How to remove (scrape) Clownfish eggs from glass?

[flamehawkfish]

hi Everyone

Take a look at the pics below.

Here's my dilemma... My pair of gold-rimmed Maroon clownfish are laying eggs, but they always deposit them on the glass of the tank. How can I remove the eggs- or trap the larvae as it hatches?

The larvae has no chance of surviving in my reef tank, so I need to transfer the eggs a day or two before hatching. I have a laboratory of greenwater and rotifers in my garage (much to my wife's dismay & my 2-year old's fascination). I'm ready. I just need to devise a plan for transferring the eggs. 'Scraping' the eggs off the glass seems ill-advised. Your thoughts?

I've already positioned a sheet of clear plastic (suctioned onto the glass), trying to hoodwink the Clownfish into laying eggs on it. It didn't work- so far. Also, I'm placing some smaller, removable rocks near their nesting site, but no luck. The female will literally move rocks larger than her. This is their 4th or 5th clutch of eggs, and she's unwavering about placing her eggs on the glass of the tank!

See below for pics of the two clownfish and their clutch of eggs. This particular clutch is about 5 days old, and should hatch on Saturday.

Can you share with me your ideas? I'm open.

Thanks,

Flamehawkfish

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7d727b3127cceba8adbd3227000000026100AYtWjdy2cNWNA

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7d727b3127cceba8add20228000000026100AYtWjdy2cNWNA

[MarinaP]

You will have to catch the babies the night they hatch.

More info is here

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=240158

[phender]

If you remove the eggs from the glass, the babies will die in the eggs.

The dim flashlight and scoop method will give you a large number of babies. I usually turn off the lights early on the night of the hatch so I don't have to stay up so late. Make sure all the the lights in the room (including TVs) are off as well. After about 1/2 hour you will want to turn off all the pumps and powerheads. I usually check about every half hour after that to see if the eggs have hatched. By 2 hours after lights out most of the eggs will have hatched. Make sure you turn all the pumps, etc. back on when you are done collecting the babies.

[flamehawkfish]

hi Phender

Thanks for the information. Good point about shutting off & on all the pumps.

So, how fast are the frye? Do they zip right out of their shell-casings and explore the tank, or just drop to the tank floor? Also, do they all spontaneously hatch at once, or over time?

It's hard to imagine myself sitting in the dark, staring at the same spot for hours. Grueling.

Also, as I enter the Critical Period, any other advice?

I appreciate it,

Flamehawkfish

[phender]

The fry are not difficult to catch. They will swim to the top and gather in the beam of the flashlight. Most of them will hatch over the course of an hour.

Its not that bad. I turn off the lights, go watch TV in the other room, turn off the the pumps, go watch TV, come back on check to see if any have hatched. You don't need to sit and stare(they're not going anywhere). Once you get good at the scooping, you can get 25-50 in one scoop. You actually want to scoop the babies out. Don't let them "waterfall" into the container. That usually damages the babies.

It usually only takes me about a half hour once I start scooping. If you try to get every single straggler, it will take a lot longer.

You should get Joyce Wilkerson's book "Clownfish" if you don't already have it. It has most the info you need.

[flamehawkfish]

hi Phil

Thanks again for your feedback. I have Joyce Wilkerson's book, and read it carefully. It is an excellent guide.

Have you raised clownfish babies, as well? If so, what variety? Also, what do you do with all the juveniles after they've grown up? I'm putting the cart before the horse, but I'm not sure what to do in my best case scenario- hundreds of healthy baby Maroon clownfish. Your thoughts?

Also, my family had a Bernese Mtn Dog. They're awesome!

Flamehawk

[phender]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10708463#post10708463 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by flamehawkfish
......
Have you raised clownfish babies, as well? If so, what variety? Also, what do you do with all the juveniles after they've grown up? I'm putting the cart before the horse, but I'm not sure what to do in my best case scenario- hundreds of healthy baby Maroon clownfish. Your thoughts?

Also, my family had a Bernese Mtn Dog. They're awesome!

Flamehawk

I have raised ocellaris, percula and orange skunk clowns.
I usually have traded/sold to LFSs in my area. At one point I sold/traded some to a small wholesaler.

The ocellaris were pretty easy to sell, because the stores can sell a lot of them, and I gave them a good price.
Most other clowns (maroons included) are a little tougher because the shops just don't sell them very fast. It is nothing to go into a store and see a tank with 50 ocellaris for sale, but when was the last time you saw a store with more than 4-5 maroon clowns. That will be a problem for you. Start making contacts now. There may be some stores up your way that also sell on the internet, they would be more likely to take a large number of babies off your hands.

