Yes! Our inter-racial clowns layed eggs!!! Oh my - what to do to keep them alive....

[billsreef]

Sorry to hear about your FIL

Adding the rots when you did was indeed the right move The trick for rotifer density is to have enough that a larval fish doesn't need to swim more than a body lenght to bump into one, at any time. At this stage they find food more by accident than anything else, so better too many rots than too few.

 

[ocfishaddicts]

thank you bill, jpax and everyone for the kinds words and support... my father-in-law passed away last night... home alone right now taking care of some items. we have big family and lots of friends supporting over the weekend, so it's kind of nice. actually so thankful for our fish tanks and the relaxing and peaceful joy they bring. this little project is my ray of sun shine through this difficult time.

amazing how life keeps moving on.... the clowns layed another nest last night on a solid rock before i could put the shell back in.ugh!!!! may just let that nest take a natural course and not try and catch them - will see how i feel closer to that time on the effort to catch / raise them. they are beautiful to watch - such good parents and very proud

the current batch are doing well i think. i would say easily over a hundred can't quite tell. good to know putting the rotifers in early was the right move... problem is that i can't see the rotifers - probably need to put reading glasses on. my lsf said that i can put DT in for the first few days as well - so i did. jpax also reponded in a pm, so i will do his quote of very useful info and provide a more holistic update for anyone in the future that might follow this thread...

i put a smaller container for hatching inside of my 10 gallon and when they hatched i just slipped the container into a black trashbag cut so when i put it back into the 10 gallon tank the water just pushed it up around the container. the larger tank water has the heater and everything looks fine.

will provide more information later. thanks again everyone...
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i'm very sorry to hear that. my thoughts are with you.

i'll do my best to keep you busy. the black need to be wrapped around the tank itself all 4 sides. the larvae need contrast. white dots are more visable with black background. the rotifer density needs to be where the larvae can see a rotifer a body length away. also with the black around the tank itself you will be able to see em too. do you have a plankton collector? if not a coffee filter basket and coffee filters will work. to strain the rotifers from their water to feed the larvae.

the temp of the tank needs to be 80 to 81 degrees.

no water changes till day 3, but add a cup of RO water everyday. you want to lower the salinaty to 1.020 to 1.022 the rotifer water is normally 1.019 so they won't go into shock as much. also on day 5 or 6 you have to start hatching baby brine shrimp. but there are substitutes for BBS but i'm just no familer with any yet. as i'm only 2 batches ahead of you.

not all the larvae will live. the ones that don't make it, suck out with a turkey bastor (make sure they are not alive first)

if you see your larvae standing on their heads, the light is too bright. put a layer of paper towels under the light. if can make the lid of the aquarium out of eggcrate and set the light on that. this will also make it easier with water changes. the eggs that don't hatch after 2 days and turn white didn't make it.

tomorrow i will take a ton of pics of my setup so you have an idea of what to do.

take care of yourself and be strong.

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[billsreef]

Sorry to hear the news It's always difficult to deal with, even when expected.

With the rots, I find shining a strong flashlight through the sides of the tank at an upward angle will set up a nice reflection on those little dust specs Also just taking a teaspoon sample and looking at it with a magnifying glass works well.

 

[ocfishaddicts]

:bigeyes: thanks bill... will try again - there is a lot of green from the instant algae so i will wait until they eat it. i also been pulling out with a turkey baster the dead babies (so many) and other floating debri, other item is i have the heater on 80 degrees and put some special clown fish vitamins in the with rotifer bottle (lfs advice) and latestly will be setting up for the brine shrimp growing. they had a cool soda bottle stand that fits the lids with air stone coming up through the stand into the bottle top with the bottle bottom cutoff for access

i believe they are in there because it didn't look perfectly clear water when i got the bottle from my partner in crime. just want to make sure that they are still alive and i am not the best on the salt levels or taking the time with magic combination to make it the right level... they will have to keep with what is there for the time being...

thanks again

 

