Clownfish eggs

Vette67 · Jul 20, 2020

My clownfish host on a leather, and this has become their breeding place. I can see hundreds of eggs on the base of the leather. I usually don't do much with them, and they eventually become fish food or skimmer food. I was just wondering how easy it is to try to "harvest" the eggs and how to do it? Anyone have any experience raising clownfish? You can almost see the eyes in the eggs.

Sosuke · Jul 20, 2020

If they are about to hatch and you don't have anything setup its likely it would be a waste to try raising this batch, if you know their breeding schedule and want to raise the babies you have to setup a phytoplankton and rotifer culture in bottles and setup a separate tank to put the babies in. What I did was start my cultures 2-3 weeks before trying to raise a batch and setting up a simple tank with a slow bubbler and heater with plenty of phytoplankton and rotifers for the babies to eat I used a cup to scoop mine out and turned off the flow. Try to be there when the babies hatch so you can prevent them from becoming fish food or being swept up by the filtration. You can also setup a fry trap to catch them but I have no idea if this works or not

Vette67 · Jul 20, 2020

I have a 75 gallon tank in my system that is full of chaeto and a long spine urchin, and no fish. The chaeto is loaded with amphipods and copepods. I was thinking about putting the leather into that tank and seeing if the fry could sustain themselves there. You're right, I don't have any phyto or rotifer cultures, and likely couldn't get anything set up in time. Seeing where the eggs are, I'm guessing they are going to hatch within days. Do you think that would work, or is that a waste of time without phyto and rotifers?

Sosuke · Jul 20, 2020

Phytoplankton is the rotifers source of food and the rotifers are the babies main source of food and so no I doubt they would last long sadly, I don't know about the leather because I had mine in a QT like tank attached to a flowerpot so it was pretty easy to shut off the filter and scoop the babies out. If you want to move them while they're still eggs you have to keep them underwater, not sure how the leather would react and may eat their food. I waited for them to hatch before catching which is probably better on your leather

Peace River · Jul 20, 2020

First - congratulations on the regular egg laying! This implies that you have healthy fish and a healthy tank. When clownfish hatch in a DT there is typically a very small chance of success. A couple of options are to add a tile in the area so the clowns can lay there eggs there instead of the leather and then the tile can be removed the day before hatch to begin the hatching process. Secondly, you may consider a Vossen larval trap. Good luck with whatever you decide!

NashobaTek · Jul 20, 2020

That's pretty awesome and grats.

Vette67 · Jul 20, 2020

We will see what happens. I took the leather and put it into my 75. I figured the fry have a zero percent chance of surviving if I leave them in my 180, with my tangs and powerheads. But they at least might have some chance of surviving in my 75. My clowns aren't happy. That was their leather. But once these hatch and I put the leather back into my 180, I will try your idea about the piece of tile, @Peace River.

Peace River · Jul 20, 2020

You may want to read through this resource for additional tips:

Pickle’s Guide to Breeding Clowns

Pickle’s Guide to Breeding Clowns What works for me… You are welcome to place a link to this guide on another website or forum, however, do not place the actual article itself on your forum or website with out my permission. Your link must direct traffic to it's original form here on nano-reef.co...

www.nano-reef.com

Stableproduct_24 · Jul 29, 2020

Vette67 said:
We will see what happens. I took the leather and put it into my 75. I figured the fry have a zero percent chance of surviving if I leave them in my 180, with my tangs and powerheads. But they at least might have some chance of surviving in my 75. My clowns aren't happy. That was their leather. But once these hatch and I put the leather back into my 180, I will try your idea about the piece of tile, @Peace River.

Did they hatch and did you manage to raise them??

Vette67 · Jul 29, 2020

I wasn't ready to support them. I had no phyto or rotifer culture set up and ready. I did put that leather into my 75 gallon tank, which has no fish in it, and a giant chaeto ball. And they hatched there. So I figured that would give them the best natural chance at survival, if they could find anything to eat in that chaeto. I have been keeping an eye on the tank and have not yet seen any swimming around, so I can only assume they didn't make it. But that ball of chaeto takes up about 1/4 of the 75 gallon tank, so it's quite possible they are surviving in there and haven't left the safety of the ball yet. At least that's what I keep hoping is what happened, even though odds are none survived. But I will keep checking to see if I can find any survivors.

Stableproduct_24 · Jul 30, 2020

Vette67 said:
I wasn't ready to support them. I had no phyto or rotifer culture set up and ready. I did put that leather into my 75 gallon tank, which has no fish in it, and a giant chaeto ball. And they hatched there. So I figured that would give them the best natural chance at survival, if they could find anything to eat in that chaeto. I have been keeping an eye on the tank and have not yet seen any swimming around, so I can only assume they didn't make it. But that ball of chaeto takes up about 1/4 of the 75 gallon tank, so it's quite possible they are surviving in there and haven't left the safety of the ball yet. At least that's what I keep hoping is what happened, even though odds are none survived. But I will keep checking to see if I can find any survivors.

keeping my fingers crossed!!