Another Baby Clownfish Thread

UltraKelius · Dec 12, 2022

Just going to leave this here:

15 days old, no losses!

UltraKelius · Dec 13, 2022

Day 16 has been uneventful, today just did the usual water change and feeding. No losses.

There are still a few fish that seem to be slow to get through meta, they have changed shape but have not gained their head stripes or orange colouration.
I’m weaning off the rotifers now and have stopped tinting the tank, but still adding small amounts of rotifers for the stragglers while they get more accustomed to TDO.

The Juveniles that have gone through meta have seemingly formed little corner gangs, consisting of 4-5 babies per gang per corner, and I have noticed a bit of chasing already. This made me smile, seeing how quick they have become proper bossy little Clowns! I have also noticed one or two babies that are starting to develop mid body stripes, very excited to see what sort of patterns I get or any unusual colours! Thanks for reading, I will update some pictures soon.

UltraKelius · Dec 15, 2022

Today is day 18, still going well and no losses. I have noticed that I have one juvenile that sticks near the front of the glass, and I have not seen this one eat for a while. I think this maybe a possible loss at some point, but I’m hoping it will get hungry enough to start to try. I’m still putting some rotifers in the tank so it has the option of TDO A or rotifers still.

Today I’m putting them onto a 16 hour light cycle, the light has been on them 24 hours a day since they arrived and while they got through meta. Hopefully this won’t shock them!
Here’s a couple of pictures of how they look today, I think I might have a few misbars!

Lucynz · Dec 16, 2022

UltraKelius said:
Today is day 18, still going well and no losses. I have noticed that I have one juvenile that sticks near the front of the glass, and I have not seen this one eat for a while. I think this maybe a possible loss at some point, but I’m hoping it will get hungry enough to start to try. I’m still putting some rotifers in the tank so it has the option of TDO A or rotifers still.

Today I’m putting them onto a 16 hour light cycle, the light has been on them 24 hours a day since they arrived and while they got through meta. Hopefully this won’t shock them!
Here’s a couple of pictures of how they look today, I think I might have a few misbars!

I am so pleased I found your thread- I have my first clutch of clown eggs and eagerly awaiting hatch night, they have laid on bare glass at bottom of community tank so not too optimistic that I’ll be able to get larvae out but will try- your information and pictures have been inspiring- keep it up

UltraKelius · Dec 16, 2022

Lucynz said:
I am so pleased I found your thread- I have my first clutch of clown eggs and eagerly awaiting hatch night, they have laid on bare glass at bottom of community tank so not too optimistic that I’ll be able to get larvae out but will try- your information and pictures have been inspiring- keep it up

Aw thanks that’s good to hear I’ve helped someone. Feel free to message if you have any questions, this was my first go too and before I pulled the fry from tank I found the thought of the whole thing very daunting despite hours of research!
I’m getting ready to pull another load of fry next week, my husband is making me a fry snagger (which we will nickname The Baby Snatcher) this weekend so hopefully I can share information on this too.

So day 19 brings no exciting updates, except that the babies had an 8 hour dark cycle for the first time last night, and all seemed to have coped with this well. I’m skipping a water change today as ammonia ok. Planning a large water change of around 40% tomorrow.
All babies now have orange colouration, but still one or two without head stripe. I’m starting to wonder if maybe they are naked clowns and I hit the jackpot on my first go! The reality is that they are probably just slow developers

Lucynz · Dec 19, 2022

UltraKelius said:
Aw thanks that’s good to hear I’ve helped someone. Feel free to message if you have any questions, this was my first go too and before I pulled the fry from tank I found the thought of the whole thing very daunting despite hours of research!
I’m getting ready to pull another load of fry next week, my husband is making me a fry snagger (which we will nickname The Baby Snatcher) this weekend so hopefully I can share information on this too.

So day 19 brings no exciting updates, except that the babies had an 8 hour dark cycle for the first time last night, and all seemed to have coped with this well. I’m skipping a water change today as ammonia ok. Planning a large water change of around 40% tomorrow.
All babies now have orange colouration, but still one or two without head stripe. I’m starting to wonder if maybe they are naked clowns and I hit the jackpot on my first go! The reality is that they are probably just slow developers

Thanks for your reply, good to see your making really good progress, it is super addictive and very time consuming. So my update…fry hatched on night 8, I was able to collect all 15 fry and transferred to small tank but then I had a heater blip and cooked them over night….will check next time!
So, now I have another question….
When you took the fry from the community to the grow out tank did you keep them in the dark for the remainder of hatch night or light them up?

Ill be interested to hear more about snagger, design and efficiency, it is quite a job to chase and scoop at 1.30 in the morning…and I only had 15 to get.

Bright side of all this is that I’ll be able to turn my attention back to Christmas and wait for another clutch of eggs to have another go.

UltraKelius · Dec 19, 2022

Lucynz said:
Thanks for your reply, good to see your making really good progress, it is super addictive and very time consuming. So my update…fry hatched on night 8, I was able to collect all 15 fry and transferred to small tank but then I had a heater blip and cooked them over night….will check next time!
So, now I have another question….
When you took the fry from the community to the grow out tank did you keep them in the dark for the remainder of hatch night or light them up?

