Phyto & Rotifers needed

[NightOwl]

My clowns are really getting into spawning on a regular basis . This is the second time this month they have keep the eggs all the way past the point of them turning silver. I can actually see the eyes. Before they would eat the eggs, but since they are now being good parents I think I may try to raise some food for them. Does anyone have a culture of photo and rotifers that they could sell me. I still need to get a spare tank set up but I figure I could at least get an idea if anyone local has a set up I could look at to help get me started.

 

Thanks,

 

Henry

[wreck]

Congrats on your clowns spawning. I would give you some rotifers and phyto but both of my cultures crashed from neglect and non use. If you can't find any locally, you can mail order from www.rotifer.com, they also have info on how to culture rotifers and phyto. Good luck.

Wreck

 

My clowns are really getting into spawning on a regular basis . This is the second time this month they have keep the eggs all the way past the point of them turning silver. I can actually see the eyes. Before they would eat the eggs, but since they are now being good parents I think I may try to raise some food for them. Does anyone have a culture of photo and rotifers that they could sell me. I still need to get a spare tank set up but I figure I could at least get an idea if anyone local has a set up I could look at to help get me started.

 

Thanks,

 

Henry

[Buucca]

I've got a quart of phyto you can have but my Seahorses consume all my rotifers when they are fry. I get mine from Paul at Aquaculturestore.com best prices I could locate. PM me if you need the phyto.

 

Bill

[NightOwl]

Thanks for the congrats they have spawned in the past but they would always eat the eggs. It was the most annoying thing ever. That sucks your culture crashed...someone actually sent me a PM me about you and your Phyto and Rotifers. How much time did you spend each day or hours per week? I am still trying to get an idea of if it will work with my schedule.

 

Thanks Henry

[NightOwl]

Thanks Bill I will check into the site you listed. Which do you recommend between Tetraselmis and Chloropus?

 

Thanks,

 

Henry

[wreck]

After you capture any live clownfish larvae and transfer into your growout tank, You'll need to spend a little time each day, feeding live rotifers to the larvae at least twice a day and keeping the tank clean by doing 10% water changes daily or every other day. Expect at least 30 minutes a day to handle maintenance for the first 10 days, after that it gets easier but you'll need to grow fresh baby brine shrimp daily to feed the fish after metamorphosis. It takes a lot of commitment for those first ten days, so plan on not leaving town during that time. I followed the instructions pretty much word for word from the book "Clownfishes" by Joyce Wilkerson, I highly recommend it. Good luck.

Wreck

 

Thanks for the congrats they have spawned in the past but they would always eat the eggs. It was the most annoying thing ever. That sucks your culture crashed...someone actually sent me a PM me about you and your Phyto and Rotifers. How much time did you spend each day or hours per week? I am still trying to get an idea of if it will work with my schedule.

 

Thanks Henry

[Buucca]

Thanks Bill I will check into the site you listed. Which do you recommend between Tetraselmis and Chloropus?

 

Thanks,

 

Henry

 

I have only grown chlorpus in my system as it seems to work for me keeping my rots and bbs alive. Others

might want to chime in with their experiences.

 

Bill

[Jon Lazar]

I recommend nannochloropsis. I haven't grown anything else, but nanno is recognized as the easiest phyto to culture, and is more than adequate for clownfish.

 

Good luck with your cultures and with raising your clowns. It's really not too hard once you get the hang of things, but does require some attention to detail.

 

Jon

Edited May 21, 2008 by Jon Lazar

[NightOwl]

I will need something soon. They spawned again tonight . This is the brightest orange the eggs have been. I have been increasing the feeding to 2-3 times a day now. I wish I did not have vacation coming up in the next 3 weeks or so. Thanks for all the suggestions on the strand to use.

Edited May 23, 2008 by NightOwl

[Buucca]

I recommend nannochloropsis. I haven't grown anything else, but nanno is recognized as the easiest phyto to culture, and is more than adequate for clownfish.

 

Good luck with your cultures and with raising your clowns. It's really not too hard once you get the hang of things, but does require some attention to detail.

 

Jon

 

Yeah, that one!

Average cell size is 2-4 microns, where Tetraselmis is 7-10 microns.

 

Bill

[jamal]

the most important thing to note between nanno and tetraselmis is the amino acid content. if you want the most dha i recommend T. isochrysis. it is harder to grow but it has more of what phyto eating animals need. alot of animals can convert dha into epa but not epa into dha.

Edited May 24, 2008 by jamal

[Grav]

What kind of clowns?

 

I've been trying with my maroons for a while... seems curesed. Either I get a next-to nothing hatch rate, or I go away for a weekend at the wrong time, or I re-do the rocks and they take a few months off... now the BTA split and both move to a new area where I cant get tiles in where they want to lay eggs....

