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

[ocfishaddicts]

We are on a roll!!! Update....

We are on a roll!!! Update....

Hi RCs...

bill --- thanks for the info - we are doing the bleach decapsultation thing with the bbs, refrigerating and pulling for new batchs and it seems to be working...
sjonathan - how's it going with your batch? there is a lot of learning and luck in this... hopefully your clowns will keep laying with good feedings and minimal environment changes. here's answers to your questions:

• Water Changes - we started the water changes day 2 and he is doing it each couple of days
• Salt / alklinity / grativity - the salt was a big question for me to... Excerpt from the book Clownfishes by Joyce D. Wilderson "slowly decrease larval-rearing tank to 1.018 to 1.021 when the larvae are 1 day old, where it remains until nitrite is dected. a floating specific gravity gauge is a handy addition to the larval tank. check it every day and drip in water as needed to keep it at your chosen specific gravity." --- this works for the rotifers living as well since they like the lower salt - remember to strain the rotifers from the rotifer water when feeding the larvae.
• Miscellaneous Info - i have included some graphs from the book as well - clownfish larvae hazards and causes of mortality over time in one clownfish hatch

CLOWNFISH UPDATE - apologize for the poor quality pics (iphone)

• First Batch - 15 Days Old - we still have approx 30 living and getting bigger. interesting some are really big with a few that seem very small. they are sooo cute! a couple you can already start to see their stripes =)
• Second Batch - 4 Days Old - they are doing great so far - hopefully will have the majority make it through the next several days (day 3-5 seems to be tough) approx several hundred are darting around so far. sooo cute
• New Eggs Layed (clutch 7) - 2 Day Old - well... the parents appear to be like regular chickens laying eggs every 11 days. have noticed that the clutches are not getting much bigger. will start taking better pics to compare against future

Special Thank to my partner in crime is doing the actually "hatching/raising work" at the fish store and is doing a great job!!! definitely worthy of the eggs and is very into it! it is very tedious with the water changes, rotifer and bbs cultivation, etc. now getting ready for the new batch of eggs, he is getting ready to move the current frys from one of the 10 gallons into a low flat black tub connected to a larger water system. as speculated from the beginning, this is really starting to get little intense on the setup/equipment along with care and feeding of the 2 batches that are hatched, and the seeming never ending eggs being layed. great news is that he/we are really enjoying watching them grow --- they are soooooo cute!!!!!!

well... thanks for the interest and support. will try and take better pics in the future.

 

[billsreef]

:thumbsup:

 

[sjonathan]

Thanks for the help ocfishaddicts! my 1st batch that hatched only made it through day 4 and lost all of them. but trying to learn from past mistakes. She did lay another batch which is twice more than the last. This time i'll try to minimize any cause of mortality. which i greatly appreciate you posting those charts. Also great job on raising those babies. Hope to see how those babies turns out when they're fully matured.

 

[ocfishaddicts]

What the hey?!!! Day 5 lost over 3/4 larvae again =(

What the hey?!!! Day 5 lost over 3/4 larvae again =(

rrrrr.... ok... open for any suggestions....

1) this is now the third batch that we have lost over 3/4 between day 4 and 6 --- have the lights on 24/7, small water changes pretty much daily, rotifers good, etc. my partner in crime is pretty good about water parms (don't know the actuals, sorry)... any suggestions?

2) now we have two batches of babies that are approx 30 count each... we were thinking about combining them when they get bigger, but noticed that the 1st batch there is a larger bubba of the frys that is actually chasing around the runts and biting their tails. so we were thinking about taking the runts and combining with the 2nd batch when they get bigger --- has anyone combined smaller batches of frys or have suggestions?

>>>----> 3rd batch of eggs should hatch this sunday or monday, hopefully we will figure out what the problem is around day 4 to 6. - good luck to you also johnathan =)

rrrrr :hammer:

 

[sjonathan]

sorry for your lost ocfishaddicts.

Thanks i'll need all the luck i can get w/this other batch to make through day 4. im waiting for it to hatch this Tuesday night.

