fullbar clownfish with Misbar offspring

[mikelee35]

I've recently started breeding Clownfish with some success, and my most recent hatch that is about 2 months old now is about 70% misbar, even though both parents are full bar clownfish, has anybody else had this happen, and if so is there something I'm doing or not doing that is causing them to misbar? the only difference with this hatch was I used a different heater that kept the tank at 76-77 instead of my other one that broke that kept the tank at 80-81....
Thoughts? ideas?

any input is appreciated

[XxreeffreakxX]

I may be wrong but thats what happens , like when two piccassos breed not all eggs will be grade A picssos , goes for any type of clown i may be wrong tho like i said

[pugbreath13]

I have heard misbars are a result of less than perfect water quality.

[Whip316]

I have heard misbars are a result of less than perfect water quality.

this and food quality thet you are feeding the parents. need to add more food that has a good amount of omega fatty acids and protein.

[barelycuda]

What type of clowns are they? Water quality and nutrition are the number 1 & 2 causes of misbarring.

[mikelee35]

the parents are just a standard pair of Ocellaris clowns, I feed 3-4 times a day a mix of flakes, brine, spirulina brine and a "marine cuisine" thats a mix of different kinds of meaty foods..... and the Fry are fed Rotifers that are raised on Rotifer diet from reed mariculture, Not that I mind the misbars they are worth a more than a fullbar, just curious what has been causing it

[phender]

When I was raising ocellaris, I was able to get down to nearly 0% misbars by making sure the water quality in the fry tanks was good as possible by making considerable water changes (using water from the parents tank) every other day. In my day mis-bars were considered culls and it would have been an embarrassment to try and sell them. How times have changed. :rolleyes:

[NirvanaFan]

Like Phil said, it's got to do with water quality. Once the fish reach 4 or 5 days old, I try to start putting them on the breeding system and cycle their water through. Do some good water changes and you should see an improvement.

[barelycuda]

Sounds like it is a water quality issue. If you have them plumbed to a central system you can start dripping in water as early as day 3. If they are on a stand alone tank you can just siphon old water out and drip in fresh saltwater. I do not like dripping in broodstock water as for me it has nitrates in it and I want as fresh of saltwater as possible. I drip in 20% daily from day 3 thru meta and then start dripping in larval system water.

[mikelee35]

I have been growing them in a 5G tank, with about 10-15% water changes daily, but I am in the process of building a system that is all plumbed together with valves so I can isolate the hatch tank and just turn some knobs to get new water into the fry tank

[clnfsh]

Try a bigger tank. 5 gal is really too small to handle the waste of the fish and rotifers... Or do twice daily water changes.

[mikelee35]

I'm getting 2 of those systems like that have at the pet stores, the 3Ft long tanks that are split 3 ways, and I'm going to put a refugium under it to help with the water quality, it will give me more water volume and make water changes super easy

[Patricklong]

Is there something about misbar clowns that is bad???

I have no experience with clowns, but just googled misbar and I actually think they look quite cool....unique if you will.

But is there some sort of downside to actually BEING misbar??

[secrest]

There's really nothing wrong with misbars per se. Just an abnormality and not what most people go for. Misbars do cost more though, for some reason.

[Patricklong]

The costing more I understand...like albinism, a genetic "defect" that happens 1 in blah blah blah, is highly sought after. Thank you for the info.

[shanesreef]

I have kept and bred freshwater fish of many types since a child and several years back had a pair of clownfish in a small cube tank that spawned regularly and eggs would get to larvae stage, release and be gone as i did not have time to raise clowns then and was breeding plakat bettas. I am now in the very early stages of setting up to breed clowns.

I am very dissappointed to learn that misbar clowns are the result of poor water conditions. But, I do have some questions...

Do misbars pairs produce more misbars, or do they produce standard patterns if kept in good water?

I am assuming standard pattern... as it does not sound like the misbar is a genetic change, but the result of poor environment. If so these fish are as said earlier imo culls. Not to say they are not attractive fish, just not what someone who would want to attain for line breeding.

So are these true clown varieties out there like picassos, snowflakes etc.. being produced from selection and seperate true line breeding?
... seems there is a lot of variance and fish that are not quite picasso, not quite onyx, or snowflake for example.

I obviously have a lot more research to do on clownfish breeding/hybridizing... any good resourcing would be appreciated.

thanks,
Shane