Sevierville CLOWNFISH Project

[nibbleabit]

I have 11 tanks.
10 thirty gallon tanks
1 125 gallon tank
I have a pair of Clownfish ( False Perc.) in 7 Tanks
Total 14 Clownfish Born October 2005
Bought in Florida and Transported to myself to Tennessee in October 2006. It is Now Almost April 2007 and my clowns are doing the wiggle dance all the time, many of the pairs are almost up to two inches long. They eat Flake food(about 3Xs a day) mostly, with some raw shrimp once in a while. They are not laying clutches of eggs on their tiles. They are vigerous and very healthy.

Does anyone have any input as to where I am going wrong?
Are they still to young? Invested into Joyce D. Wilkersons Clownfish breeding book but still to no success.

Also having problems getting a culture of phytoplankton to bloom.

Was in Knoxville yesterday and was refered to fishboy42 a clownfish breeder here in knoxville. If anyone can help, It would be greatly appreciated.

 

[EvilMel]

Just a question...not meaning to be offensive...BUT why would anyone who has a clownfish business in the area help you get a clownfish business going? I mean...I know Matt is a nice guy...but dang.

Is it me, or does that seem a little nutball?

 

[ct_vol]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9533282#post9533282 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by EvilMel
not meaning to be offensive...

I love how you can make this statement, and ANYTHING said afterward is fine...

I think I might have used it in a thread or two... lol

 

[awcurl]

Oh come on Randy That wasn't the least bit offensive. :lol:

 

[nibbleabit]

Clownfish Project Stepping Stone

Clownfish Project Stepping Stone

Its more of a hobby and maybe they would even take all the live stock. Its a stepping stone to a much larger saltwater dream project that isnt even on paper yet.

 

[Pandarian]

Let me be the first to say Welcome to RC!

It's great to hear that you are trying to breed clowns. More captive bred specimens are always welcomed in the hobby. From reading your description, it seems that your clowns may not be big enough yet. Keep feeding and keep trying.

 

[Angela Short]

I think any help to take the stress off natural resorces are a great thing. I just wish people had more sucess with many different species of fish but I think its the small hobbiest who make many discoveries in this hobby. I think its great you would even try such a thing as raising fish, it has to be so cool to see it from egg to grown adult! I bet they are just too young is all, esecially if you are doing everything the book says to do. Good luck!
Oh yea, I think its your "600 gallon clownfish breeder setup" description on your hobby experience line that makes you look like competion to another breeder! :lol: maybe you should revise it top say, " would love to have baby clowns"

 

[Fishboy42]

[welcome]

Hi nibbleabit, I'm Matt (do you have a different name that you'd prefer?)

I agree with Pandarian that your fish may still have some growing/maturing to do. It is theoretically possible that they could spawn at that age, but there are many variables. Stability is very important as well.

You could help them a lot by feeding them a high-quality diet. Wilkerson has some good dietary suggestions and alternatives to flakes. You might also want to look at the fish breeding forum here on RC--lots of helpful threads in there.

 

[ct_vol]

Yeah, Matt has some of the fattest fish I've seen... Must be his superfeed... Oh, BTW thats what I want my topic in June to be... Making food...

Good Luck Nibbles!!!!!!!

 

[RCS]

2" is a bit on the small side for breeders. If they're captive-riased (I'm assuming they came from ORA?) then they're still quite young. Most clowns won't start breeding until at least 2-3 years of age, some longer.

I really don't think there's any way you can saturate the overall market with clownfish...the current breeding community can't meet the demand that's out there.

 

[nibbleabit]

Hey Matt,
Tony is my name. Their was a fellow at SALT WATER ONLY in knoxville whom refered me to you . I am in sevierville.
865824-3378

I started Round 2 of the Saltwater hobby in OCT 2006, coincides with when I purchased my 14 Tank Bred & Raised Clowns from an Ebayer in Orlando, Fl ; Of Course at $7.70 each) they were local pickup only

My 35 Gallon Octagon with agnum 350 Mechanical Filter, 400 Watt MHS and a Good 6 inch Floor.(Half of One Side Crushed Coral and the other Half Sand) & 30 LBs Live Rock. One Power Head and one heater.
and
55 Gallon Breeder Tank, 1000 Watt HPS, Same Deep Bed 1/2 Sand 1/2 Crushed Coral & about 75LBS Live Rock with Homemade custom refugium bioballs 4 inches crushed coral mangroves algea heater etc.

The Larges two were put into the 35gal. and the rest were put into the 55gal. until the bigger system was set up, which has ben set up and is still expanding today.
Both systems had been running at least 4 Weeks w some dominoe damsels which I still have today( They are Huge compared to when I fisrt purchased them.)

The hood I built for the 55 gallon was too heavy and cracked the tank and one day woke to a livingroom full of water and luckily just in time as water was steady leaking and the fish(12 Clowns were in about an inch of water screaming noise as loud as they could flap the shallow water would allow them to make. Needless to say I came to the rescue, Luckily I had other tanks with water steadily ready and scoooped them up and into a one gallon transporter octagon plexi tank. whew. I also had to expand the new system and get it up and running a little sooner than expected. The New system... Stage II Complete.
Stage II is 3 30 Gallon Tanks on the cieling
The 125 Gallon waist height and
3 thirty gallon tanks on the floor.
This system is currently running and all is well

Stage III is in the works... more expanding... Got bunch of Cedar from the old Barn in pigeon forge and building cedar cabinets for my 30 Gallon w/overflows built in for my surround sound clown-fish livingroom.
Its mind boggling the amount of pride and love that goes into these little orange wiggly little dudes whom I believe defintly have little personalities and are very responsive. Anywa from the posts it looks like these guys aren't quite 2 yet... around october theiy'll be 2 yrs old, they are two inches and some are darkening up a little. I guess I'll just have to keep feeding them. I am going to need some assistance getting phtoplankton and zooplankton cultures up and running because I am going to need that for my LobsterProject. So any help or assistance on these matters is greatly appreciated





"DO or DO NOT, Their is NO TRY!!"
Yoda

 

[Fishboy42]

Hi Tony...wow, lobsters? As in Panulirus?!

I'd be interested to know what you have planned, as there are several major obstacles to overcome, namely the long larval period (over a year) and cannibalism amongst the young (assuming phyllosoma (larvae) can be produced, which I don't believe has ever been done in an inland laboratory).

I had the opportunity to work alongside some research being done on larval/postlarval lobsters while studying in FL. They have been raised under laboratory conditions using baby brine and prepared foods, so phytoplankton and rotifers wouldn't be absolutely necessary (although the latter are necessary for clowns). I have to say that the postlarvae are very cool looking though

For help with culturing planktons, try Frank Hoff's book "Plankton Culture Manual." Another book by Hoff: "Spawning and Rearing of Fish with Emphasis on Marine Clownfish" is also a must-read for any serious breeder. Wilkerson drew heavily from these two sources, so going straight to them might be helpful.

Matt

 

[gflat65]

Thanks for the extra literature, Matt. I'm gonna try harder once I get settled in and more reading can only help. Scott basically told me he's tried it (mixing clowns) an it has never really worked, so looks like I'll be keeping two different tanks... Thanks for the contact.

 

[RCS]

"Salt Water Only"?

Okay, I'm biting...what's that?