Berners are the greatest dogs ever. Unfortunately, we are dealing with our third berner with terminal cancer right now. :(

[flamehawkfish]

hi Phil

Very interesting. I can understand how Ocellaris clowns are easier to sell. Also, you can probably house several of them in a single tank. That's convenient

If these not-yet-even-baby Maroons get larger, I'm guessing that I'll have to separate them. That can get complicated.

I'll keep you posted. I'd like to take a shot at collecting by hand while they're hatching. Do you even run an air-stone while you wait?

I do appreciate the help. It's nice to hear that other hobbyists have successfully raised clownfish from home.

Take care,

Flamehawk

p.s. I'm sorry about your Berner. They are the best dogs, but they can have health issues. Like most big dogs, Berners don't live nearly as long as our love for them lasts! We got ours from a breeder in Grass Valley. She passed over 10 years ago, and I still miss her.

[phender]

The little babies don't swim very well. An airstone isn't necessary to keep your tank happy as long as the pumps aren't off for more than 2-3 hours.
Make sure you have some saltwater available to replace the water you will be scooping out of your tank. I like to have 5 gallons sitting around. I don't ever need anywhere near that much, but your better safe than sorry.

Thank you for your kind words. I'm guessing you had a Swiss Star dog. Bobbie Hefner is big time in the Berner world.

[flamehawkfish]

hi Phil

I appreciate all feedback. I will let you know if I successfully remove and rear any of these frye.

As for our Berner, you're right! Bobbi Heffner got us our dog, "Swiss Star Sunny Delight". We showed & bred her. She had 3 boy dogs. She passed early, as well. Very sad. One day, I'd like to get another Berner. Perhaps you can point me in the right direction again when that time comes.

Thanks again for all your attention. I'll keep you posted on these soon-to-be baby Maroon clowns.

Take care,

Flamehawk

[timrandlerv10]

hijack alert!

fhf-
did you do anything to encourage the spawning behavior?

phender-
is there anything i can do to encourage my gsm's to spawn? they are growing great, the nems are very healthy (which seems to make her happy) and the tank chemistry is pretty stable.

right now i am feeding cyclopeeze, home-mix, ora glo, flake (formula 1) and grape caluerpa to the foxface rabbit. i have a 175w mh, sump w/chaeto and caluerpa, octopus nw-110.

thoughts?

thanks (and good luck!)

tim

[phender]

Tim,

It sounds like your are already feed a good diet. Some people like to bump up the feeding to 2-3 times per day. I have never done that though.

There are no guarantees, but bumping up the temp to 80-82 degrees and increasing the lights to 12 hours a day have been known to help trigger clowns to begin spawning.

[flamehawkfish]

Hi Tim

I never really tried to breed the Maroons, but after 4 years they laid eggs- and haven't stopped since. The only two changes I made that probably contributed to their breeding are:

1) Selcon: I mix Formula 1 with Selcon, and feed directly to fish & corals. Somebody recommended it to me, and after a couple months of restrained doseage, the coral really grew and Maroons spawned.

2) Wavemaker/Variable Flow: I bought an affordable power-cord that alternated 3 different powerheads, turning them on & off without breaking any circuits. Here's a link to the one I got:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+4585+12061&pcatid=12061

This helped circulation, broke surface tension, flushed out dead pockets, and might have inspired my Maroons to spawn.

I hope this helps. Good luck,

Flamehawkfish

[flamehawkfish]

To All- and thanks Phil for your help,

I followed the instructions, and the baby Maroon clownfish hatched one night early! I was ready. With the pump turned off, I successfully removed 200-300 baby clowns!

I sifted some rotifers, and introduced them to the baby clownfish tank. I think some of the larvae are eating already!

It was not grueling at all- in fact, it was really exciting. Like little fleas in my tank, they swarmed around my flashlight. Really cool. I couldn't scoop each & every one, but I salvaged most.

Does anyone have advice for me during those first few days??? I have a healthy supply of greenwater & rotifers, but haven't started the brine yet.

I'm still just ecstatic to have hundreds of baby clownfish buzzing around in a 10-gallon larvae tank!

Please share your experience/advice for first few days, and I'll keep everyone posted- hopefully with pics (they're too speedy to take good pics right now).

Take care,

Flamehawkfish

[timrandlerv10]

WOOHOO!!!

[xtm]

Nice!! Got some pics of the baby Maroons?

[tedr]

Try this site: www.marshreef.com/files/raising_clownfish.doc. It's an article from the Houston club for oscellaris, but you should be able to get an idea of what lies ahead.

GOOD LUCK