14 day old clownfish fry... Question?

[D E N I N O]

Hi All,

I have a batch of 14 day old clownfish fry. I only have 11 but it's my first attempt, I didn't think I would get this far...

However I have a question. All the way through me raising them most of the fish are hugging the side of the tank. They barely move from the glass.

2 or 3 will openly swim about as I would expect, the other 8 just hug the side of the tank.

I've played around with the lighting, I tinted the water, I've done all sorts... They will not swim about in the open water as I would expect.

The clowns have gone through Meta and coloured up, most have 2 stripes now. They are eating TDO surface food.

Am I doing something wrong?

Thanks

 

[Uncle99]

Keeping clowns for 14 days is an achievement on its own.
Cant see anything wrong.
They do favor the light for a bit.
Congrats.

 

[D E N I N O]

Keeping clowns for 14 days is an achievement on its own.
Cant see anything wrong.
They do favor the light for a bit.
Congrats.

Thank you.

When you say they favour the light should I try increasing lighting as they get older then?

I took their behaviour as them trying to hide from it, I have them lit very dim right now.

Thanks

 

[joekidwell]

Thank you.

When you say they favour the light should I try increasing lighting as they get older then?

I took their behaviour as them trying to hide from it, I have them lit very dim right now.

Thanks

What are your ammonia levels? I'm at day 11, I was at 1ppm ammonia and the fry were on the glass, after adding a seasoned sponge filter and a water change they are all free swimming again. Not sure if its coincidence or the ammonia had something to do with it.

 

[D E N I N O]

What are your ammonia levels? I'm at day 11, I was at 1ppm ammonia and the fry were on the glass, after adding a seasoned sponge filter and a water change they are all free swimming again. Not sure if its coincidence or the ammonia had something to do with it.

Good question...

I don't have an in date ammonia kit but the seachem alert badge shows 0.05ppm, it's green.

I am also dosing seachem prime.

I'm doing 30% water changes every day but I think they are big enough for a filter now. I've got an air sponge filter priming in my display tank overflow. I'll add it in tonight.

 

[joekidwell]

I'm wondering if it's just meta causing it, since day 10 mine seem a little lethargic, less active than usual. If they go to the glass I assume they are resting up against it or they aren't adjusting to the no tint. I just watched one of mine do it again.

 

[Spicy Reef]

I'm on my 8th attempt and can't get past meta, so congrats.

I'm reading like crazy and following, about to give up. I've spent more on this than anything else in my 150g! ugh...

 

[D E N I N O]

I'm on my 8th attempt and can't get past meta, so congrats.

I'm reading like crazy and following, about to give up. I've spent more on this than anything else in my 150g! ugh...

I have a lot of experience breeding freshwater fish, if you're doing clowns as your first attempt at raising any fry I can see the learning curve being high.

Things I think I did well are:
- Flooding the tank with rotifers, I don't think you can have too many. Most guides online said 1 rotifer per length of fry, I had 2-3 times this.
- Constant water changes after day 3, I was raising them in 12 litres of water and changing out 2 per day, sucking all the waste out with airline and dripping in fresh water treated with prime to bind up ammonia. I did 1 litre in the morning and night.
- Put the fish in a quiet area, they seem to get scared very easily.

 

[Spicy Reef]

I have a lot of experience breeding freshwater fish, if you're doing clowns as your first attempt at raising any fry I can see the learning curve being high.

Things I think I did well are:
- Flooding the tank with rotifers, I don't think you can have too many. Most guides online said 1 rotifer per length of fry, I had 2-3 times this.
- Constant water changes after day 3, I was raising them in 12 litres of water and changing out 2 per day, sucking all the waste out with airline and dripping in fresh water treated with prime to bind up ammonia. I did 1 litre in the morning and night.
- Put the fish in a quiet area, they seem to get scared very easily.

I haven't been doing water changes because I had a seasoned sponge filter going from day 1 ammonia stays at 0. I'm going to try the water changes and clean the bottom on the upcoming clutch.

A couple of fails were all on me. heater gone bad, no airstone on the eggs... actually the more I think about it, all fails are on me it's not the fry's fault...

 

[D E N I N O]

I haven't been doing water changes because I had a seasoned sponge filter going from day 1 ammonia stays at 0. I'm going to try the water changes and clean the bottom on the upcoming clutch.

A couple of fails were all on me. heater gone bad, no airstone on the eggs... actually the more I think about it, all fails are on me it's not the fry's fault...

You only learn by making mistakes, don't beat yourself up.

I keep a diary too, write down everything you did. Eventually you will crack it and raise fish to completion, this diary then becomes a guide to follow so you can repeat things again.

Or if you don't manage it, a guide to study to work out what went wrong.

Also thinking about it, most of the people offering advice raising clowns say a bin bag is enough of a curtain to block light. I did not trust this advice, I painted 3 sides of my tank black and used a sheet of ply for the front. The silicone on my tank would also not allow paint to stick to it, so I used black tape over these to completely block all light. I also painted the bottom white to make siphoning out poop and waste easier.

 

[Uncle99]

Thank you.

When you say they favour the light should I try increasing lighting as they get older then?

I took their behaviour as them trying to hide from it, I have them lit very dim right now.

Thanks

No, no change, light is not important IMM but low is good.
Just when they are newly hatched, if I shine I pinpoint light in the water, they will be attached to it, but this becomes less and less.
I use this to bring them all together in the early days for feeding, or to collect the fry.

 

[Spicy Reef]

You only learn by making mistakes, don't beat yourself up.

I keep a diary too, write down everything you did. Eventually you will crack it and raise fish to completion, this diary then becomes a guide to follow so you can repeat things again.

Or if you don't manage it, a guide to study to work out what went wrong.

Also thinking about it, most of the people offering advice raising clowns say a bin bag is enough of a curtain to block light. I did not trust this advice, I painted 3 sides of my tank black and used a sheet of ply for the front. The silicone on my tank would also not allow paint to stick to it, so I used black tape over these to completely block all light. I also painted the bottom white to make siphoning out poop and waste easier.

yup, can't remember where I read it, I did the same... paint that is. I'm starting a diary today, Thanks.