Clownfish Fry Raising Journal Update 05/24/12

While were waiting for the eggs to hatch thought I show a pic of how many we have this round. There are still a lot more that you can't see. They're up high and I wasn't able to get a pic. We think hatch night might be tomorrow. So I'm very happy with how many eggs we have left this go around.

 

Looking great so far, best wishes on the hatch.

 

Awesome thread! LOL Tropical - I've never seen clowns spawn on a pirate head before... but that definitely works.

This thread needs updates though!!!

 

Let me see if I can save you some trouble...

First off one of the major problems I had was the way I was cleaning my equipment. I was using bleach and not neutralizing the tank with vinegar or anything else after. Took me a while to figure that one out.

So now I prep my hatch tank at least a couple of days earlier and clean them as soon as I move the fry to grow out so I know it's clean and ready. If I don't have the luxury of time to clean it out thoroughly I use hot water and paper towels to clean them out. I've hatched 4 spawns in row now not using anything but the hot water and it works just fine.

The other things I did that made a difference was switching rotifer feeds. I'm using the rotifer grow plus instead of the nano - good food for the rots makes a huge difference. It's not as heavy and the rotifers grow like crazy with it.

Last is feeding the pair... it's critical that you feed your pair quality feed and often. I still feed them 3 times a day and a large variety of foods. Healthy eggs make for strong fry and they are much easier to raise.

If you get tired of trying to read that thread I condensed everything I do into a "Breeders Guide" that is stickied at the top of the aquaculture section on N-R.

I hope it helps! If you are still running into trouble let me know and I'll send you my number so we can talk about your process and see if there is anything I can help trouble shoot for you.

 

Hey Pickles! Thanks for checking out our thread - tropicaladdict is my wife and we both share duties with our breeding attempts. I finished reading your breeder's lounge thread on n-r on Thursday of last week. Thank you so much for putting so much time and effort into helping others. I think there are definitely a few things that we need to change before we can really have a shot at raising some babies successfully. I'm currently culturing nannochloropsis from Florida aqua farms but it seems like rotigrow is the way to go. Also need to put more time and effort into the rotifer cultures (water changes, thinning out, etc.). My last batch of Rotifers exploded and then crashed probably from not harvesting. Horrible timing because we just had our latest eggs hatch last night. I'm hesitant to tint the fry's water with the nannochloropsis too. Would also like to have some otohime on hand as well as it seems to turn little fry into eating machines! Need an ammonia badge too. Sucks that money is tight at the moment or else I would jump all over those things. We'll keep trying with what we have until we can afford the other things and we'll definitely be asking you for advice. Thanks again for offering.

Hope your health is good and look forward to continuing to follow your thread. Let us know when you have babies and/ or breeding pairs for sale too. Some pickle's clowns are another thing on our wish list.

 

Well it sounds like you are on the right track - It's definitely expensive starting out and maintaining everything you need to breed. But quality in gets quality results. I don't know how many batches of 10 or less survivors I had and then things didn't start clicking until I got everything I needed to do it right.

Rotifers are actually pretty easy to maintain - the hard part is being consistent. Once you get a routine down you'll have no problem. I crashed my first culture on day 1 and have had my second culture going for over a year now. It's to the point where I can't fall asleep unless I've pulled rots, done a water change and fed them. Same thing in the morning - it's just become a part of waking up and getting my day started. It's crazy too because I use to wait up for my fry to hatch but now I just go to sleep if I'm tired and my internal alarm clock will get me up early to check on them and get the feed going.

If the nano for FAF is anything like the nano from Reeds it's pretty thick stuff. When I fed the fry tanks I had to be careful to swirl it as fed it to make sure it mixed well in the tank. If you just squirt it in it goes to the bottom and just turns into a lump on the floor of the tank. the rotigrow + is thinner and not as greasy. It mixes in the water so much easier and does not go to waste. I think you'll be happy with it.

You're lucky that your wife is into it as well. That will help for sure. I'm training a guy from my local reef club to help out. I mean the Mrs. and I plan on taking vacations together someday and we need someone who can step in and baby sit.

Anyhow, stick with it - a day will come when you are looking at 1000 babies and think to yourself - OH CRAP - now what??

 

Well we currently have 5 fry through day 3! We've never had any fry survive through day 3, let alone 5 (don't laugh Pickles . Just did my first water change of roughly 20% (this is in addition to the cup or so I siphon out during vacuuming the tank twice each day). Tested the water I took out and ammonia and ph are at good levels. Rotifer density looked good too. Keeping our fingers crossed .

And right on schedule, "Jaws" our female ocellaris gave us more eggs today. You mean I MIGHT need more than one 10 gallon hatch/fry tank??

 

Congratulations, I knew it was only a matter of time for you guys, and yes I see a couple new 10 gallons in your future.

 

Keep up the good work!

 

Just keep an eye on the density of the rots... with small numbers like that you may need to strain more then you add.

What are you planning for a 2nd food? If you do not have otohime you could try using a mortar and pestle to grind some flake and pellets down to a fine powder and see if they start hitting it. I typically start introducing the 2nd food on day 2 or 3... and feed that and rots through Meta.

You can pick up the mortar and pestle at most kitchen supply places - You'll want one anyhow. I use mine to crush foods between feeding otohime and regular flake.

Congrats! They should keep getting better and better for you!

Oh yeah... I'm not laughing - just reminiscing of this time last year for me.