Ill be interested to hear more about snagger, design and efficiency, it is quite a job to chase and scoop at 1.30 in the morning…and I only had 15 to get.

Bright side of all this is that I’ll be able to turn my attention back to Christmas and wait for another clutch of eggs to have another go.

That’s a shame! At least you had a chance to have a go at collecting now though and know what to expect next time. So on hatch night they are transferred into lit up fry tank and lights left on for first few weeks. It’s important for them to recognise and be able to see the food as they need some practice learning to hunt rotifers before their yolk sacks are depleted.

My next lot are due Weds night, so will update on how the snagger goes! It is ridiculously hard to scoop them up. You need two people on hand to do it really, one to hold a torch and the other to scoop.

Solga · Dec 19, 2022

I am following along with this, and I am actually excited to see it. I only have one clown at this time, but have often considered trying to breed them. If I knew I could get them good homes, I would consider it a little more. But with no LFS within an hours drive, I am kinda hesitant.
My wife just said that I am silly, because while I was looking at your pictures, she said I was giggling like looking at (human) babies.

Rmckoy · Dec 19, 2022

UltraKelius said:
My Ocellaris pair laid eggs and they hatched last night! Hatch was on day 9, and I was ready from day 7 and waiting very impatiently!
I have no fry catcher so I had to scoop by hand, and have no idea how many I managed to get but I’m happy I got most of the fry.
Thought I would document my progress for anyone who may be interested, and also very happy to receive tips/advice as this is my first time raising fry.

Here are the fry in parents tank just after hatch:

I have no clue how this is going to go! I will update as often as I can and hopefully this will help anyone else thinking of giving this a try!

This is amazing !
following along .
They eat live food which will require live rotifers which require phytoplankton ..
while feeding green water to rotifers it has potential to pollute the water quality so be mindful to keep on top of maintaining water quality

please keep us posted .

UltraKelius · Dec 19, 2022

Rmckoy said:
This is amazing !
following along .
They eat live food which will require live rotifers which require phytoplankton ..
while feeding green water to rotifers it has potential to pollute the water quality so be mindful to keep on top of maintaining water quality

please keep us posted .

Thanks

They are 22 days old now so off rotifers, only lost 1 fry so far (due to heater failure) and past the green water stage now

UltraKelius · Dec 19, 2022

Solga said:
I am following along with this, and I am actually excited to see it. I only have one clown at this time, but have often considered trying to breed them. If I knew I could get them good homes, I would consider it a little more. But with no LFS within an hours drive, I am kinda hesitant.
My wife just said that I am silly, because while I was looking at your pictures, she said I was giggling like looking at (human) babies.

I prefer baby Clownfish to human babies! So much easier haha. I think everyone should give this a go at some stage, it’s so rewarding!

Rmckoy · Dec 19, 2022

UltraKelius said:
Thanks

They are 22 days old now so off rotifers, only lost 1 fry so far (due to heater failure) and past the green water stage now

Have they changed from larvae to fish and starting to show their colour ?

UltraKelius · Dec 20, 2022

Day 23 today. Lost two babies last night. They look as though they haven’t been eating as very skinny. Very sad. All of the others are so fat!
Continuing with daily water changes.
I will try and get some pictures of the fat little cherubs to show you later.

UltraKelius · Dec 21, 2022

Good morning on day 24

This morning I have done a 1 GAL water change and switched babies to their reef light as I need the desk lamp for the hatch due tonight, excited to see how it goes with two baby tanks on the go! I have noted this morning I can now see some black markings appearing around the pectoral fins, and also some are gaining their white tail band

Here’s a picture of them having one of their many daily feeds of TDO.

UltraKelius · Dec 26, 2022

I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas!
Day 29 today, and no losses, all eating really well and gaining their tail stripes and black markings now. There’s some bickering amongst them. I got them a decoration for the tank with a fake anenome on it, they seem to like it, and a few have claimed it as their domain.

I had another hatch Xmas eve, and caught a lot more fry this time around, unfortunately not with the home made fry catcher, this didn’t seem to work as I could not get the light positioned correctly. I ended up scooping out by hand again but I think I have gotten better at it, and estimate I caught around 150 fry this time.

If anyone can tell me how many babies are in this picture you get a gold star. I go cross-eyed every time I try and count them. I get a different number every time haha! Beware the reflections!

Rmckoy · Dec 26, 2022

UltraKelius said:
I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas!
Day 29 today, and no losses, all eating really well and gaining their tail stripes and black markings now. There’s some bickering amongst them. I got them a decoration for the tank with a fake anenome on it, they seem to like it, and a few have claimed it as their domain.

I had another hatch Xmas eve, and caught a lot more fry this time around, unfortunately not with the home made fry catcher, this didn’t seem to work as I could not get the light positioned correctly. I ended up scooping out by hand again but I think I have gotten better at it, and estimate I caught around 150 fry this time.

If anyone can tell me how many babies are in this picture you get a gold star. I go cross-eyed every time I try and count them. I get a different number every time haha! Beware the reflections!

Please tell me 38 isn’t correct ?