They did it!!!

[Tomoko Schum]

If babies are lunging at something, I am sure that they are eating.

I don't know how big is your rearing tank, but you don't have to fill the tank all the way to the top. Just keep the water depth shallow by filling it only to 1/4 to 1/3 full. If you think it's too deep, drain the tank carefully so you won't siphon out babies before you feed them again.

If you still think the tank is really too big, you can move the babies easily to a small tank. Any small container will do. I raised my first 12 clownfish babies in a 1.5 gallon size plastic jar (a large clear plastic jar that Biscotti came in.) The batch of juveniles I have now lives in a plastic Rubbermaid closet container that I happened to have on hand.

 

[Tomoko Schum]

Any update?

 

[timrandlerv10]

the morning of the 14th had no more babies, and a white film on top of the remaining eggs...many eggs were missing, so i thought they'd been born--but again, no more babies.

on the 15th the water started to clear, but it was still green, and there were still many rots in there--i think they may have been reproducing fast enough to keep up with consumption! good to know for size of tank next time--same amount of rots, smaller tank.

yesterday there were only 3-4 left...the tank was still green, and there were still plenty of rots.

today there were no babies, no rots, and the water was nearly perfectly clear--it was like somebody had done a 90% water change...no dead bodies, nothing.

 

[Tomoko Schum]

Sounds like there were something wrong with the remaining eggs. Unfertilized eggs turn whitish, and fungus and bacteria will grow on them. Parents usually remove bad eggs to keep the remainders of eggs unaffected. If your pair spawn again, keep the eggs with parents as long as possible. Parents do much better job of keeping viable eggs alive than air bubbles do. You can put the eggs into rearing tank the night before they hatch.

I don't know why your tank cleared completely in a day. Rotifers hang around a few days even when they run out of food. Dead larvae must have disintegrated.

Did you measure ammonia level? The ammonia level in your tank would have been rising gradually with decaying eggs.

In my rearing tank with 200 to 300 babies the ammonia level climbed pretty quickly. Within four days my tesk kit was turning green while the Seachem ammonia badge remained yellow. Although babies looked fine, I did a big water change and brought the level down.

Your pair will spawn soon again. They spawn like clockwork once they start.

 

[NicoleC]

Don't worry that your first try failed. It takes a while to get the hang of it. I second Tomoko's advice to keep the babies with the parents as long as possible. The male will work 24/7 keeping those eggs as healthy as possible and eating any diseased eggs which might harm the rest of the clutch.

 

[timrandlerv10]

Thanks for the support

the ammonia badge never turned--next time I'll test with a kit each day or so.
I pulled the eggs too soon I didn't have a good handle on when they were laid and got nervous early--next time I'll have a better idea of hatch time, and I'll be more comfortable waiting longer

I've also started dosing trace elements and will be doing some large water changes--still waiting for my nem to snap back