Spawn 5 another attempt.

[Sport507]

Some are starting to get the nice mocha color and I’m pleased with that for such a young age.

[Sport507]

This will be my last video and post unless someone would like to ask questions.

[BrianMac]

Sport,

What type of filters are you using?

[Sport507]

Originally Posted by BrianMac

Sport,

What type of filters are you using?

On the grow out tank above I'm using a Marienland 400 and a Octopus BH 2000 skimmer.

[BrianMac]

Thanks, I will have to look into another skimmer if my next clutch makes it.

[woodie]

Advice please. Mine lay eggs but I can't seem to get them past the 3rd day. I lose a lot on the first day. And then they drop off from there. I do have the lights on all the time and it is bright, that could be one problem, also alot of them are pointed to the sides and not swiming much.

I do feed the rotifers thru out the day but like I said do lose alot. I have had a few make it but none in the last few spawns.

My set up is a black bucket with a light ontop and has a overflow tube which is into a larger container that contains a pump and heater. The pumps just sends a trickle of water back to the bucket. Also have an airstone in the bucket.

I am thinking I have too much light as I read elsewhere that there should be very little light the first few days and then gradually come on and not on 24/7.

The parents are laying eggs every 10-12 days and hatch exactly at 7 days. I siphon the fry right from the tank to the bucket.

Any advice would be helpful

[Clownfishfan]

It's probably the light,they need dim light(think nightlight). Also the parents diet is almost as important as the larvae's they need to be fed a variety of good food multiple times a day(3+ times).
How many gallons is the bucket ? And also are you using live microalgae to tint the water?

[woodie]

Yes could be the light, parents get feed 3x a day at least as for the setup it is 2 -5 gal buckets that overflow into a large plastic tote would be total 10 gals or so. I use the algae to feed the rotifers. On hatch night I load up the system with rotifers so the fry have something to eat right at the start

[Sport507]

Originally Posted by woodie

Advice please. Mine lay eggs but I can't seem to get them past the 3rd day. I lose a lot on the first day. And then they drop off from there. I do have the lights on all the time and it is bright, that could be one problem, also alot of them are pointed to the sides and not swiming much.

I do feed the rotifers thru out the day but like I said do lose alot. I have had a few make it but none in the last few spawns.

My set up is a black bucket with a light ontop and has a overflow tube which is into a larger container that contains a pump and heater. The pumps just sends a trickle of water back to the bucket. Also have an airstone in the bucket.

I am thinking I have too much light as I read elsewhere that there should be very little light the first few days and then gradually come on and not on 24/7.

The parents are laying eggs every 10-12 days and hatch exactly at 7 days. I siphon the fry right from the tank to the bucket.

Any advice would be helpful

I think the black bucket is the problem because with every black they can’t see their food especially with a dim light. Next time use a white bucket that will also help you see the color of the water when you add the phyto.

My best method was having a very dense group of rotifers and leaving the lights on for the first 3 days. The reason you can’t get past day 3 is because they’re not seeing their food and their yoke sack only last for about 3 days. So in short they are starving to death.

[woodie]

I was using the white buckets at first and the fry seem to stare at the sides as if they saw their reflections and did not swim around.

How do I know if I have enough rotifers? When I use a flashlight I can see what looks like a lot of rotifers in the water.

When you leave the lights on how bright are you making it?

I have been losing a large amount of the fry on the first night and this should not be from starving I would think. But have not figure out why this is happening yet.

[Sport507]

Originally Posted by woodie

I was using the white buckets at first and the fry seem to stare at the sides as if they saw their reflections and did not swim around.

How do I know if I have enough rotifers? When I use a flashlight I can see what looks like a lot of rotifers in the water.

When you leave the lights on how bright are you making it?

I have been losing a large amount of the fry on the first night and this should not be from starving I would think. But have not figure out why this is happening yet.

I have not used a bucket but I have read that it can be done. So I don’t have any experience on a bucket hatchery. I just you a 5 gallon aquarium and black out the sides all but the front. My rotifer are thick (night of the hatch) enough that I don’t need to add more till about day 3 probably no more than ¼” to 3/8” apart. Correct phyto keeps the rots going and reproducing.

You can expect many loses on the first day but it should be no more that a couple dozen if things are set up right (just my experience). Always suck out the dead that a must.

Sorry, I couldn’t help more.

[Sport507]

Some but not all are getting the mocha colors like mom and dad.

Since the theard pop back up, I took another video at feed time.

[woodie]

Hi So for you are the fry swiming around? Like I said mine were just staring at the sides then died off

when you say your rotifers are thick how can you tell?

The mom just laid more eggs tonight and I need to do something differnent to get them to survive.

[doubled50]

Looking GREAT! Can't wait to nab a few tomorrow, the more mocha the better!!

