Purpose of blacking out Clownfish fry tank?

[cabrego]

Hey all,

I have been doing research on caring for my new batch of clownfish larvae and just stumbled upon a detail. I read that you should blackout the sides of the larvae tank, but I have not really heard a clear explanation as to why.

I had a pretty decent hatch last night and thought I had all my bases covered, but I don't have my tank blacked out..is this critical?

 

[Blitzburggirl]

I think it's to help the babies with "spatial" recognition... Think bird and glass door...

 

[john68camaro]

Not critical in my opinion. It is more to help keep the fry off the bottoms and sides of the glass. if you green up the water in the fry tank, this accomplishes the same thing as blacking up the sides of the tank.

 

[Zooid]

John is right, but if there is stray light entering the tank at night, they will be attracted to it and pile up against the glass.
I keep the sides of my tank covered or painted until they go through metamorphosis. Even with the sides painted, a lot of my clowns stay against the glass. I just keep the rotifer levels high enough that they will always have food coming to them.
Like John said, green the water up (at least till you stop feeding rotifers) and you shouldn't have a problem.

 

[reefstew]

I keep all the fry & grow out tanks painted black on 3 sides. For fry it makes it easier to find the rotifers.