Pics of WAMAS phyto/rotifer/brine setups for raising fry?

[AlanM]

I've been prowling around the intarnets looking up info on raising clownfish now that my two are getting busy,  and I know about the canonical book and am buying it.

 

So far it sounds like a good strategy is raising greenwater/phyto, feeding that to a rotifer culture, and feeding that to the larvae and gradually switching to brine napulii through the metamorphosis.  Sounds great, but advice varies on what those cultures should look like and what is required to keep them going. 

 

Can the folks here who do or have done it successfully post up what their breeding setups look like?  A few pics of what the reality looks like might help figure out the scope of what I'm considering.

[DaveS]

I have photos here: http://wamas.org/forums/topic/64301-lemon-chromis-breeding-thread/

 

But I don't do they greenwater/phyto part any more.  I just buy the live concentrate and feed that to the rots.  Much easier!

 

I need to order another bottle soon and S&H is really expensive so LMK if you want to do an order together.  You can stop by and see the setup as part of that.

[AlanM]

I might be in for a bottle.  I assume you're doing orders of Rotigrow Plus or something from Reed Matriculture?  Those pouches are like $70, though, which might be too rich for me at the moment, although the shelf life looks good. 

[BowieReefer84]

I have a clownfish book you can have if you want it Alan.  Just lmk.

 

It's this one: http://www.amazon.com/Clownfishes-Captive-Breeding-Natural-History/dp/1890087041

Edited January 9, 2015 by BowieReefer84

[AlanM]

That's the one I was going to buy, so I'd like to borrow it for sure.  Kindle version for like $8, but I don't know if it has pics. 

[DaveS]

I user RG Complete: http://apbreed.com/product_rgcomplete.php $12-$35 a bottle depending on size.  Lasts about 6+ months in the fridge.

[AlanM]

Nice. I am in for a 16oz bottle.

[Rob A]

My eggs should hatch this weekend. If ithey do it will be my first attempt at raising them. My greenwater was started with DTs phytoplankton. I bought rotifers from some guy on ebay.

[AlanM]

Nice, Rob A.

 

Anyone used one of these before to get fry? https://www.etsy.com/listing/117580460/vossen-larval-trap

 

I may go to petco and pick up a few 5.5 and 10g tanks during the dollar sale to do this...

[Rob A]

I crashed my rotifer culture so most likely I'll have to let this batch of larvae go.

[DaveS]

Nice, Rob A.

Anyone used one of these before to get fry? https://www.etsy.com/listing/117580460/vossen-larval-trap

I may go to petco and pick up a few 5.5 and 10g tanks during the dollar sale to do this...

Yup, I have one I never used. I'll let you have it for the price I paid. No need to wait 2 months until Chad gets around to making more....

[uhreefuh]

I have two 5 gallon buckets of roti's bubbling 24/7. Two things I've learned the hard way is don't over feed and don't over aerate! Another lesson is you can always start a new culture out of the slime & detritus in the bottom of the buckets (or whatever container you're using). I feed my corals , fish and fry and have so many rotifers left over, I'm considering selling them! 

[Mattiejay6]

Here is a good guide:

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/269202-pickles-guide-to-breeding-clowns/

 

The Vossen larval trap is a really good tool! Really recommend if you don't do a hatch tank.

 

Here is a good rotifier bucket system:

http://apbreed.com/product_compact_culture_system.php

 

I like this product for Rotifiers feed and green water: (get the cheap little travel squirt bottles and split it up and freeze the portions you aren't using)

http://reedmariculture.com/product_rotigreen_omega.php

 

For rotifier seive:

http://florida-aqua-farms.com/shop/plankton-collectors-4-inch/

[Rob A]

I gave up on the greenwater culturing, although I have a disk of nannochloropsis that I can try growing at some point if it hasn't gone bad from sitting around...

Since I started using RG Complete as recommended by Dave I have kept 2 rotifer cultures going for almost 3 months (since jan 15th). I even put some rots in the fridge for 2 days while I was out of town and put them back in the buckets when I got home. It turns out there were still live rots in the buckets even though they hadn't been fed while I was gone.

I'm keeping 2 5 gal buckets now, bith with 3 gallons of water. I had one heated and one unheated just to see how it went. I didn't have to feed or harvest the unheated one as much. Now that I have a new batch of eggs about to hatch I have both buckets heated in order to ramp up production.