Which would be better
- Thread starter MimicTang
- Start date
I don't understand that last question.
Ocellaris clownfish don't seem to need a lot of room. They need clean water. The volume of the system + sump seems to matter more than the space they have to swim in. Being social animals, density can play a role in aggression, although I have no experience with that. My fish all get along pretty well, but I have about 10 fish per gallon in swim space. I did have 10 and 20 gallon tanks when I only had one system for larvae and growout, but have recently switched to all 20's for growout, and I plan to build a new system of 10 gallon tanks for larvae.
So to answer your first question, neither would be better. They would be the same.
If you had 400 juveniles in 40 gallon tank with 10gallon sump, that would be worse than 2 x 200 juveniles in2x 20 gallons with a 60 gallon sump. 50 gallons total water volume is worse than 100 gallons.
Ocellaris clownfish don't seem to need a lot of room. They need clean water. The volume of the system + sump seems to matter more than the space they have to swim in. Being social animals, density can play a role in aggression, although I have no experience with that. My fish all get along pretty well, but I have about 10 fish per gallon in swim space. I did have 10 and 20 gallon tanks when I only had one system for larvae and growout, but have recently switched to all 20's for growout, and I plan to build a new system of 10 gallon tanks for larvae.
So to answer your first question, neither would be better. They would be the same.
If you had 400 juveniles in 40 gallon tank with 10gallon sump, that would be worse than 2 x 200 juveniles in2x 20 gallons with a 60 gallon sump. 50 gallons total water volume is worse than 100 gallons.
David M
New member
"2 20gals with 200fry each or 1 40gal with 400 fry??"
One ten gallon tank with 500
I agree with Kathy, total system volume is important for maintaining WQ but the actual occupied space can be very small indeed. I use 5-1/2 gallon tanks for up to 450 post met fry for the first ~60 days, but they are suspended in a well filtered 100 gallon system. As for cleaning... my ten gallon hatching tanks are divided with a fine mesh screen so while the water volume is ten gallons (nominally, actually nine) the larve are confined to only half the footprint of the tank hence 50% less area to siphon. I keep them there until after met and then transfer to the 5.5's in the initial GO system. At +/- 8-10 weeks they move to final GO system where they are packed in like sardines and periodically sorted by size.
It´s not too much math, just enough !
You may plan thinking on fry per gallon but not necessarily every gallon in the fry tank... think of the gallons in the fry SYSTEM !
Keeping the tank small reduce the amount of live food you waste (not eaten os eaten too late - not gut loaded) and reduce the foot print you need to clean. Keeping the system large improve water quality.
Can you have a large tank with lots of fry ? Yes, you just need more rots to go in their and more water for the changes as cleaning can be harder and water quality must stay fine.
As a learning member, please tell me you all if anything is wrong on this post.
Anderson.
You may plan thinking on fry per gallon but not necessarily every gallon in the fry tank... think of the gallons in the fry SYSTEM !
Keeping the tank small reduce the amount of live food you waste (not eaten os eaten too late - not gut loaded) and reduce the foot print you need to clean. Keeping the system large improve water quality.
Can you have a large tank with lots of fry ? Yes, you just need more rots to go in their and more water for the changes as cleaning can be harder and water quality must stay fine.
As a learning member, please tell me you all if anything is wrong on this post.
Anderson.
Hi Anderson,
I think you are correct to be thinking numbers of larvae per system gallon, but not necessarily larvae per larval tank gallon.
For the first week or so, they do not need much water volume, as much as they need food density. So small volumes work. Also for the first week, their tank should not be on a system of any kind. So you don't have to fill the tank to the overflow. You can keep your larvae in 5 gallons of water in a 50 gallon tank if you want. If the 50 gallon tank or whatever, is connected to a system, you can turn it on a trickle flow after the metamorphosis and then you have continuous water changes. Very good.
Cleaning is another matter. During the first week, off system, vacuuming a large floor is harder than vacuuming a small floor. After that, as I said before, vaccuming several small tanks is harder than vaccuming one large tank as the stuff piles up. Just my opinion.
In other words, Anderson, you were right, in my opinion.
For some reason, though, newly hatched clownfish are refered to as larvae, not fry. I don't know enough developmental biology to explain the difference, but that's what they tell me. It is a small point. I remember when I asked a question about baby shrimp which I called larvae, and the expert slammed me that they are nauplii, not larvae. It did not feed good. I don't mean to do that here. It is just a very small point of language. One likes to be correct.
I think you are correct to be thinking numbers of larvae per system gallon, but not necessarily larvae per larval tank gallon.
For the first week or so, they do not need much water volume, as much as they need food density. So small volumes work. Also for the first week, their tank should not be on a system of any kind. So you don't have to fill the tank to the overflow. You can keep your larvae in 5 gallons of water in a 50 gallon tank if you want. If the 50 gallon tank or whatever, is connected to a system, you can turn it on a trickle flow after the metamorphosis and then you have continuous water changes. Very good.
Cleaning is another matter. During the first week, off system, vacuuming a large floor is harder than vacuuming a small floor. After that, as I said before, vaccuming several small tanks is harder than vaccuming one large tank as the stuff piles up. Just my opinion.
In other words, Anderson, you were right, in my opinion.
For some reason, though, newly hatched clownfish are refered to as larvae, not fry. I don't know enough developmental biology to explain the difference, but that's what they tell me. It is a small point. I remember when I asked a question about baby shrimp which I called larvae, and the expert slammed me that they are nauplii, not larvae. It did not feed good. I don't mean to do that here. It is just a very small point of language. One likes to be correct.
Luis A M
Premium Member
Clowns are larvae,for a very short time.They are very big and capable,but still larvae.They don´t have scales,unpaired fins are not defined,and gut and dorsal spine are not flexed.Then they go thru a dramatic metam.and become fry,or juveniles,miniature replicas of their parents.Banggaiis and seahorse are born as fry,not larvae.FW fish are also born as larvae,but the word is seldom used by hobbyists.
Of course nauplii,zoea,etc are also larvae.Roughly any animal born with a morphology (body shape) very different from that of an adult.
Thanks Kathy, now I can leep well ! 
As for the "fry" part I got the difference I just misused it as a synonim for larvae and juveniles together.
One last question on this is about water height. As we´re talking about pelagic larvae does it mean they prefer wider tank with lower water column instead of the easily cleaned small foot print tank with higher water column ?
Anderson.
As for the "fry" part I got the difference I just misused it as a synonim for larvae and juveniles together.
One last question on this is about water height. As we´re talking about pelagic larvae does it mean they prefer wider tank with lower water column instead of the easily cleaned small foot print tank with higher water column ?
Anderson.
Luis A M
Premium Member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8259203#post8259203 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by aomont
Thanks Kathy, now I can leep well !
Anderson.
leep=typo for sleep?
leep=Glance with lascivious or malign expression
Hope it was the first one.You must be aware that Kathy is a happily married woman!:lol:
