A Breeder's Journey: Building to Breeding

[RossTheReefer]

I've been a reefer for my whole life. My father has had a tank for as long as I can remember. My interest in the hobby has grown from watching his tank when out of town to a fascination that I spend time working on each day. The one tank has now grown into many: a 100 Gallon DT (my father's original tank), 45 Gallon Refugium, 45 Gallon frag tank, 5 Gallon pico tank, 10 gallon hospital tank, 10 gallon rotifer culture and 50 gallon phytoplankton culture.

Eventually I hope to have the experience to successfully breed various dragonet species as the Green Mandarin was my inspiration in getting into breeding. First I have started by learning how to culture live foods for rearing fry. The next step for me is to breed a pair of Banggai Cardinals and a pair of clowns (1 snowflake & 1 ultra snowflake).


I've been working on a plan for my breeding and rearing system, for which I've included a picture. The system contains 4 x 20 gallon high tanks, a 55 sump, and two rearing tanks that are approximately 40 gallons. Two of the 20's will be for breed stock, 1 will be a refugium for biological filtration, and 1 will be a rotifer culture. The refugium will be supplied by a pump in the sump and will overflow into the two brood stock tanks. The rotifer culture will be supplied by a top off pump and will drip into the two rearing tanks. The rearing tanks will be supplied by the sump and also by the roti culture and will drain into the sump. The rearing tanks are 55 gallon drums cut down to 24" high and inside painted black. They will drain and be supplied like this: http://www.aquacare.com/products/fish-farming-tanks/ There will be a protein skimmer on the system and a calcium reactor as well.
Lighting will be small CFLs.

What do you think? Any suggestions on changes to the plan or areas of concern?

[reefstew]

You do not want to have the rotifer culture water go into your system. Only the rotifers for the fry.

[shifty51008]

Whats the calcium reactor gonna be used for on a breeding setup?

[RossTheReefer]

Originally Posted by reefstew

You do not want to have the rotifer culture water go into your system. Only the rotifers for the fry.

So you're saying use a sieve? What's in the water that would be harmful, assuming the culture has it's water flowing at a rate so it's replaced every three days?

My goal is constant and automatic feeding of rotifers and artemia. For artemia I would do the same thing except I would need to make a new culture as often as necessary and switch them out so the fry are getting the right age artemia.

[RossTheReefer]

Originally Posted by shifty51008

Whats the calcium reactor gonna be used for on a breeding setup?

To hold the alkalinity constant. Not necessary?

[shifty51008]

Originally Posted by RossTheReefer

To hold the alkalinity constant. Not necessary?

Not needed to breed fish.

I would answer the last question but im on my phone which sucks to type on

[RossTheReefer]

Originally Posted by shifty51008

Not needed to breed fish.

I would answer the last question but im on my phone which sucks to type on

My understanding is that if you hold the alkalinity then the ph will remain constant. Is that incorrect or is there a better way to regulate ph?

[shifty51008]

Yes your correct, holding alk will keep pH good but when you will be using air pumps on your system you shouldnt have to worry much about pH. I dont think i have ever checked pH levels in any of my tanks.

[RossTheReefer]

Originally Posted by shifty51008

Yes your correct, holding alk will keep pH good but when you will be using air pumps on your system you shouldnt have to worry much about pH. I dont think i have ever checked pH levels in any of my tanks.

Hmm ok. What's everyone else's take on this? Do any of you do anything in your breeder systems to regulate PH? How often do you test?

[RossTheReefer]

Originally Posted by reefstew

You do not want to have the rotifer culture water go into your system. Only the rotifers for the fry.

Why? The water will turnover totally every three days if I feed just under 7 gallons a day. It's not bad water, just recycled tank water.

[shifty51008]

The polution from the rotifer water will kill your fry

[AnthemForLiving]

It is always a good idea to check tank parameters. pH can be affected by aeration of the water and in adequate ventilation in the room. Keep track of the parameters to keep your fish healthy and frisky.

[AnthemForLiving]

There is another problem with the continuous water change and rotifer inflow idea. You want the density of rotifers in the clown tank water to be high so that it is easy for the clowns to find food. Since this is the same water that is running out of the over flow in that tank, you will be loosing a ton of rotifers. If you are throwing away all these rotifers, then you are wasting time and money which means more effort and money to produce the same clownfish.

[GreshamH]

Originally Posted by AnthemForLiving

There is another problem with the continuous water change and rotifer inflow idea. You want the density of rotifers in the clown tank water to be high so that it is easy for the clowns to find food. Since this is the same water that is running out of the over flow in that tank, you will be loosing a ton of rotifers. If you are throwing away all these rotifers, then you are wasting time and money which means more effort and money to produce the same clownfish.

A sieve at the overflow of the larval tank would stop such a situation.

[AnthemForLiving]

I was thinking the same thing about a sieve, but wouldn't it get clogged with rotifers pretty often and potentially cause an overflow