Why do I lose clownfish fry around day 30?

[Lou Young]

Everything goes fine until around day 30 and then I lose 20-30% of the clownfish babies. They seem to die overnight and I can't explain it. All water parameters are checked and ok. Please help me figure it out. Thank you.

 

[SNAKEMANVET]

Are they getting plenty to eat,that is my concern when I start trying to raise fry.Ammonia would be another thing to look for.

 

[Lou Young]

Yeah they eat TDO A & TDO B1 3x a day. Ammonia is 0-.25 cause I use prime and 30% daily water changes.

 

[Lou Young]

It's werid that I lose 20-30% and not all of them. They die over a period of 3-4 days and then the remaining ones are fine.

 

[SNAKEMANVET]

I don't know of anything else,I am new to the raising of fry, as this is my first attempt to try it.Maybe someone with more experience will chime in.good luck with the remaining fry.

 

[anothermineral]

How big is the tank? 30% water changes per day is excessive.

I keep my fry in a 5G tank for the first 3 weeks changing ~50% of the water each week. They then go into a 20G grow out tank with an established filter.

I would try less frequent water changes

 

[Lou Young]

10 gallon tank. Do you really think that my water changes are too much and that's killing the fish? I thought the more the better. Maybe I have to try that then. Thank you.

 

[anothermineral]

There are so many variables to why you may/may not be successful. IN my experience consistency is the key. If you're changing water every day, you're also changing the temp, ph, trace elements, etc... every day.

I would agree that in general, the better the water parameters the better your success, but I would rather see you keep the tank as consistent as possible during the first few weeks. If you want, monitor the ammonia levels, and do a water change as needed.

My fry spend the first 3-4 weeks of their life in a 5 gallon tank. I perform a weekly water change of ~40-50% in the first month. I make sure I match temp, salinity and ph exactly.

The best advise I can give you is to only change one thing at a time while troubleshooting. If you think it could be the water changes, keep all your other husbandry the same and change how you do water changes. If you still have the same die off issue, you move on to something else.

In my experience, once you get to the 30 day point, the hard part should be over.

 

[Lou Young]

Thank you. That is very good advice. I will reduce the water changes and monitor how things go. I do think you are right about when they get to the 30 day point that things should be easier. Thanks again for the help.

 

[REEFBUILDER1]

How are they doing?

 

[beertech]

Are you using new salt mix for water changes or water from the brood or display tank?
New mix may be stressful.

 

[Anna LR]

Could be hydroids. They pop up around that time in my larval tanks sometimes. Check for tiny jellifish looking things. They would be cool if they were not so destructive.