Wednesday is photo night

[NicoleC]

I believe I lost two YWGs today. From the last batch, Day 20 was the last photo I got. A this age they are very upset during the process and get very frantic. This will probably be the last photo session for a while (I hope.) Now, this goby looks WAY fatter than that last Day 20. They are hitting metamorphosis, and with only a handful left my odds of getting even one through are poor.

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Moving on, I did lose my ocellaris runts today. Just a handful, but it was sad. I guess they started eating too late.

Day 3 for the little oinkers:

My BBS is starting to hatch, and I will give a smidgen to both tanks when it's ready. My bigger clowns are definately ready for artemia, and I think the YWG's are, too.

 

[jnowell]

Cool pics, sorry about the YWG's. The clowns look good though, and I feel you on the oinker thing. I fed this morning and didn't get a lunch today, when I got home at 5 I could hardly find a rot, much less guess at a density (maybe 5 oer gallon). I added some, then went out for dinner about 6:30, it's 10:30 and it's almost cleaned out again.

Good luck with them!

 

[NicoleC]

Yeah, they cleaned out the rots today, too. And I don't have very many babies! I did harvest a nice batch of rotifers tonight because I've been feeding the rots a lot more heavily for the past 36 hours or so, and it's pretty dense in the larval tank.

I added a small bit of BBS and the bigger larvae went wild. I would say they are definately eating them. I thought the bit about eating themselves to death was an old wives tale, but a little bit after feeding I saw a big fat one had died. I am glad I only added a very small amount.

Well, now I know if I want clowns to bank roll my YWG experiment, I need a LOT more space for rotifer cultures. In the summer I can probably put some outside once the nights don't get chillier than maybe 60F, but right now I am running out of room!

 

[NicoleC]

Re: Wednesday is photo night

They are hitting metamorphosis, and with only a handful left my odds of getting even one through are poor.

It finally dawned on my this morning why they have been SOOO hard to see for the past couple of days -- no black spots anymore! They are pretty much completely clear now with a small silvery/orange stomach (rotifers?) and reflective eyes. This may be the indicator they are going to metamorphasize.

Thanks to how hard it is to see them, I have no idea how many are left. I saw two at once yesterday, and I have seen 3 dead bodies since my last (black spot) count of 8. AFAIK, they have not settled, although none of the survivors is cruising the top of the water anymore but are in the middle of the water column.

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Haven't lost any more clowns in 24 hours. Most are dark, almost black, but a few are pale with orangish stomachs and black eyes. These are the smallest ones that tend to hand at the bottom. I believe they are the few surviving runt bottom feeders. They do have full stomachs now, but development seems stunted. I wonder, if they survive, if they will be misbars?

The big ones are so... BIG! Most can eat artemia now, but I am still only feeding small amounts of it. Partially since they are still young, and partially since my BSD decapsulated hatching BBS seems to finally be going bad. Hatch rate is about 15%; used to be 80-90%. Time to order more, I guess -- I don't feel up to adding decapsulating brine shrimp to my skillset right now, I'd rather do it when I don't have babies waiting for food.

I don't know if it is the addition of some big food or normal development, but their feeding rate has really slowed and they are not plowing through the rotifers like they were. It's possible, I suppose, that they were hungrier than normal for the first few days due to their late hatch/small yolk sac.

They always struck me as string and nimble compared to YWGs (who are basically a stick with eyes for the first two weeks), but I find it fascinating to see them start to do the little clownfish wiggle at this age -- not just bending their tail, but their whole body.

 

[Kathy55g]

Yup, your clowns will metamorphose soon. Watch for the white headband when you look at the tank from above.

It's funny, with mine, some of the side feeders and silicone suckers are metamorphosing quicker than some of the middle swimmers. Perhaps they are preprogrammed for when they meta, and they do it when they are supposed to no matter their feeding style or how big they are. It is not always the biggest most well fed ones that meta first.

Ed, where are you on this?

 

[NicoleC]

They aren't even 5 days old, it's hard to believe they are ready to be mini clownfishes. According to Wilkerson, I definately jumped the gun on the BBS, so hopefully there will be no survivor sea monkeys that grow and cause harm later. The chances of me finding the bigger ones and siphoning them out seem... poor.

Anyway, I will be careful now with portion control of BBS; they have lots of enriched rotifers to eat if I feed too little.

Water chemistry was tough there for a while, but for some reason suddenly stabilized. Whew!

 

[jnowell]

Nicole, I've started jumping the gun on BBS also, mostly because the last set started meta at day 6 while still eating just rotifers. I lost a bunch due to nutritional issues, but didn't loose any of the smallest fry by offering BBS to early (like Wilkerson's book says will happen).

I've also started adding dry foods at the same time, and weaning them from BBS pretty quick, just a few days. (this was all done per Ed's advice, and has been working very well).

Good luck with all of them!

 

[NicoleC]

Yeah, I was thinking crushed spirulina flake and maybe Formula 2 flake as soon as they complete meta and I can fill up the tank more and add a sponge filter. Not to get too far ahead of myself, but right now I feel like YWG's are Harvard and I just went back to 5th grade. (Even if I am flunking out of Harvard.)

It's so easy to pull out Wilkerson's book and follow her "recipe," that sometimes you need reminding that there's more than one way to cook a loaf of bread.

 

[Kathy55g]

I think if you are using decapsulated BBS, you run less of a risk.

 

[Kathy55g]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6546771#post6546771 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jnowell
...

I've also started adding dry foods at the same time, and weaning them from BBS pretty quick, just a few days. (this was all done per Ed's advice, and has been working very well).

Good luck with all of them!

What was that advice?

 

[NicoleC]

We need to pester Ed into writing a series of handbooks on raising particular species.

 

[Kathy55g]

Good luck. I've been trying to get him to post pictures of his breeding set up for ages. He only likes to waste time in the lounge.

 

[npaden]

I start geting my ocellaris onto cyclopeeze at about day 10 and generaly quit feeding BBS by day 14. It's not the cheapest food but I'm not really a profit motivated breeder.

 

[NicoleC]

Still no more losses.:thumbsup: I did find a dead one while cleaning this morning -- I moved the heater and he was underneathe it -- but he's een there for a while, though.

My few remaining runts are catching up, getting darker and bigger.

I find it very wierd that many lay on the bottom to sleep. They've been doing this since day 1, and after the first couple of days they started anticipating lights out and would "go to bed" a few minutes before.

No head bands yet, but lots of laying in the corners and on the bottom today. Some of the ones that aren't doing that have decided to play in the bubbles from the airstone in the corner, which scares me but they keep swimming away, then they'll swim back and take the flume ride like a pack of kids. Okay, then. (I did watch them carefully for a while and they are perfectly capable of swimming away from it.) They aren't meta'd yet, but they are sure acting like clowns.

I have at least 2 YWGs left -- ones that I can tell apart, a big one and a little one. The big one is pretty big and sure looks like a fish. I can see all his perfectly formed fins quite clearly. Both are still in the water column. Hmmm. I spent forever this morning siphoning and straining out rotifers and BBS until the water was pretty clear -- so I could replenish with freshly enriched chow for them.

Meanwhile, mama clown was HUGE last night and I was expecting a monster nest. Nope, smaller than normal. Odd. She was a day late, too. Well, I won't have anywhere for this nest anyway unless the gobies kick the bucket in the next couple of days. *sigh* I need more space.

 

[NicoleC]

Headbands! Oh, this is so much more exciting than near invisible gobies...

Kathy was right -- I have one of my big boys and one of the runts with headbands, although the big one is a little further along. Both have a wierd fixation with the heater (behind it, by the suction cups) and the big one keeps chasing the smaller one away. I wonder if this is their attempt to find an anemone to settle into? I have another that has no headbands yet, but keeps rubbing up against the end of the heater (the only hot part), which fills me with trepidation.

I just checked, and the big boy's headband is growing fast. The runt with the headband has stopped trying to get in the same spot and has switched to the other side.

 

[Kathy55g]

Thanks, it is good to be right once when there are so many wrongs...

Just found out that one I sold has met his maker and it makes me uncommonly sad.
Doesn't hurt to loose a larvae, but this one that was 4.5 months old...

Not sure why he did not make it. The other fish purchased at the same time is fine.

Anyway, thanks for the mention. And I am happy for your success with the clowns. You deserve it.

I think the attraction to all things silicone or rubber is the settling out part of metamorphosis. Perhaps it is time to put some pvc elbows in the tank. Mine are a few days ahead of yours, and are all on the sides of the tank and anywhere there is a silicone seam. All have headbands and getting that deep fish look.

Cheers,
Kathy

 

[NicoleC]

It's an acrylic tank, so there's no silicone and the corners are rounded. Many are definately happy to wedge themselves in the edges, though.

I think some PVC is a great idea. I have tons in the garage, but they are mostly big pieces. Maybe I'll cut some length of 1/2" and 1" tubing from scraps, which is more their size and might be more comfortable.

I don't know if I have any YWG's left. I haven't seen any today, but they are so hard to see right now! They are much easier to see dead, and I don't see any bodies, either...

A couple of Day 7 pics. My big boy:

I didn't see it with the naked eye, but the photo kinda shows a faint headband, so maybe this guy is ready, too.

 

[NicoleC]

Goby sighting! Settled out, but not yet meta'd, I think. (Well, I don't know what they look like post-meta yet.)

Clown babies are loving the PVC. Not inside, just tucked up in the curve between the bottom of the tank and the PVC. Good call again from Kathy.

 

[jnowell]

Way to go Nicole, Kathy is correct again that you of all people deserve some success!

I haven't tried the PVC thing yet, but my fish room is covered in it right now. Another good idea Kathy! My only success today was drilling 4 tanks, with no cracks, but all my babies are doing well also.

Keep it up!

 

[NicoleC]

Yep, babies are all over the PVC now. Except the ones by the heaters, and one who seems to have fallen in love with the Ammonia Alert badge.

Got headbands everywhere... I'm not sure how long meta takes, but here's hoping all the little wigglers are around in the morning.