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

[ocfishaddicts]

Where to purchase BBS kit

Where to purchase BBS kit

ocfishaddicts were can I perches that food kit?

Hi p-nut... the thread has some suggestions for where to purchase the rotifers... the kit i believe you are referring to is to great baby brine shrimp (bbs). i got that from our lfs - Tongs in Huntington Beach, CA. i would think you should be able to do a search online and purchase from that if you are not local.

Basically, it is a cool little black stand (approx 4"x4") with an air stone as part of it. screws onto of a large soda bottle (bottom cut off so when it stands on it's head that the bottom becomes the open top to pour water in and get the bbs out) and has some bbs potion to put in the water to grow it. they did have some other bbs potion from another company in a package to instantly grow them as well.

i will take pics and load later.

good luck

 

[billsreef]

A good sauce for both artemia cysts and hatching set ups is www.brineshrimpdirect.com Also Florida Aqua Farms and Aquatic Ecosystems.

 

[mrmikeasaurus]

that is so funny.. i have interracial clowns too, thought i was the only one.. for a second i thought you posted a pic of my clowns.. lol

wish mine would lay eggs..

 

[ocfishaddicts]

Post Pics - Inter-racial Clowns =)

Post Pics - Inter-racial Clowns =)

that is so funny.. i have interracial clowns too, thought i was the only one.. for a second i thought you posted a pic of my clowns.. lol

wish mine would lay eggs..

Post your pics - would love to see them! we have another set in a smaller 12 gallon tank and they aren't laying yet either...

:artist:

 

[ocfishaddicts]

Tonight is the night... =)

Tonight is the night... =)

Well, i've decided to give it a try again (maybe 3rd time is a charm, although in all fairness i wasn't home for the 2nd batch)...

will pull the current batch of eggs tonight (day 8) and hope they hatch... only problem is that i do not have "live" rotifers - just the refrigerated... can't seem to locate live ones close by - does anyone within 45 minute drive of Huntington Beach have some to spare until i can grow some?

wish me luck

 

[billsreef]

Not sure were Reed Mariculture is in relation to you, but it might be worth getting hold of Gresham over there and seeing if you can get a hold of some rotifers in time for this batch.

 

[ocfishaddicts]

Growing Live Rotifers vs Refrigerated LSF Purchased - Any live rotifers local???

Growing Live Rotifers vs Refrigerated LSF Purchased - Any live rotifers local???

Not sure were Reed Mariculture is in relation to you, but it might be worth getting hold of Gresham over there and seeing if you can get a hold of some rotifers in time for this batch.

Hi Bill,
Earlier I went back through my thread and found your suggestion for Reed Mariculture and followed-up. They are 6 hours away and appears to closed on weekends and open only on the week days and 9am to 3pm. I did use their LFS locator and there were several local stores that carried their product, but not "live" rotifers.

Immediately drove over to the one on the corner and purchased the recommended refrigerated Reef Nutrition "Roti Feast" which has concentrated zooplankton feed (40-275 microns) 5 million L-type rotifers - fully intact with eggs. Label says it is perfect to feed hard carols, larval fish, etc. Not sure if this means that they are alive and that the newly hatched clown fish will be able to figure out how to eat them. LSF guy said they were not live, but should be ok. Also, there is no harveted/freshness or expiration date.

So, here are my questions:

• Are these considered "live" and the ideal food? or works only a a temporary solution for larger hatched larva fish? or shouln't be used unless???
• Do they expire or have sometype of freshness to look for?
• I heard the DT was also good to feed - is this something i should consider?
• What are your recommended feeding cycles?
• Is there anyone local (huntington beach, orange county or LA county CA) that have some I can buy?
• Did find an online live rotifer store that will ship - http://www.livebrineshrimp.com/ - will try that, but would prefer to drive local when i need it.

Last item, purchasing live rotifers seems a viable option if this is only for a short time vs. having to do all the salt, ph, algea, etc. balancing act (especially with all the items i am juggling still). Thoughts/suggestions? - btw, i keep my previous batch with an air stone, but didn't really do much over the past two weeks - noticed one brine shrimp swimming around (not sure how he got in there and if ate all the rotifers along with lots of algea particulars.)

Truly appreciate everyone's support and hopefully this will be helpful to someone in the future.

:fish1:

 

[billsreef]

The RotiFeast is not live. It's great for things like corals that don't cue in on movement, but like with frozen rots, not so great for fish which do cue on the movement of the live rots. Sometimes someone gets a few larvae through on such products, but it's not reliable. So I'll wish you luck on sourcing some live ones.

DT's is phytoplankton, it's only good to feed the rots.

For feeding cycles, I typically feed rots to the larvae heavily in the morning and boost levels as needed in the late afternoon. I also use green water in my fry tanks in order to keep those rots nutritionally good throughout the day. You probably will need to check and feed a bit more often till you get you used to it.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Well, i've decided to give it a try again (maybe 3rd time is a charm, although in all fairness i wasn't home for the 2nd batch)...

will pull the current batch of eggs tonight (day 8) and hope they hatch... only problem is that i do not have "live" rotifers - just the refrigerated... can't seem to locate live ones close by - does anyone within 45 minute drive of Huntington Beach have some to spare until i can grow some?

wish me luck

Have you tried asking this question in RC's local southern california forum?

