Clownfish breeding attempt.

[SaltySteve]

Hi all,
Wanted to share my progress on rearing ocellaris fry. Last night was a partial hatch and I was able to catch 32 fry with a vossen trap, while chasing away a banggai cardinal with a pipet all night lol.

It's the morning after and have fed the fry rotifers (have been culturing in a bucket for a few days from Reeds mariculture). 27 are alive and well at this point.

They fry tank has a constant drip (siphon) from the main tank, and a drip outlet to the sump.

Temperature is at 80 degrees, salinity is a little high (1.028) due to parent tank salinity. Any tips or insights are much appreciated- should I try to gradually reduce sg to a lower number? Iv'e added a small amount of RG complete to tint the fry water (I hear it's harsh on them).

I'll add some pictures soon, thanks for looking!

 

[jhoop]

following

 

[SaltySteve]

 

[SaltySteve]

Just noticed, caught some cleaner shrimp larvae as well! I wonder if these would be too big to feed the clowns...

 

[SaltySteve]

Last night I caught the rest of the clownfish fry, but my cleaner shrimp decided to explode at the same time. So now I have around 100+ ocellaris fry, 100+ skunk cleaner shrimp fry, and tons of another smaller larvae that I'm not sure of (half the size of shrimp larvae)- I'm assuming may be copepods. Last night was hectic to say the least!

This will be interesting to see the dynamic between all these fry and larvae! I'm guessing the clowns will outgrow everything and feed off the other larvae, kind of a cool unintentional food source for them.

 

[SaltySteve]

So it's day 4 since I collected the fry, I've had 10-15 mortalities since then. The rest (90-100 or so) are looking good and actively feeding, I will do my first water change today (1.5 gallons). Temperature is at 79.6, salinity is at 1.026 sg.

I'm wondering if it is a bad thing to have the shrimp fry in the rearing tank with the clowns... any insights on this? You can see them in the picture (smaller black specks around the clownfish fry).

 

[LagunaGlide]

I don't have any insight, but this is awesome. Good luck!

 

[SaltySteve]

Thanks, glad you stopped by to look!

 

[Justfebreezeit]

Thats cool, would be sweet if you could raise some shrimp to!

 

[SaltySteve]

This is the end of the 4th day since hatching, I've had around 10 mortalities today and have started introducing TDO A. Some fry seem to be eating it so far. I counted around 80 fry.

Temp is still 80 degrees, I've been slowly getting the salinity down to 1.025 and siphoned a lot of sediment (along with dying/dead cleaner shrimp larvae). Rotifer colony is not heated and at temps of 62-70 degrees, sg is 1.018.

I have not been tinting the rearing tank water much, just a few drops of RG complete diluted in tank water each day.

I'm also increasing the rearing tank volume from 3 gallons to 5 gallons using reef crystals and RO water (dripping into tank with an air valve), and brought the small LED light up off the surface of the water 2-3". Fingers crossed for no more mortalities tomorrow!

 

[LagunaGlide]

Out of curiosity why the 80 degree temp? I assume in the wild the fry flee to a "safe" area closer to the surface.

 

[SaltySteve]

Out of curiosity why the 80 degree temp? I assume in the wild the fry flee to a "safe" area closer to the surface.

Perhaps I should increase the temperature a bit, the parent tank was originally 78 degrees- Also I'm paranoid about any change in temperature with the cheap heater I bought as well and am hesitant to raise the thermostat. However I've read that 80 is sufficient, also not sure my rotifer density is that great (I'm not tinting the rearing tank water much)- so maybe if their metabolism is slowed down a bit, it could help with that issue.

I like your thinking with the fry going to higher water columns in the wild, something I haven't thought about.

 

[LagunaGlide]

Perhaps I should increase the temperature a bit, the parent tank was originally 78 degrees- Also I'm paranoid about any change in temperature with the cheap heater I bought as well and am hesitant to raise the thermostat. However I've read that 80 is sufficient, also not sure my rotifer density is that great (I'm not tinting the rearing tank water much)- so maybe if their metabolism is slowed down a bit, it could help with that issue.

I like your thinking with the fry going to higher water columns in the wild, something I haven't thought about.

Well I don't know if that is the case. Was just me thinking of a possible justification for why the temp would need to be raised. I am certainly not saying it should be higher or lower. Just wondered why it's higher than normal.

 

[SaltySteve]

Well I don't know if that is the case. Was just me thinking of a possible justification for why the temp would need to be raised. I am certainly not saying it should be higher or lower. Just wondered why it's higher than normal.

Higher temps (80-84) are better for speeding up the fry to get through metamorphosis.

 

[Zack K]

Following along. I have a pair of pink Skunks that I might start raising. Right now just feeding the tank.

-Zack

 

[SaltySteve]

Following along. I have a pair of pink Skunks that I might start raising. Right now just feeding the tank.

-Zack

It's been very rewarding so far, you should try it!

 

[SaltySteve]

I'm rounding out day 5 since the hatch date, the fry are visibly larger and more coordinated in hunting/swimming. Water parameters are same as above (except sg got down to 1.024 while tweaking a DO water top off drip). There were around 10 mortalities throughout the day, I have 60-70 at this point.

I siphoned the bottom of the rearing tank and did a 1 gallon water change (5 gallons total is in the aquarium). The fry are still mostly eating rotifers, I tried soaking them in Selcon for some added nutrition for the fry. I've seen only a handful go for TDO A.

You can see how fat their bellies are, I hope they don't eat themselves to death lol.

Most of the shrimp larvae have been siphoned out.

 

[SaltySteve]

Day 6- I performed a 50% water change today and am raising the rearing tank waterline to 8 gallons (with fresh sea water @ 1.025 sg).

3 more mortalities, still feeding rotifers and offering TDO A.

I've spotted 3-4 fry showing signs of beginning the metamorphosis stage (arching their body and turning their tail momentarily).

I've added a small piece of live rock from the main tank with a few Xenia to add a sense of security and place to host the fish as well.

 

[SaltySteve]

I've had the 4" female (Darwin?-and was wild caught) for 6 years, and the (Snowflake?) for 5+ years now. Curious to see the babies' colors, will it be "Black Ice"?

 

[Zack K]

I've had the 4" female (Darwin?-and was wild caught) for 6 years, and the (Snowflake?) for 5+ years now. Curious to see the babies' colors, will it be "Black Ice"?

Possibility! Glad to see things progressing!