My first attempt raising clownfish

[smh254]

Congrats

 

[melypr1985]

Yay! Congrats

 

[ReeferMadness09]

Thanks! So I came home today expecting a percentage of loss that I've normally experienced in the past. For me its always been the highest mortality within the first 48 hrs. You can imagine my surprise when i discovered that couldn't find any dead larvae. There's a probability that i might have overlooked but i looked for a while so at this point im batting as close as i ever have before to 100% survival. I'm sure there will still be some loss down the road but things are off to a very good start. I took a quick picture before i greened the water for a better view.

 

[ReeferMadness09]

They decided to lay another batch of eggs last night. Seems like they are right on that 2 week pace. I finally found 2 dead larvae yesterday which is still doing great based on my past experience. The water has been at 78 which will probably delay meta a bit but not a huge deal. They're eating rots like a champ and I'll be introducing bbs soon as well. I'll post a pic when i see any of the fish going through meta.

 

[ReeferMadness09]

Looks like meta is starting to happen in a few of the larvae. Some are starting to take more of the "fish" shape and starting to use their tail to swim in a normal manner. The tops of the heads are just starting to become white-ish. Wont be long now till the band starts becoming more pronounced and more of the fish follow suit.

 

[melypr1985]

This is so fascinating. I never get tired of seeing the progression and the steps to get them to adulthood. I can't wait to try this myself.

 

[ReeferMadness09]

This is a short bad video but it was better than the pictures i took...safe to say some guys are through meta

 

[ReeferMadness09]

Came home to a surprise yesterday. Found this pair had laid a tiny clutch of eggs. I've been waiting for them to get to it!

 

[melypr1985]

All right! Mak'n babies

 

[ReeferMadness09]

Lots of surprises going on. I was giving my clownfish babies the normal look over to see how they are developing. They are developing nice white bars at varying rates and then i notice this guy

I know its not a great picture but it looks like my clowns offspring have resulted in 1 wyoming white or possible platinum clownfish. Time will tell as he fully develops his color but its still pretty amazing.

 

[ReeferMadness09]

 

[melypr1985]

Wow! love happy surprises. Hope he makes it all the way through for ya

 

[ReeferMadness09]

little update, i have a nice assortment of clowns from the above hatch. Theres even have a few Wyoming Whites from it. I can only do top down shots due to tank location but heres some pics

 

[ReeferMadness09]

On another note I'm changing some of the ways ive been raising clowns. Mainly I've started to culture my own live phytoplankton. The reason to do this is simple, its about the $$$. Previously as noted in this thread I've used RGComplete to feed my rots. It is a great product and I would continue to use it without hesitation but I can't justify the cost anymore. Between the actual cost of the product combined with the expense of what seems to be recently increased shipping rates it just doesnt make sense. It will require more work on my part added to the already lengthy fish husbandry but promises to be better in the long run. I'll try and note my progress with this.

 

[JMLewis]

Just finished reading thread from beginning to end, excellent work and dedication, sorry about the past set back. But congrats on the whites!!! Those should help your overhead out a bit

 

[ReeferMadness09]

Thanks JMLewis, The whites should help out a bit more than the normal ocellaris. Its also more exciting for me to be raising more than one type of clown this time. I actually have other things in the works too but I'll leave those as future surprises. Expense really does go up as you start to get more into it.

 

[JMLewis]

Thanks JMLewis, The whites should help out a bit more than the normal ocellaris. Its also more exciting for me to be raising more than one type of clown this time. I actually have other things in the works too but I'll leave those as future surprises. Expense really does go up as you start to get more into it.

Awesome look forward to it!

Do you worry about inbreading?

 

[arman]

I want to start this up too.But tthey are some obstacles in front/.First one is phyto and routifers the other one is that my clowns do not even make pair.
Any advise>??

 

[ReeferMadness09]

Without knowing the direct lineage of my clown pairs I couldnt really say about their genetic background. Either way i don't worry about inbreeding because i haven't bred any clownfish that were a pair from the same parents. I know there are terms given to clownfish pairs that are different generations of the same genetic background descending from 1 original pair. Its my understanding you wouldn't want this to happen for many generations but i'd bet this happens more than we realize.

 

[ReeferMadness09]

I want to start this up too.But tthey are some obstacles in front/.First one is phyto and routifers the other one is that my clowns do not even make pair.
Any advise>??

Hey Arman
First thing first I would let nature take its course and wait until your clowns become a bonded pair first before you worry about phyto and rotifers. Depending on the clowns this could happen fairly quick or possibly takes months. I personally have pairs right now that are still not completely paired up and its been a few months. I'm not sure what you could do to speed this up. Having them in a smaller tank by themselves might help but I'm not sure it will make the process faster. Depending on the size of your clowns, that could effect things too. My experience and research show you'd ideally want to make a pair of clownfish with a fair size difference, ie 1 small and 1 med or such which would help eliminate much 0f the fighting for dominance since the bigger one would become the female without much issue. This could speed things up but since you already have the pair might not help you now...