breeding maroon clowns

[Coral Hind]

Very cool news. If you do decide to raise them I would like to buy some.

[skipperawe]

Hello all of WAMAS! its been a long time since this tread was active, but im getting into it again and i know of no better place to talk about getting my ducks in line.

 

take 2 on breed maroon clowns:

 

so far i have:

 

luft airpump

flexible and rigid airline

2L bottles for nannochloropsis

a 5g bucket for rotifers

a 12g acrylic tank for fry w/ 2 small CF

BBS setup

i also have a 35g hex in line for grow out if i get that far

 

it should be noted that i have no organisms, just dry materials

 

i have many a question....

 

what are your opinions on OGP vs. otohime?

what is an aged sponge filter?

how long should i keep the lights on in the fry tank?

if i am get some fry, will agression become an issue? especially during grow out

what are the uptimum SGs for fry, nanno, brinehatching, and L-strain rotifers.

should i be concerned with DHA enriching my rotifers with Iso etc... or will pure nanno do?

 

not to worry i have ordered 2 books on amazon that come highly recommended by MOFIB, though i still cant get my hands on the fabled wilkerson

thank you in advance

[Scott_LM]

Good Luck! My opinions in red below.

 

what are your opinions on OGP vs. otohime?

I have no experience with either so?

 

what is an aged sponge filter?

An aged sponge filter is one that has bacteria already colonized on it. This can be done in the broodstock tank, but then you risk transferring unwanted organisms like hydroids, etc. Recommended approach is let it cycle itself, just provide saltwater, ammonia and the sponge with aeration and eventually it will be aged. You can also speed up the process with the bacteria in a bottle products.

 

how long should i keep the lights on in the fry tank?\

I always used a 16/8 cycle, but it is more important that when it is dark in the larval tank there aren't other strong sources of light in the room as the larval are very phototrophic (attracted to light ).

if i am get some fry, will agression become an issue? especially during grow out

Agression will be an issue as the fry get older, especially with Maroons (so I hear, no experience with maroons). You should have months before this becomes a problem though. Add lots of PVC pyramids to the tank to help.

 

what are the uptimum SGs for fry, nanno, brinehatching, and L-strain rotifers.

Unfortunately the optimums are all different, but more important is staying with the tolerable swings each can survive. IE, rotifers do better at a lower salinity, but can't handle more than a .07 swing, I always tried to maintain a .1.020 salinity or there abouts. Rotifers can be a little lower, and if need be the broodstock can be higher. If I remember rotifers do best at around 1.014.

 

should i be concerned with DHA enriching my rotifers with Iso etc... or will pure nanno do?

Rotifers are only as good as the food you feed them. The question is how much time/expense do you want to put in to culturing many types of phyto. Nanno is easiest, and works for clowns. If you are doing this as a hobby and aren't trying to make money then stick with nanno or just get on the commercial rotifer feeds on the market. Iso can be very finicky.

[Coral Hind]

Good information. Confirmation on the 16/8 cycle, that is 16 off / 8 on or 16 on / 8 off?

[Scott_LM]

16 on 8 off

[dbartco]

good info scott. Only thing I will add about the Otohime (haven't used the other). I bought one of the kits that had all the sizes. I found the smallest no better than crushed flake, and the fry was on it for a very short period. The large are too big for most fry. I would stick with B, C, and one or 2 others if you use that brand and not worry about the kit.

[marinap]

should i be concerned with DHA enriching my rotifers with Iso etc... or will pure nanno do?

 

yes, you should be. Ditch nanno, you can use Rotigrow Plus to grow rots and enrich the ones for feeding the fry with N-Rich High Pro or similar

 

wealth of info here

 

http://www.reedmariculture.com/product_rotigrow.html

 

also on ReefCentral clownfish forum under FAQ section and here http://www.lightning-maroon-clownfish.com/

 

I will give you Otohime in different sizes once you have the fry.

[Scott_LM]

Wow, Reed's products are very expensive! Marinap, does the yield justify the cost? Do you have any comparison numbers between batches?

[marinap]

Scott, these feeds are very concentrated. You are only using a couple of mls per 5g bucket to feed and a few drops to enrich. Deformities and misbarring go down substantially. I do not have comparison numbers, sorry.

[skipperawe]

im well aware of reeds products. they are quite pricy for me to be honest... and im not concerned with misbarring. id be totally thrilled if i had ten clownfish swimming on day 20!

[skipperawe]

So as luck would have it, im all set up to rear clowns and my broodstock has stopped breeding... how do i get them to start up again?

[CaptainRon]

Play some Barry White.

[smallreef]

Just give it time...have you changed something in the tank?

[monkiboy]

So as luck would have it, im all set up to rear clowns and my broodstock has stopped breeding... how do i get them to start up again?

any update?

 

you can extend the photo-period to 14-16 hours, raise temperatures to 82° or so, feed heavily of very nutritionally dense foods, food a variety of these foods, create privacy by blacking out the sides of the tank with only one viewing pane, have pristine water quality.