Clown Eggs

[Ziggy953]

Well, I got up today and the MHs didn't come on on my frag system. Turns out the timer was having some issues. Anyway since the lights hadn't come on yet I was able to see a few things I couldn't normally. I have a double head of frogspawn on one of the shelves and since it was dark it had not extended, I was able to see the branches. Well my two clowns in the frag tank pretty much never leave that frogspawn, I just figured they were happy there and didn't think much more about it. Well today I found out why they never leave it.

I didn't count them but I would say there are a good 125-150 eggs with tiny little eyes in them. I don't know a lot about clown fish breeding but I would say the eggs aren't far from hatching. It could easily happen tonight or tomorrow night. I'm hoping they will hold off till Thursday so I can be home to watch.

 

[Tank2379]

Nice sell them off to your LFS for Credit...LOL...

 

[Ziggy953]

I don't think the odds are in my favor to raise the little guys. They require some very special care and I don't know what that care is. I've done some reading on raising clown fry but not anywhere near enough to even know where to begin. Also this caught me off guard so I don't have what I would need to help them survive.

I believe once clowns are happy and start laying eggs they pretty much do it on a regular basis. Every 12-16 days or something like that. I'll do some research and see what it would take to raise them and go from there. My wife wants to raise them. We haven't told my son yet. I'm inclined not to tell him.

 

[Tank2379]

Would have been a good Idea. Well good luck DAD!...LOL

 

[pat8you]

If you want to try and raise that batch you should move that whole colony of frogspawn into a new tank so they can hatch there with out turning into fish food.

 

[Ziggy953]

I thought about that but I have no way to feed them. They need very very tiny food and I just haven't done the research to keep them alive. This time they will be fish food I'm afraid.

 

[pat8you]

Yeah i got bored and did a little reading about trying to raise the fry and it is no small task. Least they will provide some tasty live snacks for the frag tank as cruel as that sounds.

 

[Tank2379]

Nnnnoooo!!!!!! :-(...lol

 

[ccCapt]

Cool. They hatch at night. After a few batches you will be able to tell when they are ready to hatch. The eggs will be real silvery after starting out orange. If you shine a flashlight at the top of the tank when they hatch, they all swim to the light. It's pretty cool...and it's the only time I see the fry.

 

[Zagz]

That is awesome! If nothing else you know you have healthy happy clownfish!

 

[HoCkEyGmC]

yeah, it takes an almost constant supply of live baby brine to raise them. i was bored as well one night and read up on it. supposeably cardinals are much easier. but i cant back that up. i guess they keep their young in their mouths until they get slightly bigger and then they'll hang out in between the spines of a longspine urchin. i read that somewhere.

 

[Ziggy953]

Cool. They hatch at night. After a few batches you will be able to tell when they are ready to hatch. The eggs will be real silvery after starting out orange. If you shine a flashlight at the top of the tank when they hatch, they all swim to the light. It's pretty cool...and it's the only time I see the fry.

Yeah I have been educating myself on clownfish breeding and raising the fry. I've ordered a book concerning the subject. It came highly recommended from the folks at MOFIB.org.

I can see the silvery look in most of the eggs some of them still show the black eyes. From what I read once the silver shows up it is uasually 24-48 hours til hatch time. I have the video camera ready, I'm going to try and get some of it on film.

 

[Ziggy953]

That is awesome! If nothing else you know you have healthy happy clownfish!

That is true. This is actually a pair I bought off a local reefer that couldn't house them anymore. I let him know they have spawned and was really happy to hear they are doing well.

The more I think about it the more I am convinced they have spawned before. The branch of Frog spawn the eggs are attached to has been in the same position since I before I upgraded to the 120. They have been hovering over it for at least a month and probably more then that. Based on what I have read and what I see the batch (nest) looks to be upwards of 95% viable larvae/fertilized eggs.

 

[Ziggy953]

yeah, it takes an almost constant supply of live baby brine to raise them. i was bored as well one night and read up on it. supposeably cardinals are much easier. but i cant back that up. i guess they keep their young in their mouths until they get slightly bigger and then they'll hang out in between the spines of a longspine urchin. i read that somewhere.

That is partly true.

Actually right after they hatch they should be fed rotifers. They are small enough that the clown fry can eat them. The rotifers have to be fed phytoplankton that is enriched with all kinds of stuff. Apparently DTs phyto is one of the best options both to feed the rotifers as well as starting a culture with.

After the fry(larvae) get to the 7 day point then you can start introducing baby brine (brine less then 24 hours old) and copepods. I belive it is at days 10-14 that you can introduce larger foods as well as prepared foods like crushed flake and others.

I've been doing a lot of research over the last 18 hours. I was supposed to be working. Shhhhh don't tell my boss.

I believe that I am going to attempt to raise the fry. Not from this batch as I have no supplies, phyto, rotifers or anything set up and ready. I'll probably skip the next spawing as well just to get a time frame of how often and what shcedule they are spawing on.

We will see.

I can promise one thing for sure. I'll start a new thread detailing every step I take, starting as soon as my new book gets here.

Time for bed for me...

 

[Devilishturtles]

Congrats Ziggy. Mine, after they laid eggs the first time, did it monthly like clockwork. I could almost estimate the day it would happen.

 

[Ziggy953]

Well I have been reading pretty much non-stop since my clowns laid eggs. The batch hatched wednesday morning sometime before the lights came on but after I got home.

I had expected this to happen and wasn't worried about trying to save this nest.

I have put a tile in the tank next to the frogspawn in hopes that the clowns will lay on it this time. I don't expect to be ready for the next batch which I expect any day now. The female is super fat and the male is cleaning like crazy around the frogspawn. I thought putting the tile in now would be a good idea and maybe they will lay on it.

A thread I have been reading through, the guy, his clowns lay on a tile every 14 days. We'll see.

I'm going to start a new thread detailing everything I do when I really get started that is. I'm going to pick up some phyto and get a few cultures going, then I'm going to order some rotifers and a few other things I will need.

I'm going to give it a shot and see what happens.

 

[ccCapt]

I can put you in touch with a guy in our reef club who breeds percs. He's been breeding them for quite a while and always has babies at the frag swaps.

 

[theyoungaquariest]

Hey Ziggy, I was just wondering if your were thinking about using your son's nano as a fry tank? And also, theres a good book called "Clownfishes" by Joyce D. Wilkerson. If you could get your hands on, this book is amazing. Its what got me started in this hobby. It has all the info you need on how to breed clownfish, take care of the fry and everything about clownfishes in general. Good Luck!!!

 

[JoshsReef]

Generally speaking , how long would two percs need to be together before they started spawning ? I have two percs that have been together for 18 months and I have never noticed anything like your getting the pleasure of witnessing ! Good Luck

 

[cofano32]

thats truely amazing it looks like your going to have your hands full with all the fry from the next batch. Best of luck