ZC's clownfish breeding thread

Turned lights off at 11:00 last night... checked the tank with a red flashlight at 11:50 and BAM! Babies!! Not all hatched last night, I'm guessing maybe 1/4 to 1/2 hatched because the temp dropped to around 80F, but hopefully the rest will break out tonight. Took this shot before I added rotifers and tinted the water green:

IMG_4663.jpg
 
Congrats!!! Best wishes for continued success. Can't wait to watch them develop. Your Christmas just got a little busier yet merrier!
 
How did you get the babies from the brood tank and what kind of setup did they go into?

Congrats! :celeb3:
 
what kind of setup are you using in your hatching tank, and do you think 2 10 gal tanks are enough to raise potentially 100's of clowns?
 
Thanks, guys. :D

jkopp36 said:
How did you get the babies from the brood tank and what kind of setup did they go into?

Congrats! :celeb3:
Click to expand...
I had a hatching tank set up and ready for them. It's a 10gal with just a heater and airstone. I pulled the pot the eggs were on and placed them in the hatching tank along with several gallons of water from the parent tank. The airstone was placed right next to the eggs to keep them moving and oxygenated.

madean said:
what kind of setup are you using in your hatching tank, and do you think 2 10 gal tanks are enough to raise potentially 100's of clowns?
Click to expand...
Description above!
10gal tanks would be big enough for a few months, but as the babies grow, they'll need larger growout tanks mainly because of the waste. I have 3 30gal tanks that I can plumb together with a 40gal sump if I end up with a lot of babies.

They're doing great, actively hunting the rotifers by the looks of it. Hopefully the rest of them hatch tonight. :)
 
Zero Cool said:
I had a hatching tank set up and ready for them. It's a 10gal with just a heater and airstone. I pulled the pot the eggs were on and placed them in the hatching tank along with several gallons of water from the parent tank. The airstone was placed right next to the eggs to keep them moving and oxygenated.
Click to expand...

So there is nothing else to the hatching tank except the heater and airstone? No other flow or filtration? Do you just have to do water changes or something? My guess is that is because you do not want to filter out the babies or rotifers - is that correct? How are things going?

Sorry for the bombardment of questions - it is just very interesting and I plan on following you along the way and possibly doing the same thing one day just for the experience. I raised some bangaiis awhile back and it was a very rewarding experience. Keep it up!
 
justjosh said:
Sounds like you're off to a great start! Can I get in line for the babies!? haha
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Hehe, absolutely, but I don't know how long it'll be before I have some actually survive long enough. :P

jkopp36 said:
So there is nothing else to the hatching tank except the heater and airstone? No other flow or filtration? Do you just have to do water changes or something? My guess is that is because you do not want to filter out the babies or rotifers - is that correct? How are things going?

Sorry for the bombardment of questions - it is just very interesting and I plan on following you along the way and possibly doing the same thing one day just for the experience. I raised some bangaiis awhile back and it was a very rewarding experience. Keep it up!
Click to expand...
I don't mind the questions! :)
Other than the heater and airstone, I have a thermometer and an ammonia alert badge, that's all! Once(if) the babies pass through meta phase, I'll add a sponge filter to help with filtration. Right now, yes, water changes and siphoning the muck off the bottom are key. I'm doing daily water changes, unless more are needed and I drip the fresh saltwater back into the tank slowly so not to shock them with the difference in water params.

Well, good and bad news.
Bad news: Most of the larvae have died. Water params are ok, and I'm about to do another water change/bottom siphoning after which I'll drip the new SW into the tank slowly.
Good news: There are still between 100 and 150 live ones and they are eating well. I've even noticed some tail curling and lunging!

I'm worried that there might be too much water movement and maybe the little guys are just exghausting themselves to death. I'm going to switch to a smaller airstone and if need be I'll go and buy a smaller air pump, though I'm using the smallest whisper pump right now.

Anyways, I'm not too bummed because I didn't expect to have any still living today, lol.
 
congrats on your babies! we've been trying for a while and learning a lot as well. out of 8 clutches, we have two growing and one that is hatching... there's a lot to learn and takes quite a commitment, but it is very rewarding. we have a thread going that has some lessons, pictures, etc.

wow... what great pictures!!! how did you get such great ones? mine look pathetic and yet i have one of the best small cameras available... hmmmmm... use error i am sure - just using the auto for it.

good luck!
ocfishaddicts
 
Heh, thanks! I'm using a Canon T2i with a 100mm macro lens along with a diffused external flash for the pics. :)

So far so good.. no losses today and the babies are eating like little piggies. Anxious for meta phase!

Might have some more pics soon.
 
Hey, just read through this thread. Really incredible, good luck!
One question, about how big are the fry when they're first born? Are they easily visible, or do you have to really look for them? Thanks. :D
 
When they first hatch they are around 2.5mm to 3mm, small but you can easily see them without any magnification!

No losses again today, so I must be doing something right! I'm almost positive that all of the early losses were from too much flow.. I'll remember that next time. It's day 6 and haven't seen any sign of meta yet, but I'm going to keep a close eye on them. :)
 
Well, in spite of your username, I think that is very cool! :lol:

Can you give us a more detailed description of what you are doing to meet their needs everyday? To be clear, the too much flow you mentioned was all from an airstone right? What is this "meta" phase you are referring to and why is it such a big deal? I know I could prolly google it and find a jillion answers but I'm gonna stick with you for my source of info and inspiration on this. I have a false perc pair that is actively breeding (or at least was before I moved them from one tank to another but I'm sure they'll get back at it soon) and I would really like to give this a try - just for fun.

Keep up the good work!
 
coral_addict: I'm going to try to sell them all. :P

jkopp: Thanks!
Each day I do at least a one gallon water change and siphon the muck off the bottom of the tank. Rotifers are added and the water is tinted green with rotigrow once a day, and a little bit of Amquel Plus is added just in case. That's about it! Of course RO/DI water needs to be filtered, saltwater mixed, rotifers harvested and water change completed on their cultures every day, so that adds to the work.
When there was too much flow, I had a ~3 inch airstone sitting on the bottom of the tank and it was just too much. I switched to a much smaller one and lifted it closer to the surface and it's done the trick.

Meta is short for metamorphasis, so you can get what it entails! Percs/occ clowns usually go through this phase between days 6 and 10 and it happens over a couple of days. They start swimming more like a clownfish instead of darting around quickly as they do as larvae and white bands start appearing, starting with the headband. It's a big deal because there can be losses during this time and it signifies the time when they actually start looking like clownfish. :)

I really recommend Joyce D. Wilkerson's Clownfishes book. Lots of information there!
 
How soon do you put lights on the clown fish fry? I have tried with 4 batches to have no survivors yet. I can't stand the thought of giving up, but it is very discouraging. If anyone has a very detailed description of their set up and the set up for their rotifers I'd appreciate it. Or an internet site to help here! Thanks in advance
 
I'm actually using a standlamp with a regular 3-way incandescent bulb. The day I transferred the eggs to the hatching tank, I started with the dimmest setting, from 8am to 11pm. On day 5 I switched to the second brightness level, same amount of hours.
All four sides of the tank were covered with black paper for the first few days, but on day 4 I took the front paper off, today I removed another side for viewing.

Don't give up! These two sites have pretty good descriptions of the process:
http://www.breedclownfish.com/
http://fishtalpropagations.com/default.aspx

Also, you might want to join breeder forums like MOFIB (marinebreeder.org) and rareclownfish.com.
 
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