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Unread 06/30/2015, 09:53 PM   #1
hbrochs
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First Ocellaris Fry

Hello everyone, I thought I'd share my first run at raising my clownfish offspring. I bought these guys as a mated pair about six months ago. My LFS told me they were a longstanding pair from a clients tank and had been laying eggs regularly. The black and white female is really striking, with really deep black color. Their anemone hangs out under the arched rock, and they laid eggs on the ceiling of the arched rock.



Of course it's the largest rock in the tank, and not possible to move the rock into the 10 gallon breeding tank. I showed my 12 year old daughter the eggs, and she got all excited about a bunch of baby clownfish. I told her they wouldn't survive in the main tank and she talked me into trying to raise them, lol.

I can't get a good photo of the eggs, cause it's in such an inaccessible spot. I spent the week frantically reading threads, and ordered my rotifers from Reed Mariculture. The seventh night post hatch was Saturday, stayed up late checking every half hour, nothin. Stayed up late Sunday night, nothin. Monday night, turned the lights out before we went out for dinner, and came home to find a tank full of fry. Turned the pumps off, put a flashlight in a corner, and tried siphoning them out. Got a bunch out, but the siphon was too fast and taking too much water out of the tank. My daughter caught a bunch with a ladle, and then I got the rest with a fine net. I've read that a net might damage them, but without the net I wasn't gonna get them all out.



The water is a little green from phytoplankton RGComplete.
Added several sieves of rotifers, and left the light on the first night.
There were about ten dead the next morning. Could have been from my collection technique. The half inch siphon tube was too big I think, and it really shot the fry into the bucket forcefully. The next night, there were maybe 25 or thirty more fry hatched, and I got most of those out and into the nursery.

Will let you know how it goes,

Howard


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Unread 07/01/2015, 08:21 AM   #2
kizanne
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first Congratulations on your first hatch.

second, I'm not that experienced but ....

RGcomplete is a dead algae which is great for rotifers who multiply rapidly and create ammonia. I would check your water quality. You may have injured with the siphon but you could also have high ammonia.


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Unread 07/01/2015, 08:50 AM   #3
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Quote:
Congratulations
Thanks!!

Quote:
RGcomplete is a dead algae which is great for rotifers who multiply rapidly and create ammonia. I would check your water quality. You may have injured with the siphon but you could also have high ammonia.
I agree about injuring some and ammonia. I've ordered the Seachem ammonia badge, but it's not in yet. I've dosed a little amquel, but have not done a water change on the nursery yet, as they are too small and I'm afraid of injuring them.

I gave away my Salifert ammonia test kit to a buddy because I didn't really think I needed it anymore for my display tank.


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Unread 07/01/2015, 10:31 AM   #4
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The fry are only a couple of days old, and it looks like she is ready to lay another clutch of eggs. Excuse the crappy iPhone photos, but you can see her distended abdomen.







In the last photo, you can see the male tending the eggs on the rock.


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Unread 07/01/2015, 10:32 AM   #5
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So do you already know what the babies will look like?


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Unread 07/01/2015, 10:44 AM   #6
hbrochs
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Quote:
So do you already know what the babies will look like?
I have no idea what they will look like. I imagine it will be a couple of weeks after meta, when I'll get some idea.


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Unread 07/01/2015, 07:19 PM   #7
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Set up



After growing out the rotifers for three days, I harvested 30% and used it to start a second culture bucket. I don't have heaters in the rotifer buckets, just air stones.


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Unread 07/05/2015, 04:22 PM   #8
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Post hatch day 6. I started adding a couple small pinches of TDO A food in addition to the rotifers. They seem to react to it when I put it in. Adding about 15-20 drops of amquell a day. Nursery temp 78 degrees, SG 1.025 the same as the brood tank.



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Unread 07/07/2015, 05:56 PM   #9
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lets see those stripes! Congrats and make sure you save me a few. I'm already thinking about setting up a clown tank for the boys.


