Clown fish eggs? If so HEEEELLLLLLPPPPPP

[bdejong1112o]

Ok, so I bought a bonded pair of clown fish awhile back. They appear to have now laid eggs. Didn't notice them until today and to be honest I am not 100% certain so I need to get that answer first. I uploaded a video, linked below. I can and will try to get a better shot tonight but where its at the glass distortion gets in the way.

So, once we confirm they are eggs now what? I will do whatever I can to ensure they survive but I have no clue how to do that.

The tank is a 220g mostly LPS and softies.
I have the following fish:
Clowns, duh
Desjardini Tang
Foxface
Lawnmower bleny
4 Pajama Cardinals
Diamond watchman goby

What to do and how long until they hatch. New territory for me here.

​

 

[i lik fish]

Yep, def eggs. Here is a article to get you started. http://www.saltwateraquariumblog.com/clownfish-eggs-development-clownfish-breeding-journal/

 

[vertigo01]

This should help you out.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/alexs-clownfish-breeding-journal.252966/

 

[bdejong1112o]

ok, so I have a spare 5g tank, heater, air pump and stone with control valve. This tank is ready to go and from what I read I should use 5g from the DT to get it started. From there I can do WC with my RODI system right?

I don't imagine that I can use a standard fish net to scoop them out, right? I thought about taking one of my 4" mesh filters and then removing the standard filter net from a fish net and attaching the mesh filter sock material to scoop them out. Do you think this will work? This is all due to them laying them on the overflow and of course depends on if I can be there at the right time. I have no idea when the were laid but from the looks of them it at least 3 days ago and up to 7ish??

Food is the main issue. I do not have an active rotifer culture going. I do have a spare air pump, tubing and can get a stone. I don't have the acrylic rod on hand but amazon can get it to me quick enough. I could order the culture and get going on that assuming they can ship it to me quick enough and the eggs are not a day away from hatching.. Either way, it would get me ready for the next time.

So far does this sound good?

 

[bdejong1112o]

So I got the 5g tank setup and ready. I also placed a rotifer culture order with @Reef Nutrition along with the starter kit and sieve. Man, if it wasn't for having the clown eggs the shipping would have stopped me in my tracks. Either way I am sure the corals will appreciate the steady supply of rotifers if I miss the eggs hatching. Now its just a waiting game. How do you tell when they will hatch? is it always at night? Any tell tale signs that they are about to pop out?
?
Also is a 5g big enough to get the past the fry eating rotifers and through the baby brine stage? I also have a 10g that I can use and a 20g that is being used for a tang in QT right now but will be available in 2 weeks.

 

[bdejong1112o]

Well. They were closer to hatching than I thought as they were all gone the next morning. That was Tuesday morning. So I figured I already had the rottifers on the way and would work on keeping that culture alive and at least feed my corals well until they lay eggs again.

Fast forward to today, Thursday, and while walking by the tank I see a new patch of orange eggs. Momma was still laying them down. I captured some video and posted it here.



So now I have some time to build the fry trap. Timing has them hopefully hatching next weekend so I will adjust my schedule so I am up that night.

Any tips on how to scoop them out?

 

[bdejong1112o]

So ended up just ordering the Vossen Larval trap as I saw a bunch of videos on youtube of people using them for clown fish fry. Ordered it from my favorite place on earth, @Bulk Reef Supply. I had enough points from the past few group buys to pay for it!!

I also received my starter culture of rottifers and the bucket kit for growing them from @Reef Nutrition. Went with the Starter kit without the bucket since I have plenty of them from Home Depot for tank stuff. I had thought that $45 was a bit steep for the kit but its actually very nice and super convenient for someone like me with little spare time and a need to get it all up and running quickly. From what I read I need to let it grow for 3 days and then harvest like 33% out of the bucket. Even if the clowns dont need it for long I am looking forward to seeing if it makes and impact on the corals being fed every day with whats harvested.

Someone mentioned making ice cubes with them. What do you think?