I'm sure there are plenty of people in your area that are doing what you are doing, and I'm almost certain you can find live rots locally. I can think of 1 person local to me rearing clowns and there's more hobbyist in HB than up here in ventura. Keep up the good work, I wish you luck.
Jimmy

 

[ocfishaddicts]

??? Looking for Live Rotifers - Local to Orange County/LA County CA

??? Looking for Live Rotifers - Local to Orange County/LA County CA

Thanks Bill... appreciate your info - makes sense and that's was my fear...

called on a local breeder, but he is out - hopefully some other local breeders or someone else will respond, that i can drive and get some live rotifers - expecting them hatch tonight and don't have live rotifers - ugh!

will try and post other to forums as well... i am sure there a "live rotifer hero" out there someone...

 

[billsreef]

Are you sure you want to be posting your number on an open internet forum?

 

[ocfishaddicts]

thanks bill... kind of a sad world where this is even a concern... thanks for removing the phone number...

just a quick status... have called all my contacts along with leads and apparently there is a famine of live rotifers in so cal so far... still looking for so cal "live rotifer heros" to buy from. are you out there???

babies are starting to hatch - five so far and i expect the rest to hatch tonight. the five look really healthy so far. will see if i can do an over night shipment p://reedmariculture.com/ to receive by tuesday morning / evening by time i get home.... ugh!!!! maybe our clowns will lay eggs again soon and i can keep rotifers alive until then and they hatch, otherwise i will be the one in so cal that live rotifers available...

in the meantime, i have the refrigerated ones i will put in with a stronger air stone when all are hatched.

we'll see. keeping our fingers crossed...


thanks

 

[ocfishaddicts]

Looking for So Cal Reefers that can help - Live Rotifers...

Looking for So Cal Reefers that can help - Live Rotifers...

Have you tried asking this question in RC's local southern california forum?

I'm sure there are plenty of people in your area that are doing what you are doing, and I'm almost certain you can find live rots locally. I can think of 1 person local to me rearing clowns and there's more hobbyist in HB than up here in ventura. Keep up the good work, I wish you luck.
Jimmy

hi jimmy..... thanks for the response and suggestion! i am sure they are out there too --- especially so cal, but i haven't had much luck so far asking the past several weeks... great idea to as the so cal forum!!! ugh! makes perfect sense... i am fairly new to using the forums and didn't even think about that. --- thanks... we'll keep our fingers crossed

thanks:fish1:

 

[ocfishaddicts]

We are on a roll and "Three Way" mystery solved...

We are on a roll and "Three Way" mystery solved...

alright... here is an update and latest after talking with so many nice folks through local connections... thanks to all that tried to help find live rotifers locally - appreciate it!

Update

• About half of the babies are live and swimming around - had to put the bubbles on a little stronger to move the refrig rotifers and the remaining nest turned white and didn't hatch
• Seems to be a famine of live rotifers available locally - have lots of connections of very helpful folks, but found many of the local breeders have stopped - interesting.
• Live Rotifers came in 9:45am (5 million over night - $121) Reed Mariculture/Reef Nutrition in Northern CA www.ReedMariculture.com/www.ReefNutrition.com

Interesting Findings / Lessons

• Keeping them warm - My other rotifer batch may have died because i didn't have a heating system on them... Will setup my spare 10 gallon tank and replicate my hatch setup: fill tank partial water and put the heater in the tank water to keep warm, and set the containers in the water to keep warm - also, will split the live rotifers into two to three bottles to help ensure growth and potential back up if one crashes
• Cross contamination - Need to use salt water from the store vs. from the mother tank for the rotifers. Found a fat lone brine shrimp or cocopod in my last batch... hmmmm....
• Three Way - have always found it quite interesting that the orange female beds at night with her black partner, yet goes and hangs out different times of the day with the maroon on the other side of the tank... just figured she was having a three way love affair, and in a sense she is - found out that she is keeping the maroon a "submissive male". apparently, in the clown world there is only one dominate female with other smaller males in waiting around her. if something happens to her, then the next largest male turns into a female and she(previously he) then picks out her new partner. wow... that means the Nemo movie is really messed up! Father turns into the mother and the son turns into.... just don't want to go there! LOL! :strange: So, the good news is that she is keeping potentially a very aggressive maroon submissive. Good Job Ms Orange Goddess...
• Keeping the Faith - feeling better that it looks like our inter-racial clown pair are on a roll with laying eggs and expect more to come. this last batch was their 5 clutch and they are starting to clean their breeding shell again. one of the breeder said that they had a pair that laid eggs every week or so for 6 years and that once a pair starts laying they usually don't stop unless there is some drastic change, i.e., food, environment, etc. so, i am encouraged that if desired, i can try and get better.
• Caution - last observation, it looks like this can get quite addictive and really out of control when successfully breeding clowns. one of the guys i talked with had up to 55 pairs breeding before he got out of it. hmmmm.... wonder where this is going to lead --- my goal is only to have one set grow up to see what they look like and have fun along the way.

