Collecting clownfish fry from display tank

[Castaway6]

Hi, quick question about the process.
I have the vossens larval trap and plan to raise my first batch of clown fry. When I shut off all equipment the night of hatching, do I need to have a bubbler/air stone blowing over the eggs for the couple hours at night? Or just leave everything how it is-off. Not sure if it being my main tank makes a difference.

Little more info- it's a 25 lagoon with just a pair of clowns. I've had them for about 5-6 years. They've recently started spawning (unless my late emerald crab 's been eating the eggs and I never noticed !) and have been going steady pregnant before hatching and laying the next batch a couple days after. This is just a quick question but any tips from your experience are appreciated

Thanks !

 

[Brandon Smith]

You want to have an air stone blowing over the eggs. The reason being is because if the water just sits around the eggs, then you will get a white fungus growing on the eggs ruining them.

 

[Castaway6]

Ok. And that's even just for the couple hours I stay up to collect?

 

[Brandon Smith]

Ok. And that's even just for the couple hours I stay up to collect?

The whole time lol. I have had eggs take 2 days to hatch before.

 

[Castaway6]

Right. But this is in my main tank so there is normal flow hitting them 24/7, currently no airstone. No special breeding tank. The batches have been hatching half one night, the rest the next night. But I only plan to shut equip off each night for 2-3 hours.

 

[Castaway6]

I'll just set an airstone up for those few hours and turn it off otherwise. Hopefully it doesnt send them through the filter before they make it to the trap .

I will try to attach pics/vid of the setup

 

[Rjramos]

Main display with the parents? You don’t need an air stone, they will keep the eggs oxygenated and healthy until they hatch.

 

[Castaway6]

Correct. I should've been more clear. So those few hours with nothing running, the parents will make sure all is good

 

[Rjramos]

Correct. I should've been more clear. So those few hours with nothing running, the parents will make sure all is good

Yes. If you get them to lay the eggs on something you can remove from the tank, like a tile or clay pot. Then you would remove the day before they hatch with a container so they are never out of water. Place them in prepared larval tank with air stone gently blowing across the eggs. You’ll end up with more and healthier larvae, without the need to transfer them. Transferring causes trauma and increased mortality.

 

[Castaway6]

I do plan to have them lay on a removable object in the future, however for now I just want to give it a go and see if I can take care of what I end up with and how many make it past meta and further. Unfortunately they lay on a rock that's somewhat of a base so I cannot remove it without messing with some corals and other rocks. If all goes well I will add a pot/tile/PVC or possibly transfer the parents to another tank and see if they will lay there. Interested to see how well this trap works, review videos seemed decent

 

[Castaway6]

Here's what we are working with.
They laid at the bottom right where you can see them messing with the rock


sorry it's not movie quality
;P

 

[Rjramos]

Wish this site was more video friendly. I can’t view right now. What type of clowns are they? Back in 2013, I was involved in an attempt to raise Midas Blenny larvae. There is a journal posted by me on the MBI ( marine breeding initiative), under rjramos. I could not get the larvae to survive past day 8 post hatch after many attempts. A very difficult species to raise. To date, I don’t think anyone has succeeded. Similar to your situation, I had to extract the larvae from my main display after hatching. This is a larval extractor made by me back then. It consist of a Florida Aqua Farms 250 micron seive with the top of a 2 liter soda bottle top half. I attracted them to it with a light through the front glass. It worked really nice and didn’t cause too much trauma as it collected them.

 

[clm65]

It’s been quite a few years since we raised clownfish fry. Once the tips of the eggs turn silver, they are about to hatch and you do not need any aeration for them. We turned off all pumps and lights, and placed a small flashlight at the surface. The fry will hatch and swim towards the light. You can scoop them up and place them in your rearing tank. I’m hoping our current clownfish eventually start laying eggs again - a lot of work involved, but very rewarding IMO. Do you have rotifers on hand?

 

[Castaway6]

Video:
Lmk if this works!
They are just ocellaris clowns nothing fancy

Rjramos- that's a nice rig! I should've gone that route instead of preordering this trap.

Clm65- I do, I have the roti kit from reedmariculture and even brine shrimp from my other fish if they get big enough.

Attaching pics of the equipment I got too

 

[Rjramos]

I do like Chad Vossen’s larval trap. It’s a nice design. By the time I saw it first time, I had already made my collection gadget with the plastic bottle.‍

 

[Castaway6]

I do like Chad Vossen’s larval trap. It’s a nice design. By the time I saw it first time, I had already made my collection gadget with the plastic bottle.‍♂

I'll keep you updated with how it goes. It wont be this batch, possibly next if the rotifers thrive.
Thanks for the help

 

[reef lover]

Following ! Good luck!

 

[Castaway6]

Due to the 'Rona, things are being delayed! Tough to get the live rots etc necessary things from local stores..anyone have a good online source for the time being? ReedMariculture?

Hope everyone is staying safe and not losing their minds yet .(imo- quarantine is great for our hobby- ha)

 

[Castaway6]

Update I have my first batch now, they hatched 5/14 so a couple weeks old. I have a question now, I added newly hatched brine shrimp at day 10, however I wasn't positive they were ready to eat them (so I only added a small amount) however it seems the brine are flourishing now and there's a lot of them. I can not visibly see the fry eating them, and they seem to be almost half as big as the fry now.
Did I add them too early and could this be a problem? Stressing the fish if there's a bunch of shrimp their size? Also, does it impact my rotifers in the fry tank? It seems they are eating all the rots as well but I'm not sure if they feed on them..
Everything else seems to be going smooth. I have currently 20-25 babies left. I almost want to move them to the growout tank now just to start a new batch of water with rots and leave behind some of the brine shrimp for now. Also starting to introduce TDO pellets.
Thanks for any help, hope you're all doing well

 

[Castaway6]

Hi all, or whoever is out there.. been a little while. I'm left with 2 survivors, Bud and Dud. I have a new question/concern- how do I make sure 3 month old fish are eating? I've moved them into their somewhat permanent home, with a hob filter and live rock. But now they mostly hang in the current at the bottom and around the rocks. Im feeding tdo pellets that are so small. They actively eat and accept it (have been for a month or so). Should I drop a frozen food at the bottom and let them nibble, or just wait til they come to the top to feed pellets? I have frozen baby brine as well but again gets lost in the tank. Should I turn the filter off/low for feedings?

Million questions so I'll leave you with this short clip of the tank and Dud, and the Q: Proper feeding method for baby clowns in 'forever' home

Clip: