Clown fish fry not living

[Amy Ana]

Hi , I'm sooo new to this forum. I've used it quite a few times for answers to my questions. I have a mated pair of clown fish. She lays eggs every 15 days. Currently the pair and their anemone is living in my main tank. I'm just waiting for the ammonia levels to drop and I'll move all 3 over to a new tank.
I've tried many things to get the babies. I have a catcher that was supposed to trap them and I move them over after they hatch. I managed to catch 3 babies that way, but they died.
I finally decided to move the rock the eggs were on, in the main tank, into the fry tank, I had bubbles on it at full force. A few hatched. Maybe about 4 were alive in the morning. But they all died. I reduced the bubbles, more eggs hatched and 3 were alive in the morning. They all died. and I think i had 3 alive in the morning after the third night, but again. They all died.

What am I doing wrong? Is there any way to get them to hatch on one night? What about lighting? Clown eggs hatch only at night, clown fry don't like light. How can I light the eggs, so there's a night time, but not kill the fry that have hatched.

There's tonnes of rotifers in the fry tank. It's not a food issue. I have bristol board covering all sides of the tank and bristol board cover for the top of the tank. I can leave it perminantly covered except when feeding but then i don't have the light and dark difference for the other eggs.

Please help. This is very frustrating.

 

[LiveWire]

Hello @Amy Ana and welcome to the REEF!! I am not a fish breeder myself but i am sure that someone here will be able to help you out with that. As far as the night lighting have you thought about maybe using a red light? Many reefers use them to look into their tanks at night as the red spectrum seems to not disturb all our sleeping friends in the reef.

Im sure there is a breeder in the @ReefSquad I do know you ave to have rotifers on hand as soon as the fry hatch but that is all I really know about.

 

[Mike N]

You really want to leave the eggs in the parents care until hatch night. Only then should you move the rock/eggs into the fry tank.
Also, most people take water from the parent tank the same day/night to fill the fry tank, that way there is no change in water chemistry when the hatches take place.
Once in the fry tank, you don't want bubbles on full force, just enough to cause the eggs to sway a bit.
Mine hatch in the parent tank and I use the vossen larval trap to capture and transfer them.

Are you tinting the water in the fry tank?

I know its tough when they don't hatch the same night, but you want to make sure to keep the lights on (dimmed of course) in the fry tank so the babies hunt their rotifers.
I personally have the lights on when the fry hatch and keep them on 24/7 until they hit meta.

 

[Amy Ana]

I've tried using the Larson. I didn't get it to work. I'll do some more research and see if it will work this time. I had used my tank water to fill up my fry tank
I am tinting the water.

I can try my Larson trap this time, and refill up my tank with fresh main tank water.
and I'll find a dim light to keep on the fry tank at all times.

Thanks for your input. I really appreciate it.

 

[Mike N]

There are some keys to getting the Vossen trap to work, I had many problems at first as well.

On hatch night:
1. As soon as lights go out, cut off all pumps and wavemakers. Make sure room is nearly pitch black.
2. Wait 45 minutes
3. Turn on the light and airpump for the larval trap
4. Leave the trap in place for 20-30 minutes (during this time you can scoop out the errant fry near the surface that aren't lured by the light)
5. Transfer your babies and turn on the fry tank light.

The location of the trap light is very important as well. Use this picture as a reference:

GOOD LUCK!

 

[chizerbunoi]

I never tried the trap method before.

What I did. Watch for hatch night (start to see a lot of silver about a week after laying). Rearing tank is a 10 gal with 3 gallons of water. Covered tank with paper to prevent light leak. Led clip on on same timer schedule as main tank.

just before lights out on the main tank I transferred the eggs to the rearing tank. Turn off all water flow. Just take the rock out, expose to air and put into other tank. If you going to another room then into a bucket with water to transfer (like in basement from main floor). Turn air bubbles on to fan eggs.

Then early next morning they hatch. They need complete darkness to hatch. While it’s still dark you can check with a dim light. Remove rock from rearing tank.

 

[andrewkw]

Big fan of the vossen trap. No need to anger the parents (mine are maroons so they are extra mean), I get probably 99% within 30 minutes or so. I've only gotten a few through metamorphosis so maybe I shouldn't be giving advice, but what I do is start the fry tank with water from the parents tank. Tint it with room temp or close to room temp phytoplankton. Also run 24/7 lights for at least the first few days.

 

[jamie1210]

I never tried the trap method before.

What I did. Watch for hatch night (start to see a lot of silver about a week after laying). Rearing tank is a 10 gal with 3 gallons of water. Covered tank with paper to prevent light leak. Led clip on on same timer schedule as main tank.

just before lights out on the main tank I transferred the eggs to the rearing tank. Turn off all water flow. Just take the rock out, expose to air and put into other tank. If you going to another room then into a bucket with water to transfer (like in basement from main floor). Turn air bubbles on to fan eggs.

Then early next morning they hatch. They need complete darkness to hatch. While it’s still dark you can check with a dim light. Remove rock from rearing tank.

Are your eggs on a tile? If so, when you turn the air bubbles on to fan the eggs, is the tile upside down w/the air bubbles blowing directly at it? Wondering how you're positioning the eggs

 

[IKD]

I've tried using the Larson. I didn't get it to work. I'll do some more research and see if it will work this time. I had used my tank water to fill up my fry tank
I am tinting the water.