[Sport507]

Originally Posted by doubled50

Looking GREAT! Can't wait to nab a few tomorrow, the more mocha the better!!

I think you will be impressed, they are 16 weeks old today. The video doesn't really do justice to how beautiful these clowns really are.

[doubled50]

It was great meeting you Roger. Thanks for letting us all invade for an hour. Your tanks are very impressive. I've got the little fellas in my tank and they're having a blast. Check out our club forum, I'll post some pics.

[btjt5991]

Hey sport, so what exactly are you going to do with all the the clowns you are growing out?
Have you decided yet?

[Sport507]

Originally Posted by btjt5991

Hey sport, so what exactly are you going to do with all the the clowns you are growing out?
Have you decided yet?

Several local reefers have taken some and I will start contacting LFS to get rid of the rest.

[SoLiD]

Thanks for your thread Roger. Please don't stop posting as new people find this thread through it being bumped up. I'm Subscribing and Hopefully posting a thread of my own soon. My Snow Onyx Clowns have laid eggs 4 times but they keep eating them after just a few hours. I had some bigger fish in there that have now been removed to cut down on the stress. We shall see.

[westohooligan]

Originally Posted by woodie

Hi So for you are the fry swiming around? Like I said mine were just staring at the sides then died off

when you say your rotifers are thick how can you tell?

The mom just laid more eggs tonight and I need to do something differnent to get them to survive.

Not to hijack, but-

If you're fry are not swimming, could be related to their parents' diet, or could be you're not tinting your water dark enough; the fry are being "light shocked".

To check rotifer density, I use one of those glass test tubes that come in the API test kits, scoop out some water, maybe about a 1 mL, to check how many there are.

Also, air flow is a MUST, not enough oxygen in the water, the fry will suffocate.

[Sport507]

Originally Posted by SoLiD

Thanks for your thread Roger. Please don't stop posting as new people find this thread through it being bumped up. I'm Subscribing and Hopefully posting a thread of my own soon. My Snow Onyx Clowns have laid eggs 4 times but they keep eating them after just a few hours. I had some bigger fish in there that have now been removed to cut down on the stress. We shall see.

Sorry to hear that they are eating the spawn, not really sure why. They could be young and inexperienced but I’m not sure, it’s really not normal. Removing the other fish may help. I wished I had a better answer for you David but I don’t. Just make sure they are well feed and I'm sure you do.

Another thing is they may sense that they are not healthy eggs.

[SoLiD]

I think that they are really too young to be spawning. They are only about a year or so old. I feed all my fish a big variety of some of the best foods around. Everything frozen is usually Selcon enriched with hypodermic needles if it can be. The live foods vary from live baby feeder fish, live shrimp, live amphipods, live baby and adult brine shrimp, caviar, clams, oysters, mysids, zoo plankton, some flake, phytos, ... I mean I feed everything and multiple times a day. I live 5 minutes from the Gulf of Mexico, so that helps. I notice they always seem to spawn after I feed clams for some reason. The first spawn was only 18 eggs, but has almost doubled with the next spawns. I also have to get the 3rd onyx clown out of there as he might be the real one causing them to eat the brewed. Thanks again for all the hard work.

[Sport507]

Originally Posted by westohooligan

Not to hijack, but-

If you're fry are not swimming, could be related to their parents' diet, or could be you're not tinting your water dark enough; the fry are being "light shocked".

To check rotifer density, I use one of those glass test tubes that come in the API test kits, scoop out some water, maybe about a 1 mL, to check how many there are.

Also, air flow is a MUST, not enough oxygen in the water, the fry will suffocate.

This is a good post and you are not hijacking the thread. Air flow is the best answer I see here. Rotifers should be about not more than a 1/4 to 3/8" apart, I use a shot glass. The water in the rotifers bucket/tank is what the fry tank should look like as far as the Phyto (green water). Again, I use a shot glass.

[Sport507]

Originally Posted by SoLiD

I think that they are really too young to be spawning. They are only about a year or so old. I feed all my fish a big variety of some of the best foods around. Everything frozen is usually Selcon enriched with hypodermic needles if it can be. The live foods vary from live baby feeder fish, live shrimp, live amphipods, live baby and adult brine shrimp, caviar, clams, oysters, mysids, zoo plankton, some flake, phytos, ... I mean I feed everything and multiple times a day. I live 5 minutes from the Gulf of Mexico, so that helps. I notice they always seem to spawn after I feed clams for some reason. The first spawn was only 18 eggs, but has almost doubled with the next spawns. I also have to get the 3rd onyx clown out of there as he might be the real one causing them to eat the brewed. Thanks again for all the hard work.

IMO this was the problem breeding pairs must be alone. Two clowns per thank for breeding.

[Zach Vs Ponies]

Just got finished reading the entire post. I really want my clownfish to breed now! So, do you have better success with laying eggs if the clowns have an anemone in their tank?