Gold Stripe Maroon clownfish fry week 8.

[liveround69]

I think back to those who told me this task would be an impossible one to accomplish for many reasons. This is for you.

They told me that maroon fry tend to die off before reaching meta for many reasons. Somehow they slid thru that rough change [ i think cause i did something called co-culturing]. Even though i had a problem with the SK brand of brine shrimp from ebay not wanting to hatch and the main rotifer culture crashed during the 2nd week. They got thru that as well.
Then the auto top off had a few issues and thru the salinity off once 1.027 and another time at 1.023 when it is usually at 1.025. Then a issue with the outside temp suddenly getting warmer and it made the inside of my apt feel like an oven [temp said 90 on the thermometer] . They made it thru that but 7 died.
I finally transferred them to the growout tank at day 45. They just were staying too small to transfer till that time. Maroons grow really slowly. I had one die after that due to the fact that he found a way into the sump and was found stuck to the intake screen on the skimmer. I corrected the problem with a piece of foam being placed into the overflow box to slow the drain speed exiting the main growout tank.
After that i havent seen one have any problems whatsoever other than the fact that 3 of them have some kind of birth defect which doesnt allow them to swim quite as well as the others. I chock this defect up to the fact that the rots culture crashed last time.

To the 70 or so babies that didnt make it through my learning curve.....i salute you.....

Well skip the rest of the crap and fast forward to welcoming the 35 new little baby maroons. [not all of them are in the photo of course]. They turn 8 weeks on Monday the 5th of March.

a few misbars in the group but not bad for an attempt with minimal equipment. ...Say hi guys...

 

[Dsnakes]

That is awesome! Congrats on getting them through!

 

[liveround69]

Thanks....it was definitely a enormous undertaking... I see why tank raised fish cost so much now.

 

[JoshH]

Thanks....it was definitely a enormous undertaking... I see why tank raised fish cost so much now.

The cost is still worth it though. Congrats on getting through this far, I commend you in your efforts in raising..... And counting them all. Look at all the babies!!!!!

 

[jhoop]

Really Nice !
Following.

 

[RibbonFish]

Fantastic!!! Would you like to share some details about this experience? How large is ur fry tank? When did u move the eggs into it? Etc?

 

[liveround69]

Yea I am using a 10 gallon standard tank that is blacked out on every side and has a removable piece on the front. I routed stiff air lines around the outside rim to feed the airlines keeping the fry away from the heater and at the same time it feeds the sponge filter. The stiff air lines stay in place unlike the flimsy ones do.

A far as the egg move...it didnt happen cause she laid them on a large rock. I caught the little guys using a small cup and flashlight late at night.

I use a small clamp-on 9w led purchased from Meijers and blanked it out slightly with a piece of white masking tape for the first week. This helps the fry see the rotifers as well as the 1/2 cup to 1 cup of nannochloropsis algae that I use in replacement of the same amount of water from their tank everyday. This helps to keep the water tinted and allow food for the rotifers till the fry consume them. If tank gets too nasty from feeding TDO diets then i vacuum about 3/4 to 1 gallon off the bottom and replace it with pre-tinted w/ algae 1/2 clean water and 1/2 parents tank water. Just make sure to tint the replacement water good. Also helps if you culture this at same salinity as the parents tank and fry tank.

If you suck up a fry when vacuuming then simply return him and continue cleaning. I had to design my own vacuum out of straws and airline. None exist that are useful to a small time operation such as mine.

I use a small float valve to maintain salinity and set the auto top off container on a small platform that sits on top of the tank thus creating a cheap gravity fed system that keeps salinity pretty even.

Just remember to start TDO diet size A around day 5 and start baby brine shrimp around day 12 and stop rotifers around day 21 and then its a matter of waiting about a month since maroons grow very slowly. The next few weeks are spent doing water changes , vacuuming bottom of excess uneaten foods and removing dead fry etc. and maintaining the baby brine shrimp and TDO diets and slowly moving up the granule/pellet size when you see a noticeable increase in fish size.

Move them to a grow out system by the 6th to week. Around day 45. If they can be moved earlier due to faster development then simply do so.

I didnt have a bit of luck till i started daily tank maintenance on the fry tank and also when i started using TDO diet from Reed Mariculture. I have to say that diet is the best and the use of it is so simple. Just feed small amounts several times a day and vacuum the bottom at night before bedtime. And remember that these little guys die for every reason you can think of.....just dont let it get you down. You will bounce back eventually when you figure your mistakes out.