Well, that's it for now... Will take some more pics of the setup and post. Thanks for following the thread and your support as well. Hopefully this will be helpful to someone else as well.

:fish2:

 

[GreshamH]

The Roti-Feast does in fact have a best before. look to the right of the middle panel of the label and in black you will see it printed in black. Not the easiest thing to find and once these labels are gone it'll be printed above the barcode in the white box on the left panel. Roti-Feast is not a good choice for raising clownfish larvae. It can be used for other marine fish, but it's simply not a good alternative to live rotifers for clownfish.

In the future simply use GROUND and not over night as ground is overnight within most of California.

 

[GreshamH]

Hi Bill,
Earlier I went back through my thread and found your suggestion for Reed Mariculture and followed-up. They are 6 hours away and appears to closed on weekends and open only on the week days and 9am to 3pm. I did use their LFS locator and there were several local stores that carried their product, but not "live" rotifers.

Immediately drove over to the one on the corner and purchased the recommended refrigerated Reef Nutrition "Roti Feast" which has concentrated zooplankton feed (40-275 microns) 5 million L-type rotifers - fully intact with eggs. Label says it is perfect to feed hard carols, larval fish, etc. Not sure if this means that they are alive and that the newly hatched clown fish will be able to figure out how to eat them. LSF guy said they were not live, but should be ok. Also, there is no harveted/freshness or expiration date.

So, here are my questions:

• Are these considered "live" and the ideal food? or works only a a temporary solution for larger hatched larva fish? or shouln't be used unless???
• Do they expire or have sometype of freshness to look for?
• I heard the DT was also good to feed - is this something i should consider?
• What are your recommended feeding cycles?
• Is there anyone local (huntington beach, orange county or LA county CA) that have some I can buy?
• Did find an online live rotifer store that will ship - http://www.livebrineshrimp.com/ - will try that, but would prefer to drive local when i need it.

Last item, purchasing live rotifers seems a viable option if this is only for a short time vs. having to do all the salt, ph, algea, etc. balancing act (especially with all the items i am juggling still). Thoughts/suggestions? - btw, i keep my previous batch with an air stone, but didn't really do much over the past two weeks - noticed one brine shrimp swimming around (not sure how he got in there and if ate all the rotifers along with lots of algea particulars.)

Truly appreciate everyone's support and hopefully this will be helpful to someone in the future.

:fish1:

We answer phones up till 5pm typically and given many of us are there until 7pm, we'll sometimes answer them then. Sometimes we'll even answer on the weekends. I get calls at all hours and I make all attempts to answer them when ever I can after hours. We answer emails 24/7

You can request a Reef Nutrition dealer to order them for you and have them delivered to their store. Stores do not stock live rotifers given their requirements.

 

[ocfishaddicts]

We answer phones up till 5pm typically and given many of us are there until 7pm, we'll sometimes answer them then. Sometimes we'll even answer on the weekends. I get calls at all hours and I make all attempts to answer them when ever I can after hours. We answer emails 24/7

You can request a Reef Nutrition dealer to order them for you and have them delivered to their store. Stores do not stock live rotifers given their requirements.

hi gresham...

yes, you guys were/are my hero... husband had ordered a small portion from somewhere else, and i decided to order from you as well since you were in CA. ----- called first thing yesterday morning and received 5 million live rotifers this morning at 9:45am which was perfect!!! the container/packing was great and the sales person was extremely helpful, answered all my questions, and even kept offering information to make sure i was set!

per your prompting, i used a magnifying glass and found the "best by" info in a different location (black ink on the dark blue label - may want to redesign) -- it expired 9/22/10 ugh! will take back to lfs --- hopefully it didn't mess up the water in my small larva container.

regarding the hours, tried calling over the weekend and received the phone message that the hours are 7am to 3pm on week days / website says 7am to 4pm. --- (typo on my side for the 9am sorry)... liked the early start!

i would definitely recommend using reef nutrition to anyone in the future and appreciate the wonderful service you guys provided :thumbsup:

thanks again.

 

[ocfishaddicts]

Rrrrrrrrrrr All the babies are dead.... what the @$#!!!!

Rrrrrrrrrrr All the babies are dead.... what the @$#!!!!

Day 4 - all dead and only tons of live rotifers alive.... what happended???? potential items, left the light off for approx 18 hrs (hadn't setup the timer yet)...

Temp is 80, alk is fine, air stone fine...

Very irritated...

 

[bues0022]

ammonia?

 

[jbax]

normally they rest when the lights are off. so they are not using energy but it may be ammonia. and it may be not oxygen, too many rotifers will use up the oxygen in the water and the larvae won't have enough to live.

you are co-culturing, right?

and were you doing water changes?