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Unread 07/09/2015, 09:48 AM   #10
hbrochs
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First Stripes

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choss	 lets see those choss	 lets see those stripes! Congrats and make sure you save me a few. I'm already thinking about setting up a clown tank for the boys.
! Congrats and make sure you save me a few. I'm already thinking about setting up a clown tank for the boys.
Thanks buddy, got some with your name on them!

It's 10 days post hatch, and several of the fry have a stripe now.
I tried doing a small water change a couple of days ago using 1/2" vinyl tubing for a siphon. The problem was that the flow was too brisk and I siphoned up about five clownfish with the dirty water. I used 1/4 inch stiff airline tubing this morning with much better results. Just took about a gallon off the bottom, and dripping the new salt water in over a few hours.

Putting in a little Amquel every day, and using the Seachem ammonia badge.
I'm feeding rotifers twice a day and TDO A two or three times a day.

It's hard to get a good photo of the fry with my iPhone, but I'll try again tonight.

There is another clutch of eggs that is due to hatch in another day or two, and now I'm thinking about dividing my current tank vs buying another 5 or 10 gallon breeder. This is strangely addicting.


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Unread 07/10/2015, 06:40 AM   #11
choss
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hbrochs View Post
HTML Code:
choss	 lets see those choss	 lets see those stripes! Congrats and make sure you save me a few. I'm already thinking about setting up a clown tank for the boys.
! Congrats and make sure you save me a few. I'm already thinking about setting up a clown tank for the boys.
Thanks buddy, got some with your name on them!

It's 10 days post hatch, and several of the fry have a stripe now.
I tried doing a small water change a couple of days ago using 1/2" vinyl tubing for a siphon. The problem was that the flow was too brisk and I siphoned up about five clownfish with the dirty water. I used 1/4 inch stiff airline tubing this morning with much better results. Just took about a gallon off the bottom, and dripping the new salt water in over a few hours.

Putting in a little Amquel every day, and using the Seachem ammonia badge.
I'm feeding rotifers twice a day and TDO A two or three times a day.

It's hard to get a good photo of the fry with my iPhone, but I'll try again tonight.

There is another clutch of eggs that is due to hatch in another day or two, and now I'm thinking about dividing my current tank vs buying another 5 or 10 gallon breeder. This is strangely addicting.
How is the badge working out for you?


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Unread 07/10/2015, 04:33 PM   #12
hbrochs
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Sea Chem

The Sea Chem ammonia badge seems to be working well. As soon as I see the center get a little green, I know I need more Amquel.

I started changing out about a gallon of water a day starting day six. Using 1/4 inch stiff airline to siphon detritus off the bottom. Still feeding rotifers twice a day, and also some TDO A. I'd say about half of the guys have a white stripe by now, 11 DPH. I put a few PVC elbows in the bottom today.





Just bought another 10 gallon breeder as I have another clutch of eggs almost ready to hatch.


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Unread 07/10/2015, 04:44 PM   #13
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This is pretty cool. How long did it take for the clowns to start spawning?


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Unread 07/10/2015, 07:11 PM   #14
hbrochs
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Spawning

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Originally Posted by nathan1986 View Post
This is pretty cool. How long did it take for the clowns to start spawning?
I bought them as a mated pair, so they were spawning for some time. My local fish store told me they were from a clients tank, and they were spawning regularly.

I didn't notice the eggs for quite a while because she laid the eggs in such a hidden spot.


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Unread 07/14/2015, 10:46 AM   #15
hbrochs
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Helpfull Clownfish Breeding material

I decided to try breeding after I first noticed the eggs, so it was a big scramble to read as much as possible so that I could get ready. I thought I'd list some of the great threads and websites that were really helpful to me.

My Black Ocellaris pair are spawning!!!