[ocfishaddicts]

thanks jbax for all the info and great photos... wow... you have quite a setup... will spend more time on this tomorrow. thanks again for the great info, time and care =)

BBS hatchery. the one on the left i got from the store and the one on the right was DIY from 2 bottles.

this is 1/8" ridgid tube, it comes in 3' piece at petsmart or your lfs. cut it into 1ft pieces and on one end apply heat to it and it will become pliable. i do it by the sink so that i can bend it a little and cool it quickly with water and bend it again till it's a candy cane.

after you make your candy cane. you can add a little airline tube with a flow regulator. i use this for both water changes and diy BBS hatchery.

when i do water changes i siphon out any dead larvae and left overs from feeding. then replace it with fresh SW. but i drip the fresh SW back in to make it less stressful on the larvae. check the salinaty of the larvae water everyday and add fresh water to the parent tank water that you add to the nursery tank.

parent tank water from days 3-7...20% water change
newly mixed saltwater aerated over night days 8-12...10% water change
newly mixed saltwater aerated over night days 12-20 up to 30% water changes (alternating days)

heres what i did with black construction paper. on day 6 or 7 i took down the front black paper wall. by the n they should have the hang of hunting and also BBS are bigger.

i put some black eggcrate for a lid makes it easier for water changes and other things.

4" micro bubble airstone under heater

micro bubble air stone on the other side

hope your doing ok

 

[jbax]

i forgot to put this pic in.

i use the big measuring cup to scoop th rotifers out of the 5g bucket. i pour it through the plankton collector with the white one gallon bucket under it. then i flip the collector upside down in the measuring cup and use the turkey bastor (w/ 8oz of water from the larvae tank) and spray the bottom of the screen. and i have a measuring cup of rotifers to add to my larvae tank. and i use the white 1g bucket to measure how much greenwater to add back to the rotifer culture.

 

[herostar]

Any new pictures of the babies?

I've always wanted to try raising fry, but never thought I had the time/patience to do so.

Keep up the good work!

 

[clnfsh]

Sounds like you are well on your way... I have a B&W female and Ocellaris male... I'm curious to see what their offspring may look like. I'm expecting a nest any day, but they host a Monti. I hope they lay somewhere else MOFIB.org is another good resource on breeding. TONS to read.

 

[ocfishaddicts]

Lava status

Lava status

hi herostar.... it's been a tough weekend with our father-in-law passing monday. so not many pics and more concerning is not much progress with the babies...

monday - they hatched - lots of tiny looking water fleas with silver eyes. added rotifers and DT... split my rotifers into separate containers, air bubble wand failed, not sure if rotifers are ok, also had added more salt water from mother tank - may have potentially shocked rotifers as well... rrrrr...
tuesday - had a lots of babies pass away which was warned as normal. and there are lots still alive. gave more rotifers. initiail suctioned waste as best possible
wednesday - suctioned out more waste for a 20% water change. double check the water in the sun light before tossing the water - good news is that i was able to save 3 babies before being dumped... fed more rotifers.

observations: the babies are sooo small that i am not sure how many are still alive. also, not really sure on the rotifers either. water is green from DT and difficult to see clearly.

pictures are of the tank setup and the babies are too difficult to take pictures of at this size. so, also, for fun, i am including a picture of their new nest they laid monday night (crazy anemone shot - he was very happy enjoying the cylcopeez).

thanks for the interest and encouragement... we'll see how it goes...

 

[jbax]

well it's day 6 time to start feeding some BBS or a good alternative.

 

[thewire]

nice congrats!

 

[p-nut]

how do you get them to breed i can get mine to breeb?

 

[ocfishaddicts]

General Update - Day 6 and Lessons Learned / Observations

General Update - Day 6 and Lessons Learned / Observations

well it's day 6 time to start feeding some BBS or a good alternative.

thanks jbax... when it rains, it pours... my grandmother (96 yrs) who i am extremely close with had a heart ache yesterday and i am staying with her at the hospital out of town. good news is that it was a mild one and she is doing well and in good spirits. (she is sleeping right now and i have a portable hotspot for internet connection - yes!)

had a i put extra rotifers in yesterday and cleaned the container before i got the call... probably have about only 20 babies left... will ask my husband to put some coral frenzy in and also get some frozen bbs. i was going to setup the bbs maker / kit, but didn't get to it with all the memorial arrangements and work deadlines.

summary of things that i probably could have done better / lessons learned for others.

