Flared gill on tank bred true percula clownfish. Help please!

[MarkChong]

Hi,

I tried my hand on raising clownfish larvae. The parents are wild caught and I have had them for more than five years. Only four frys survived(6 hatched) for the first attempt because something in my 120 tanks were eating the eggs. I basically followeed Joyce's clownfish book. They are now 1.5 months old. But they all have flared gills!

The second batch, I got around 60 hatched on day 10. However, this time I pull the eggs on day 2 after laid and artifically incubate in a 10 gallon tank.

I lost only three up to this point, and now they just went through metamorphosis(day12) . However, I am worrying about that they will all have flared gills like the first batch.

I have been using RG complete fed rotifers when they are 1 to 8 days post hatch. From 7 days. I started combination of TDO and freshly hatched BBS. I have been changing water(instant ocean) approximately 30 % everyday since day 2 with dripping systems on the top of the tank. The 10 gallon tank are will oxygenated with air stone bars on both sides of the 10 gallon fry tank.
Does anyone know what cause flared gill? What can I do to prevent it?
Many Thanks

Mark

 

[MarkChong]

Where are all the experts oh:

 

[US Marine Coral]

Congrats on your success so far. It sounds like you have things setup correctly. Can you post pic of your larvae tank setup?Are you using parent water or new saltwater? How much are you tinting the water?

 

[Just Clownin Around]

Flared gills are usually due to high ammonia levels in the larvae tank. Try using one of the ammonia reducers and do more frequent water changes.

 

[MarkChong]

Thanks for the sugguestions.
I do have a Seachem ammonia alert batch in the larvae tank. It didn't seem like ammonia was the problem. As I mentioned earlier, I only have four frys in 10 gallons tank(6 gallons of water).
I do use new saltwater(Overnight aerated with powerhead) for water change. I usually added 10 drops of RGcomplete whenever I add rotifiers. I will try to post the setup when I get a chance.