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Clownfish breeding build thread - first go at it


Mr Cob

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Haha, thx!

Got a bit of a rotifer problem, can't keep up with the fish we are pulling. Not losing fish but have to keep buying rotifers. Gonna get a few mil in this week and add two more 5gal buckets.

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Wow, weird information about the mysis. There are so many interesting things in this hobby. So when will the picasso/onyx babies be ready for re-homing? I wonder if one of those wouldn't make a great parent for a new strain of black snowflakes. The only orange is on their extremities. However, some people are against mixing occ and perc. I'm on the fence about it, but in general I lean toward "more variety in the genes = healthier" and "purepred = inbred = bad".

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Got probably another 4-6 month's before any babies are ready to head out the door. I think.

Just ordered more rotifers from Reed tonight. Ordered 5 mil this time. Going to split it across 4 buckets. Increasing rotifer cultures from 2 buckets to 4. Hoping this will be the final solution to our continuous rotifer problems. This also means going through the rotigrow phyto twice as fast.

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Pair #1 with Big Mama laying down nest #8 lastnight, huge nest with very large eggs. The eggs were noticeably larger than her other nests.

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Nest 8 is hatching right now. I pulled the pot about an hour ago. : )

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First... the onyx picassos out of meta and looking sharp with their new stripes smile.png



And next.. the rotifers. UGH! Like I said, the biggest issue for us throughout this entire process has been keeping up with rotifers. Well we finally decided to work with two 20g brutes and 2 5 gallon brutes. We will feed larvae from the 5 gallon buckets and will be using the 20g brutes as backup. Right now just one brute is going. After a week of not touching it we will split it into the other brute. Once we can get two brutes going full force we will remove the 5 gallon buckets. Hoping this does the trick.

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Here is a vid of larvae tank with a week old fry and a new nest in pot hatching...to get an idea of what our larvae tank looks like and a feel for the phyto dosing in larvae tanks. Not everyone does it like this but it is working for us:

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Let's see if I got this down yet... Big Mama from pair #1 has a protruding ovipositor. Just noticed it today. I believe this means she will lay tonight... Every time I have seen it in the past she lays.

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Let's see if I got this down yet... Big Mama from pair #1 has a protruding ovipositor. Just noticed it today. I believe this means she will lay tonight... Every time I have seen it in the past she lays.

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She is laying right now. : )

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First... the onyx picassos out of meta and looking sharp with their new stripes smile.png

And next.. the rotifers. UGH! Like I said, the biggest issue for us throughout this entire process has been keeping up with rotifers. Well we finally decided to work with two 20g brutes and 2 5 gallon brutes. We will feed larvae from the 5 gallon buckets and will be using the 20g brutes as backup. Right now just one brute is going. After a week of not touching it we will split it into the other brute. Once we can get two brutes going full force we will remove the 5 gallon buckets. Hoping this does the trick.

9037266489_39b25e7b63_z.jpg

9039868468_c142ecabc8_z.jpg

Here is a vid of larvae tank with a week old fry and a new nest in pot hatching...to get an idea of what our larvae tank looks like and a feel for the phyto dosing in larvae tanks. Not everyone does it like this but it is working for us:

Is that air stone directly under the hatching nest?

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Yes, Fyre... The air needs to tumble the eggs.

So.. is someone actually selling a pair of lightnings? I thought you meant the offspring...?

Mlaw.. probably $3-$5k easily for an adult pair. I'm guessing juveniles will be $250-$500 but I have no idea.

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Just wanted to say thanks again. You inspired me to try clownfish breeding... eventually lol. I traded for a 38 gallon breeder tank that is now in my bedroom. I think its done cycling, but its still in the diatom blooming stage. Not very pretty! This is going to be my "peaceful" tank so the clowns don't get bothered while they breed. I got another 10 gallon to use as a fry tank, and now I have a sizable collection of 5 gallon buckets to start a rotifer culture with.

However, I don't want to start too soon. I've got two mollies in the breeder tank but I want to make sure its really really cycled before risking my beloved clowns. The clowns are about 1 1/2 to 2 inches long, and are almost the same size. Do you think they are old enough to breed yet? I've seen them doing twitchy mating dances before.

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Thanks for the kind words Fyre... glad you have gotten something from this thread and pleased that you'll be getting into clownfish breeding.

Male clownfish can fertilize eggs as early as 6 months old and most females need to be about 2-3 years old. I think age is most important versus size. It is safe to say that most 1.5" males are able to fertilize and that most 2" females can lay.

Look forward to seeing what you come up with. Be sure to start a build thread once you get going.

I had to snap a pic of pair #2's nest after being fertilized. You know if the male has done his job if the eggs go from orange to black.. this nest is huge.


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Big mama is laying tonight. I forget what nest this is... I probably won't continue to document every nest since she's got it down now. Her first nest is doing well and is over 60 babies and starting to show some nice patterns.. growing slow though.

We are also in the process of converting our walk-in closet to a fish room, this should really help with maintenance since everything is currently allover the place. I will take pics when I get some time.

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...busy converting a walk-in closet to a fish room for all the new babies. What a great wife I have smile.png


Pond liner is a great resource when the fish room is not permanent. The 20 gallon rotifer brutes will go here:
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For the fry post hatch up to 30 days.. this is where all of the 5 gallon tanks will go:
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Storage, 10 gallon tanks for 30 days post hatch+ and the stand will have a 40 gallon breeder on top and a 20 gallon below for grow-out.
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More storage... can always add more 10 or 20 gallon tanks if needed.
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So, we got a new broodstock spawning pair in today! I'm pretty pumped about these clownfish. A bit of a change-up for me as they are not designer. BUT.. this pair is sweet and HUGE. Since I thought our wild caught Onyx was the biggest clownfish we would ever have and named her "Big Mama"... we could only use "Big Bertha" to trump that.

Here they are...

Big Bertha is a wild caught maroon and is a little over 5"!(I measured). The male is a captive bred gold stripe maroon (3.25") and the pair has been spawning for two years now. Hoping to get them back into rotation quickly. By the way...that pot is twice the size of my other pots!
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