Help with unexpected surprise.

[Deep Blue]

I have a 27 gallon nem tank. And today two of the nems sucked in and I found a patch of eggs. I have never dealt with them before just just wondering if anybody had suggestions on raising them.

 

[cdness]

If you are not prepared they will become good food for your fish or corals when they hatch. Now that you know they are laying eggs, research how to rear them and be prepared for the next time. You may want to figure out their consistency first to see if you can predict when they are going to lay again.

 

[Reeferella]

See if you can get Kris from Alpha Aquaculture to message you with some directive on saving this spawn- if that's something you're interested in doing. It's certainly not out of the realm of possibilities. He's a sponsor here and he also has a website. He's never far.

 

[Deep Blue]

I think it would be cool to try and keep them.

 

[miamiangler]

If you are ready for lots of work ! number one you need to start raising rotifers which will be the food for the larvae . rotifers are the carriers of the micro algae it will feed on .You have about 8 days till the eggs hatch so you have a lot of things to do from now till the eggs become larvae . then if you are lucky to have the eggs hatch ,feed the larvae the rotifers , By day 8 the larvae will turn to baby clown fish .then start feeding baby brine shrimp . there`s so much to do and say . it is probably best to get this book which has all the details from breeding to raising baby clownfish , it helped me raise over 1000 baby`s before my female clown died . CLOWNFISHES A Guide to Their Captive Care ,Breeding& Natural History By Joyce D.Wilkerson

 

[miamiangler]

If you are not prepared they will become good food for your fish or corals when they hatch. Now that you know they are laying eggs, research how to rear them and be prepared for the next time. You may want to figure out their consistency first to see if you can predict when they are going to lay again.

My Clowns laid eggs every two weeks at the same time and same spot like clockwork . I was lucky that I could remove the rock from the Tank the night the eggs were ready to hatch (silver eyes on the eggs )

 

[Deep Blue]

From what I can tell this is there first batch. The rock where they laid the eggs is attached to three nems so removing that piece would be hard.

 

[miamiangler]

From what I can tell this is there first batch. The rock where they laid the eggs is attached to three nems so removing that piece would be hard.

First batch I did not get too many babies , but mark this day on the calendar and watch to see when the eggs get silver eyes . that will be the night they hatch . make the room very dark with no lights on . turn off your pumps and in an hour they should hatch . Hold a light in the corner top and you can see the larvae coming near the light . that way you can catch them . once all larvae are caught turn on your pumps ! Also Always use your tank water to raise them in the beginning . they are very senative to changes in the beginning .

 

[Deep Blue]

First batch I did not get too many babies , but mark this day on the calendar and watch to see when the eggs get silver eyes . that will be the night they hatch . make the room very dark with no lights on . turn off your pumps and in an hour they should hatch . Hold a light in the corner top and you can see the larvae coming near the light . that way you can catch them . once all larvae are caught turn on your pumps ! Also Always use your tank water to raise them in the beginning . they are very senative to changes in the beginning .

They already have a very tiny dot starting. Hopefully they wait till tomorrow when I'm off.

 

[miamiangler]

Still to early. It takes about 7 to eight days for the silver eyes to show . believe me it will be very noticeable . in the photo you have up looks like the eggs were just laid .without the rotifers and a small tank 2-5 gal with air stone ,and heater set to the main tank temp the larvae wont live . the larvae start feeding right away ,so you will need a good supply of rotifers . Raising the rotifers is most of the work . I had 4- 2gal buckets going 24-7 for weeks . I kept seeding a new bucket of rotifers every few days . I would suggest getting the book and try on the next batch . what type of clownfish do you have ? I sure miss having a tank full of tiny clownfish . I only have one of the babies left it`s about 1.5 inches now .

 

[Deep Blue]

Still to early. It takes about 7 to eight days for the silver eyes to show . believe me it will be very noticeable . in the photo you have up looks like the eggs were just laid .without the rotifers and a small tank 2-5 gal with air stone ,and heater set to the main tank temp the larvae wont live . the larvae start feeding right away ,so you will need a good supply of rotifers . Raising the rotifers is most of the work . I had 4- 2gal buckets going 24-7 for weeks . I kept seeding a new bucket of rotifers every few days . I would suggest getting the book and try on the next batch . what type of clownfish do you have ? I sure miss having a tank full of tiny clownfish . I only have one of the babies left it`s about 1.5 inches now .

This whole thing has caught us off guard. We have a Black Ocellaris and false percula clownfish.

 

[miamiangler]

WoW ! That` s going to be an interesting combo , Would love to see how the babies are going to look .

 

[Deep Blue]

WoW ! That` s going to be an interesting combo , Would love to see how the babies are going to look .

I agree I'm excited. Tomorrow I will take some pics of them.

 

[Alpha Aquaculture]

Hey Chris!

First thing I took note of is that your female (the orange one) is a percula and your male (the black one) is an ocellaris. I think you mentioned your female was a false percula but it is definitely a percula. You can tell based on the color of the eyes. So your offspring would be a mixture of the two species, a hybrid. That doesn't mean anything of particular importance beyond knowing the species. Its not rare and doesn't pose any problems with hatching. Just something to note.

I wouldn't sweat hatching the eggs. If it is their first clutch you want to let them have it so they get on a routine. If its not their first clutch you don't have anything to worry about because they are going to continue laying. Either way they will probably continue laying. Just keep feeding them a lot. The flashlight technique is a major pain and I would not do it myself. I've tried it but every pair is different and some of my pairs eggs hatch over 3 nights and the eggs hatch all night long. That's not fun. I would buy a cheap tile from home depot and place it where the eggs are now after they hatch. The goal is to get them to lay on a surface you can easily remove from the tank. I would concentrate on keeping good records so you know exactly what night the eggs hatch. Then when you get eggs on the tile hatch them on the correct night. At that point you will need your rotifer culture to be going strong. And there will be some practice with bubbling your eggs. I can walk you through all of that if you shoot me a call at 1-331-GO-ALPHA sometime during the weekdays. I would also suggest doing some research about rotifers and hatching eggs.

Kris

 

[Alpha Aquaculture]

Also, lets see those pictures!!!!

 

[Deep Blue]

Also, lets see those pictures!!!!

Thanks for all the info it will be very helpful. I have been trying to get pics but the eggs are right in the middle of about for RBTA. so it kinds becoming a pain to get some. But I'm trying.