 

ugh I hear maroons are tougher, lets hope that is true.

[NightOwl]

Jamal,

I will keep that in mind when I start trying to grow my strands in a few weeks. Do you have any tips or pointers on being more successful with that strand?

 

Thanks,

 

Henry

 

Grav,

I have a pair of false clowns. The hatch rate gets better as they become better parents and the better their diet is. I now feed two - three times a day; small meals of course. All food is soaked in selcon, garlic, and zoe for a few hours or overnight.

When mine first started there were only 20 - 30 eggs and then they ate them as fast as they male fertilized them. It was very disturbing to watch! I went from being overjoyed (while she laid them) to heeeeeeeeey stop that...you are being bad parents (while they ate them). Apparently they do not respond to or care about me tapping on the glass or me yelling at them. Now they actually take care of them till they release then they eat them .

If there is no need redo your rock work leave it the way it is. I do not like mine, but I am not changing a thing right now because like you said they may take a break. I think the more stable the environment is the more comfortable they are. The tile trick works if you can get them to lay their eggs on the tile. Mine have chosen a private location and the only way for me to get them is to siphon them off on the night they release.

 

Good luck,

 

Henry

 

 

I should have new eggs by later night . I just checked and my female is looking very full.

Edited June 3, 2008 by NightOwl

[Jon Lazar]

An alternative to live phytoplankton culture is to buy dead phyto. It's more convenient and you can have a greater variety to meet your (critters') dietary needs, rather than maintaining multiple phyto cultures. Dead phyto won't help the water quality in your growout tank like live phyto does, but it's got it's pros.

 

When I was breeding neon gobies I kept a bottle of commercial nanno in the freezer as a backup in case my live culture crashed or I just got behind on my production. I also found it useful for feeding to adult brine shrimp as a gut load because it was so dense.

 

http://www.reed-mariculture.com/microalgae/

 

Jon

[jamal]

Jamal,

I will keep that in mind when I start trying to grow my strands in a few weeks. Do you have any tips or pointers on being more successful with that strand?

 

Thanks,

 

Henry

 

Grav,

I have a pair of false clowns. The hatch rate gets better as they become better parents and the better their diet is. I now feed two - three times a day; small meals of course. All food is soaked in selcon, garlic, and zoe for a few hours or overnight.

When mine first started there were only 20 - 30 eggs and then they ate them as fast as they male fertilized them. It was very disturbing to watch! I went from being overjoyed (while she laid them) to heeeeeeeeey stop that...you are being bad parents (while they ate them). Apparently they do not respond to or care about me tapping on the glass or me yelling at them. Now they actually take care of them till they release then they eat them .

If there is no need redo your rock work leave it the way it is. I do not like mine, but I am not changing a thing right now because like you said they may take a break. I think the more stable the environment is the more comfortable they are. The tile trick works if you can get them to lay their eggs on the tile. Mine have chosen a private location and the only way for me to get them is to siphon them off on the night they release.

 

Good luck,

 

Henry

I should have new eggs by later night . I just checked and my female is looking very full.

 

for the isochyrsis strain you need to take more care in your work. stable parameters are essential especially temperature and specific gravity. i would say that if you plan to attempt it you should give some to someone you know as a back up. nanno requires very little effort or care. if you need specifics send me a pm

[Boret]

Any pictures NightOwl??

[NightOwl]

Boret,

Sorry no pictures. They are laying them back in my rockwork and in front of a powerhead. I think they may lay in a new location soon. I modified the flow in the tank slightly (a snail got caught in the powerhead and broke the propeller tabs). I replaced the powerhead but it is not as strong as the the one that was there. I a not not sure they like it though as the female laid eggs on 6/3 in a different location but they consumed them by the next day :(. I am not sure if its a matter of them feeling safe or what it is but very strange.

 

 

jamal,

I will probably be pm'ing you with questions after my vacation. I finally got around to buying the wood for the new stand and will hopefully assemble in the next few days. Then go by some tanks and 2 liter bottles.

 

Jon Lazar,

Is the phyto you mentioned similar to freeze dried? I guess same nutritional content? I have some freeze dried that I feed on a regular basis and also some kent zoo plankton that is liquid.

 

 

Thanks again everyone,

 

Henry

[Jon Lazar]

Is the phyto you mentioned similar to freeze dried? I guess same nutritional content? I have some freeze dried that I feed on a regular basis and also some kent zoo plankton that is liquid.

 

You keep the Instant Algae phytoplankton in the freezer, and it stays liquid like a syrup. I think the "pro" to this is you get the nutrition of the more difficult pytoplankton strains without the hassle of culturing.

 

http://www.reed-mariculture.com/microalgae/

 

Jon