I can try my Larson trap this time, and refill up my tank with fresh main tank water.
and I'll find a dim light to keep on the fry tank at all times.

Thanks for your input. I really appreciate it.

I use a small LED strip light and put some black tape over it to mute it to a dull light. I put that one one side of the tank so the fry can pick the light level they prefer with one side lit and the other fairly dark.

 

[chizerbunoi]

Are your eggs on a tile? If so, when you turn the air bubbles on to fan the eggs, is the tile upside down w/the air bubbles blowing directly at it? Wondering how you're positioning the eggs

whatever they breed onto. If it was tile then I would lean it against me he wall. The air stone is close enough to just agitate the eggs as if the male is fanning them.

 

[Zagecko]

Hi , I'm sooo new to this forum. I've used it quite a few times for answers to my questions. I have a mated pair of clown fish. She lays eggs every 15 days. Currently the pair and their anemone is living in my main tank. I'm just waiting for the ammonia levels to drop and I'll move all 3 over to a new tank.
I've tried many things to get the babies. I have a catcher that was supposed to trap them and I move them over after they hatch. I managed to catch 3 babies that way, but they died.
I finally decided to move the rock the eggs were on, in the main tank, into the fry tank, I had bubbles on it at full force. A few hatched. Maybe about 4 were alive in the morning. But they all died. I reduced the bubbles, more eggs hatched and 3 were alive in the morning. They all died. and I think i had 3 alive in the morning after the third night, but again. They all died.

What am I doing wrong? Is there any way to get them to hatch on one night? What about lighting? Clown eggs hatch only at night, clown fry don't like light. How can I light the eggs, so there's a night time, but not kill the fry that have hatched.

There's tonnes of rotifers in the fry tank. It's not a food issue. I have bristol board covering all sides of the tank and bristol board cover for the top of the tank. I can leave it perminantly covered except when feeding but then i don't have the light and dark difference for the other eggs.

Please help. This is very frustrating.

I don't know much about fry but I recommend you put some prime in the parent's tank and leave the babies in the parent's tank. When you move adult fish they can get sick and die, imagine how stressful it is for the babies.

 

[Amy Ana]

whatever they breed onto. If it was tile then I would lean it against me he wall. The air stone is close enough to just agitate the eggs as if the male is fanning them.

the last time she laid her eggs, it was on a rock, I had to dismantle the display to get it out. Previous times I had tried the Vossen trap and didn't catch any.
In the Fry tank I leaned the rock against the wall, and had the bubbles under it so they would move. I tried different levels of bubbles.

 

[Amy Ana]

I use a small LED strip light and put some black tape over it to mute it to a dull light. I put that one one side of the tank so the fry can pick the light level they prefer with one side lit and the other fairly dark.

I'll try this too. Good idea

 

[Amy Ana]

Big fan of the vossen trap. No need to anger the parents (mine are maroons so they are extra mean), I get probably 99% within 30 minutes or so. I've only gotten a few through metamorphosis so maybe I shouldn't be giving advice, but what I do is start the fry tank with water from the parents tank. Tint it with room temp or close to room temp phytoplankton. Also run 24/7 lights for at least the first few days.

They didn't seem to get too angry. I'll make sure my tint is room temperature. Another good idea

 

[Amy Ana]

I never tried the trap method before.

What I did. Watch for hatch night (start to see a lot of silver about a week after laying). Rearing tank is a 10 gal with 3 gallons of water. Covered tank with paper to prevent light leak. Led clip on on same timer schedule as main tank.

just before lights out on the main tank I transferred the eggs to the rearing tank. Turn off all water flow. Just take the rock out, expose to air and put into other tank. If you going to another room then into a bucket with water to transfer (like in basement from main floor). Turn air bubbles on to fan eggs.

Then early next morning they hatch. They need complete darkness to hatch. While it’s still dark you can check with a dim light. Remove rock from rearing tank.

Thank you. Amazing advice

 

[Amy Ana]

There are some keys to getting the Vossen trap to work, I had many problems at first as well.

On hatch night:
1. As soon as lights go out, cut off all pumps and wavemakers. Make sure room is nearly pitch black.
2. Wait 45 minutes
3. Turn on the light and airpump for the larval trap
4. Leave the trap in place for 20-30 minutes (during this time you can scoop out the errant fry near the surface that aren't lured by the light)
5. Transfer your babies and turn on the fry tank light.

The location of the trap light is very important as well. Use this picture as a reference:

GOOD LUCK!

I think my light was in the wrong spot

 

[ThRoewer]

I documented breeding my Red Sea Anemonefish in videos you might find useful:

Amphiprion bicinctus (Nest #23)

Since I have the time now and hopefully enough food and my bicinctus were kind enough to put their eggs on a rock I could take out I decided to give it a shot on raising a few babies. Only about a quarter hatched since I took the rock out too late and exposed the nest to brighter light, but that...

www.reef2reef.com

I started with a 10 gallon tank and managed to get 35 large enough to sell.
The next nest I hatched and raised in a 20 gallon and got about 60 fish.
The nest after that I hatched and raised in a 17 gallon tub and got about 100.
The final nest so far, also in the 17 gallon tub, yielded several hundred (selling so many is becoming a problem!)

With Amphiprion larvae I don't use traps but rather coerce the parents to lay their eggs on a tile or ceramic shard to be able to take the whole nest out.