• i think the setup was fine and rather cleaver with the smallter hatch container in a 10 gallon tank for water temp, rotifer density, easy water change along with being able just to slip it into a black trash bag for surroundings the sides (water pushed it up on it) and then i could take it in a brighter area or outside in the sunlight to clean it right.
  
• the challenge was the food - particularly rotifers and probably keeping the right salt levels. i didn't check salt levels and/or put r/o water to dilute mother tank salinity - not the expert on this although we do have a salt gauge thing. other item, for a newbie like me it was difficult to get a sense of what they even look like and how to grow them. haven't had the chance to grow the bbs although i did buy a kit, etc.
  
• last observation is that i didn't have a regular light schedule as they were in the hall and it would be turned on and off by different folks in the house.

hopefully a few make it at least... but then again, i will give myself a break considering the circumstances last two weeks with walt passing and gg in the hospital beside all the life items to keep up with a job and family...

well that's the update for now my rc friends... thanks again for all the support and hopefully the time put into this thread will be helpful for others as well.

:fish2:

 

[ocfishaddicts]

How to get clown pairs to spawn...

How to get clown pairs to spawn...

how do you get them to breed i can get mine to breeb?

hi p-nut... i am going to share some information i got from morgan who spoke at our local fish club - scrk.org.... morgan's site is bluewateraquaculture.com

Getting Clownfish to Spawn
"¢ Stable Conditions
"¢ Feeding
"¢ Water Changes
"¢ Plankton Blooms

Stable Conditions
"¢ Consistence is key
"¢ Quality water conditions
"¢ Scheduled light cycle
"¢ No major adjustments to environment

Feeding Requirements
Diversity is key!!!! 3-5 feedings daily
"¢ Algae Foods, 30% plus
"¢ Meaty Foods
"¢ Roe
"¢ Pellets/Flake

Water Changes --- I noticed mine would spawn one week after our fish maintenance, also our spawn around 2 hours before the lights went off
"¢ Trigger spawns
"¢ Simulates tidal influences
"¢ Storm Simulation triggers breeding activities

Plankton Blooms
"¢ Newly hatched Baby brine shrimp
"¢ Cyclop-eeze (frozen or freeze dried)
"¢ Any small feed that gets clowns actively swimming and chasing prey items

hopefully this helps - good luck and keep us posted! =)

 

[FrickandFrag]

I have heard that wrapping the tank in dark-colored paper helps-true???

 

[jbax]

the theory is that larvae can't see too good. so when you wrap the tank in black, it creates contrast. whites dots with a black background.

 

[ocfishaddicts]

Latest Update - Failed 1st attempt - Just laid new batch of eggs tonight

Latest Update - Failed 1st attempt - Just laid new batch of eggs tonight

Hello fellow RCs,

Has been a tough 2 weeks - father-in-law passed away, camped out in hospital 6 days tending to grandmother (on hospice now) and the original batch of hatchlings that i had the setup for didn't make it pass day 6, and the next batch that was laid on the rock requiring manual collection, hatched while i was gone....

tonight they laid again - a beautiful big batch on the easy to remove shell... i have sometime to think about attempting to hatch and raise again. we'll see. it might be a nice project during this time...

anyway, hope this thread has been helpful to someone and thanks to all for the support. will keep you posted if i attempt it again.

warmest regards,

ocfishaddicts :fish2:

 

[midtownman]

sorry about ur father in law

 

[ocfishaddicts]

thanks midtownman... it was difficult, but rather quick without him waking up. have been blessed to being able to spend time with grandma before the end... hugs your loved ones close and even hugs those not close...

appreciate it...

 

[p-nut]

ocfishaddicts were can I perches that food kit?