 

[ocfishaddicts]

Latest Update and Baby Clown Pics

Latest Update and Baby Clown Pics

Hello RCs... it's been awhile and wanted to give an update....

BABIES
the babies are toooooo cute with all the personalities and very adorable swimming attempts. still very tiny - about the size of a finger nail. we did wind up putting batch 1 & batch 2 babies together as they were pretty much the same size. all are doing well eating crushed flake. absolutely adorable and growing to look like "real clown fish" now. they appear orange even though dad is black and white... maybe they will darken as they age. their stripes are still forming with some of them showing miss stripes. for your enjoyment, have attached some pics.

PARENTS / EGGS
the parents keep laying eggs like clock work and we haven't had much luck hatching any of the recent batches for various reasons. father did rebell and only clean a tank rock verse the shell, which made it difficult to collect and the few didn't make it. put other branches around the rock and forced them to lay on the shell again. the last clutch of eggs on the shell actually didn't hatch - we heard that maybe the shells were to thick because of their meaty diet.... we will see what happens with the new clutch they just layed to confirm if it really is a problem before we change the diet.

will try to keep this update as we are learning and enjoying this very much. working on figuring out taking better pictures with a macro lens and also video.

hope you enjoy these updates and pics.

:dance:

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Absolutely adorable! Congrats!

 

[billsreef]

Very nice :beer:

 

[ocfishaddicts]

???? 2 egg batches in a row didn't hatch - what's happening???

???? 2 egg batches in a row didn't hatch - what's happening???

hello... ok... my clowns have been laying like clock work every 11 to 14 days... now the last two batches didn't hatch (they have had approx 11 batches all together)- looked like only a half had silver eyes on day 8/9, but nothing hatched....

any ideas??????????????

btw, the babies are doing great!

thanks!

:hmm3:

 

[ocfishaddicts]

??? Need Advice Pls .....

??? Need Advice Pls .....

RCs - Looking for some advice pls on what i can do to get the eggs / parents back on track....

Problem
The last two batchs of eggs did not hatch (approx only 1/3 had silver eyes and never hatched - the clutch size was big, eggs were bright orange, but size slightly smaller than i remember the first dozen) and the previous two batches before that did not have all eggs hatch just approx 2/3.... parents just layed their 18th batch yesterday and not sure what i can do to help the mature better and hatch!

Background

• the eggs looked really great for the first approx dozen and hatched each time - just problems with learning to raise the babies and timing, etc... parents were laying every 11 days like clock work and after that were laying between 11 and 14 days for the next half dozen times... current batch 18, the clutch is actually large, bright orange, size of eggs seem "ok"
• father was tending very well for all clutches
• diet - hasn't changed - very meaty diet every day with a variety / combo of frozen food: formula 1, shrimp, cylopeez, mysis, etc. sometimes do formula 1 & 2 pellets every once in a while...
• environment is the same - 125 gallon reef tank, loaded with corals and fish. she is actually very nice to all fish. mandrian goby went by the eggs and she gently and softly put her nose under the shoulder and lifted/pushed him aside approx 3 inches. also has a maroon male on the other side of the tank that she hosts/visits with.
• spawning - looks like everything is going well... thought maybe the male isn't fertilizing enough... this could be the case, but it looks like he is doing his business

?????? anyone have any ideas???? heard that possibly the egg shells might be too hard... maybe they are becoming infertile or????

is there anything i can do to help????

my partner in crime is raising the other batches and was able to get approx 20 growing great(approx 2 months old).... they are sooo adorable and helps encouraging us to try for more, but at this point, we are not sure what to do and just too many failed batches that it feels kind of hopeless.... thanks

:sad2:

 

[duncaholic]

I know I'm not anything like an expert, but I've been following your thread and doing a little research. Haven't found much, but I do have 2 questions that might help my research along.
1. Tank temperature. This seems to be absolutley critical in terms of getting the eggs to hatch early enough so that the parents have time to rest and fatten up before the next spawn.
2. What happens to the eggs that aren't hatching? Are they being eaten? Do they just sit there? Does the nest seem to deteriorate and get dark brown and patchy?