My Ocellaris breeding thread

My attempt at breeding black clowns (in a 28 gallon mixed reef)

Pickle's clown breeding thread

www.breedingclownfish.com

www.APBreed.com

www.reedmariculture.com

www.florida-aqua-farms.com

The first three are Reef Central threads. You could google Pickle's thread as I think its on another forum. The breedingclownfish website is nice as you don't have to read through hundreds of posts in a thread, its just a smoother read. I have not gotten Joyce Wilkerson's book, Clownfishes, but I plan to.

I was fortunate enough to meet Chad Clayton from Reed Mariculture / APBreed at the Reef-A-Palooza, and talking to him about culturing rotifers was extremely helpful. I can't say enough nice things about Reed Mariculture, super helpful, professional company.

There were some nice You Tube videos that I found helpful.

How to breed Clownfish. by vinylguy26 was a nice overview

fadifanous has several detailed videos that were great, from cleaning the nursery tank to details on culturing the rotifers.

I hope bringing some of these sources together on one page is helpful.

Thanks,

Howard


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Unread 07/19/2015, 02:30 PM   #16
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This is two weeks post hatch. Most have one stripe, a few have two stripes.
They are mostly off rotifers now, just eating TDO A.
Did a water change today, and going to put the sponge filter in later today.


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Unread 07/20/2015, 05:50 AM   #17
choss
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hbrochs View Post


This is two weeks post hatch. Most have one stripe, a few have two stripes.
They are mostly off rotifers now, just eating TDO A.
Did a water change today, and going to put the sponge filter in later today.
wow - they are looking really good!


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Unread 01/19/2016, 08:15 AM   #18
hbrochs
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So, at three weeks, I went away for the weekend and left the care to my mom and daughter. Not sure what went wrong, but none of them survived the weekend. Needless to say this was a huge bummer.

Fast forward seven months, and I'm ready to try again. My female laid a clutch of eggs 1/9/16 and they hatched last night. Me and my daughter collected maybe 25 or 30 fry, and put them in the nursery with some rotifers. I tinted the water light green with some RG Complete, and off we go!


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Unread 01/19/2016, 08:22 AM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hbrochs View Post
So, at three weeks, I went away for the weekend and left the care to my mom and daughter. Not sure what went wrong, but none of them survived the weekend. Needless to say this was a huge bummer.

Fast forward seven months, and I'm ready to try again. My female laid a clutch of eggs 1/9/16 and they hatched last night. Me and my daughter collected maybe 25 or 30 fry, and put them in the nursery with some rotifers. I tinted the water light green with some RG Complete, and off we go!
thats weird usually at 3 weeks they are pretty much out of the woods as for being delicate. hopefully this round goes good for you. it is very fun to do but can be time consumeing.

good luck


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Unread 01/19/2016, 04:59 PM   #20
hbrochs
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This is what a million L type rotifers looks like, from Reed Mariculture.

RG complete, phytoplankton food for the rotifers, and to tint the water green in the nursery tank.

Bucket of rotifers with saltwater at SG 1.018, and air stone.



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Unread 01/20/2016, 06:17 AM   #21
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What a fun thing to do with your daughter!

To answer what was asked above is what will they look like? They will be Mocha clowns. I'm surprised that Shifty didn't answer that. He breeds them as well and I got a pair from him.

Hopefully this next batch will survive for you, I'll be following.


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Unread 01/20/2016, 06:54 AM   #22
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Sorry must have missed that question. But yes they will become mocha clowns.


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Unread 01/20/2016, 07:55 AM   #23
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Originally Posted by shifty51008 View Post
Sorry must have missed that question. But yes they will become mocha clowns.
Post #5

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Originally Posted by kizanne View Post
So do you already know what the babies will look like?



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Unread 01/20/2016, 08:04 PM   #24
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So cool, my clowns eat their eggs after they lay them!!


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Unread 01/20/2016, 10:00 PM   #25
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So cool, my clowns eat their eggs after they lay them!!
Most likely the reason is the parents arent being fed quality food.


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