I have a simple 5g tank with small heater and air stone for the grow out tank. I assumed no need for a hang on the back filter. How long will they live there before moving them to the larger 20g tank thats already established as a QT tank and will be empty in a week.

Anyways, super excited to get this going and see if I can get to the little guys before they become food. Any suggestions/recommendations?

 

[DeepBlueSomething]

Best of luck! Keep the updates coming and thanks for the great videos!

 

[bdejong1112o]

The larvae trap came in today. Due to the main tank being 30" tall and the location where they decided to lay the eggs the little fellas are going to have a little bit of a swim ahead of them. I will be sure to turn off the MP40 shown in the picture that we have now named "The Fry Blender".

Any suggestions on how the keep the other tank mates at bay while they hatch?

 

[authentic]

they hatch at night about an hour after lights out,most fish are asleep ,stop all flow (including return)the trap should get them all in about an hour

 

[bdejong1112o]

Awesome, thanks for the info. I harvested my first batch of rottifers tonight from my culture and we have plenty of them growing. The corals had a feast with them tonight. Going to be quite something to do the harvesting every night while the fry need them. But hey, 4 days after getting the culture I didn't kill them all and actually have a pretty good growth pattern. I was even able on day 3 to pass along the first harvest to my reef friend so he could start a bucket going. He is my backup in case mine goes bad.

 

[CWR24]

Mine are laying down new eggs all the time but I never do anything with them.......not about to open up a fish shop.

Interesting process though.

 

[bdejong1112o]

I agree, no interest what so ever in getting into the clown fish business. I am doing this just to do it and see how it goes. Most of the time I can see them just being food for the other fish in the tank. The laid these abck to back and I cannot see keeping multiple tanks setup in rotation for non stop clown sex... lol

 

[Robink]

Congrats! And best of luck with that, looks like a lot of work!

 

[CWR24]

I agree, no interest what so ever in getting into the clown fish business. I am doing this just to do it and see how it goes. Most of the time I can see them just being food for the other fish in the tank. The laid these abck to back and I cannot see keeping multiple tanks setup in rotation for non stop clown sex... lol

Agreed......and funny.....too much to get into.

Between the fish always having "fun" along with my kids crested geckos I got quite jealous....and then divorced!! Life has become very good once again.

 

[bdejong1112o]

Ok, so tonight is hopefully hatch night. I am using the vossen larval trap. It comes with an attraction light. Is it ok to have that on while they hatch? There is conflicting information out there on how much light is ok. The tank is in my main living area and there are other ambient light generators around the room. I would assume that in the wild they may hatch under full moon conditions so pitch black may not always be possible. But I am no expert and am new to this experience.

I have turned off all the pumps and the lights are out. The only light I have on is the attraction light on the larval trap. Tonight is day 8 since they were laid. I will let the pumps be off for an hour or two but then will have to turn them all back on.

 

[samnaz]

I’m so excited for you! My sexy shrimp had babies and to this day it’s the best most exciting thing I’ve had happen in my tank.

 

[bdejong1112o]

Tonight was indeed hatch night. Once the tank lights went out I turned on the bubbler and the attraction light. Abut 45 minutes later we saw the first few fry making their way to the trap. right now we have maybe 40 in the trap with a few stragglers that just dont seem to know to go to the light. There are not taht many shiny egg left so I am going to wait another 20 minute or so and then get the live ones into the holding tank. Its just teeming with rottifers so they should be able to just sit still and drink them in.

What a night. Very cool experience for sure. Will tank a few pics once I am ready to make the transfer, for now I am giving them every chance to get to the trap.

 

[bdejong1112o]

So here is a quick cell phone pic.

 

[bdejong1112o]

Here are a few of them in the holding tank. Not sure what you call the first tank they go into.

I believe I got the tint right, plenty of phyto and plenty of rottifers for them to eat.

I have an airstone in the tank and it's set pretty low right now. How high can I or should I run the airstone?