I have the same pairing, as you know, so this is an important issue for me as well. Even though I haven't had the mis-fortune of this happening yet, if there is a way to figure out what's going on, I'd like to try and help

-m

 

[billsreef]

How often are you feeding? Might need to up the feedings. Most such problems often track back to parent nutrition. Another possibility, after 18 spawns, they might be ready for a break.

 

[ocfishaddicts]

hi duncaholic... thanks for the response and caring..... here are the answers to your questions:

1 - tank temperature is between 79 and 80... we pull the eggs on day 8 as they would normally hatch on day 8 and the rest on 9.... the parents would lay again around day 11 and now are laying day 14, so that should be enough time one would.

2 - not hatching... the eggs are cared for well by the dad and look good - dark brown and only 1/3 had silver... none hatched and all turned dark brown and just hang on the shell - finally pulled after 14 days.... again, parents aren't there for hatching - we put the air stone on them softly like always and don't have fungus problems....

ideas????

thanks

 

[ocfishaddicts]

hi bill... thanks - always appreciate your insights!

1 - feeding - we actually only feed once a day a very meaty diet (8pm - lights go off at 11pm for the past 5 years).... just recently i am now clipping seaweed on the side for grazing for our tangs as they were recently pecking at the corals - rrrrrrrr... soooo, is your suggestion to feed more times a day? my fish are very fat (some look like they could be ready for a tiny skillet lol!) how can i put them on a break?

appreciate your time and care....

thanks

 

[billsreef]

With that level of breeding, I would aim to feed to satiation at least 3 to 4 times a day. The more the reserves the parents have, the more ends up in the yolks

For a break, let the temps drop a couple of degrees and decrease the photo period to a winter sort of photo period. All of about 9 hours of daylight. After a couple of months recuperation, bring the temp back up and increase the photo period to a nice long summer day of 12 to 14 hours

 

[k.tran]

+1 they need to be eating more. My pairs are eating up to 6-8x/day

 

[duncaholic]

I think Bill's got it dead right. Everything I've been reading about eggs not hatching points directly to nutrition. Also in my own tank, I've noticed that they don't feed as well when they have eggs, and they spend a lot more energy chasing the other fish/snails/hermits away. Mine are nice and chunky as well, but the last hatch ended in 100% mortality within 48 hours, so the quality of the larvae might easily have been affected by my under feeding.

Just as an aside I'm wondering what the best way to feed that often if, like me, you spend most of your life at work. Does anyone use autofeeders???

 

[ocfishaddicts]

hi everyone... thanks for suggestions! wow... that's a lot of feeding.... we work and have a life (ok, other than enjoying them at night)... hmmmmm..... how does everyone do this 3 to 8 times???? also, do i feed with the lights off in the morning along with the regular time at night. i could at least do 2 times a day with out problems. i am putting the seaweed clip in and they are finishing it, so maybe that helps.

we have a large bio load with our 125 gallon tank loaded with fish (approx 24 fish many small) and tons of corals.... with so much feeding, should i also be concerned about my other fish eating too much and higher nitrates? good news is that we were able to configure this tank to be loaded with the best system possible, i.e., G4 skimmer, 40 gallon sump with refrigium, 2 mag drive 18 pump, deep sand bed and approx 200 pounds of live rock, soooo hopefully we can increase without issues.... also, with all that feeding, what is the suggested meals each time / day... thanks for your thoughts...

i do like bill's suggestion to possibly to a short winter period --- just a little nervous they won't start up again --- how confident should i be that they will start again with the long summer???

thanks again for everyone's help....
:fish1:

 

[billsreef]

Auto feeders can work well for daytime feedings of dry foods while your at work. Than you can give them the frozen goodies first thing in the morning, when you get home from work, and a last feeding just before lights out. All depending on your work schedule and tank lighting schedule.

After a "winter" break, established breeding pairs with a track record will usually start back up fairly quickly after "summer" begins.

 

[ocfishaddicts]

thanks so much for the good advice... met with my partner in crime and we will be putting them on a nice winter break fatting them up...

appreciate reef central and all support.

cheers,
:fish2: