sure what I did wrong but I guess I'll go try again this afternoon.
Tmoriarty
New member
Sorry to hear about that. I ended up with similar losses on my first spawn where they didn't hatch at night and instead hatched way late, and I missed the chance to collect.
The spawn I collected last night looked excellent, around 150 fry, this morning though I was down to around 50-70, than again, they were not exactly handled like delicate critters, instead like little tanks.
You will get things figured out and back on track, if nothing else maybe you can get them laying somewhere other than on the frogspawn branches.
The spawn I collected last night looked excellent, around 150 fry, this morning though I was down to around 50-70, than again, they were not exactly handled like delicate critters, instead like little tanks.
You will get things figured out and back on track, if nothing else maybe you can get them laying somewhere other than on the frogspawn branches.
Tmoriarty
New member
Oh yah one more thing (that was pointed out to me by Pickle) reduce the amount of shrimp you feed the female, the increased shrimp makes the eggs harder and makes it more difficult for the fry to hatch out.
It helped me to get faster hatches out of my second and third batches of eggs.
It helped me to get faster hatches out of my second and third batches of eggs.
ClownfishSushi
New member
That's funny. In the past I was intentionally adding Krill to my broodstock's diet because I heard it was beneficial to the egg casing. I never considered making it easier for the fry to hatch. It makes sense.
I'm sure the next batch will do better. They've had a poor track record the last few months but I attribute everything to the move back in July. When they were in their rythm earlier in the year they were laying massive clutches and I'd easily see 250+ fry hatching simultaneously on the 8th night. I want to get back to that before I put all the work into growing out a batch.
ClownfishSushi
New member
My plan for yesterday was to get the frogspawn remounted and back in the tank as quickly as possible. I was looking through my piles of base rock in the garage and I found a coral skeleton that I knew would make a suitable base. I leveled one side of it and chiseled out just enough of a hole that the remaining stalk of the frogspawn would fit in snuggly. I applied some super glue gel and after a few minutes I put it back in the tank. So far, so good. The two peices felt fused this morning and were solid.
In retrospect this really worked out for the best because the clowns have plenty of new real estate to lay their nest and since the new base is nearly identical in terms of composition, texture and color, I think they'll just see it as a natural extension of the substrate they were already using to nest on.
I think the rotifer culture was getting a little chilly overnight so I added a heater and set it to 70 degrees. After a couple breeders mentioned ditching the airstone for rigid airline tubing I made that change as well. And I have to admit, I think that's going to make a big difference. Unlike the finer bubbles from an airstone, the larger bubbles are definitely moving the culture water around. There are enough rotifers in the culture that I should be able to get it back to full strength in time for the next batch of fry.
The pics and video here were taken only about an hour after the frogspawn went back into the system.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5x5E9V76kSQ
In retrospect this really worked out for the best because the clowns have plenty of new real estate to lay their nest and since the new base is nearly identical in terms of composition, texture and color, I think they'll just see it as a natural extension of the substrate they were already using to nest on.
I think the rotifer culture was getting a little chilly overnight so I added a heater and set it to 70 degrees. After a couple breeders mentioned ditching the airstone for rigid airline tubing I made that change as well. And I have to admit, I think that's going to make a big difference. Unlike the finer bubbles from an airstone, the larger bubbles are definitely moving the culture water around. There are enough rotifers in the culture that I should be able to get it back to full strength in time for the next batch of fry.
The pics and video here were taken only about an hour after the frogspawn went back into the system.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5x5E9V76kSQ
woodnaquanut
Active member
FS and CF look happy with the new arrangement.
I've always had the impression super glue hardened faster in salt water than air. Of course if you put it back into a high flow situation, no way it will be ready for that. You done good!
I've always had the impression super glue hardened faster in salt water than air. Of course if you put it back into a high flow situation, no way it will be ready for that. You done good!
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