My fish breeding journal!

[LordJoshaeus]

Hi everyone! I am going to be breeding saltwater fish and will be documenting my journey in this journal. I am currently in the process of setting up the 20H broodstock tank...here it is;

The filters are custom and use fluidized bed media to provide a high surface area for the beneficial microbes in the absence of live rock. The tank is not complete; I just started cycling it today and I need to add PVC near the top to provide refuges from aggression. I will use Fritz Turbo Start 900 to help cycle the tank and will likely use suction cup soap dishes to help prop some PVC near the top. (EDIT; It just occurred to me that if that pile of PVC pipes ever moved it would likely not end well for any nearby fish...thus, at some point before fish arrive, I will zip tie the pipes together so they cannot roll around).

I am planning to keep two species in here; the exact species are TBD. I will rear the fry (one species at a time!) in a black 15 gallon rope handle tub with a single air line split in two, with wooden air stones on each end; before I can rear any fry I will also need to set up a pair of rotifer cultures, which will be complimented with copepods (likely purchased for each rearing attempt, as I don't have a lot of space). Eventually I would like to buy copepod resting eggs from Europe, but those are expensive...

Enough of my rambling...have any suggestions or other thoughts for me? Thanks for following along :)

 

[Baldyreef]

any specific list of species in mind yet?

 

[LordJoshaeus]

any specific list of species in mind yet?

My thoughts are leaning towards skunk clowns and orchid dottybacks. My marine breeding handbook on Amazon said clowns and orchid dottybacks work well together in tanks this size.

 

[Jasonak]

Hi everyone! I am going to be breeding saltwater fish and will be documenting my journey in this journal. I am currently in the process of setting up the 20H broodstock tank...here it is;

The filters are custom and use fluidized bed media to provide a high surface area for the beneficial microbes in the absence of live rock. The tank is not complete; I just started cycling it today and I need to add PVC near the top to provide refuges from aggression. I will use Fritz Turbo Start 900 to help cycle the tank and will likely use suction cup soap dishes to help prop some PVC near the top. (EDIT; It just occurred to me that if that pile of PVC pipes ever moved it would likely not end well for any nearby fish...thus, at some point before fish arrive, I will zip tie the pipes together so they cannot roll around).

I am planning to keep two species in here; the exact species are TBD. I will rear the fry (one species at a time!) in a black 15 gallon rope handle tub with a single air line split in two, with wooden air stones on each end; before I can rear any fry I will also need to set up a pair of rotifer cultures, which will be complimented with copepods (likely purchased for each rearing attempt, as I don't have a lot of space). Eventually I would like to buy copepod resting eggs from Europe, but those are expensive...

Enough of my rambling...have any suggestions or other thoughts for me? Thanks for following along :)

Practice doing live food cultures and once you have that mastered start breeding fish as that seems to be the big hurdle for most species is getting the fry to adulthood.

 

[LordJoshaeus]

Practice doing live food cultures and once you have that mastered start breeding fish as that seems to be the big hurdle for most species is getting the fry to adulthood.

Don't worry - I will master rearing rotifers before trying to rear any broods. Reef nutrition carries a rotifer culture kit and that is what I will be using.

 

[NeedAReef]

sea horses, already plenty of clown breeders. I say seahorses :)

 

[Baldyreef]

My thoughts are leaning towards skunk clowns and orchid dottybacks. My marine breeding handbook on Amazon said clowns and orchid dottybacks work well together in tanks this size.

awesome I will definitely be following along this is gonna be very interesting