Breed Clownfish | Saltwater Fish

[kad]

I have a mated pair of Oscellaris clowns, and they laid their first batch of eggs about a week ago. Today, when I got home from work, I noticed that their little eyes are bright silver, which is a sign they will soon hatch, maybe tonight!

I'm very excited! The mom is orange and the dad is black. I'm curious to see how the babies turn out. I'm not expecting great success, after all the research I have done. But I hope at least a few will survive through metamorphosis!

Wish me luck!!!

[davek0819]

Do you have your rotifers to put in the tank? I was very nervious through each step not knowing what to expect but I did alot a reading and posted what I was doing for others to comment on. Post how your doing and if you can take pictures. Best of luck!!!!

[kad]

Sad to say it didn't go well. The past 3 nights I have stayed up after lights out for a couple hours, checking on progress. Last night was the 8th night since the eggs were laid. So...lights out around 10pm and all pumps off, everything was still and very dark. I had a little tiny red light flashlight, and I checked about every 30mins, but couldn't see the eggs too well in the back corner and with coraline algae on the glass.

Anyhow, after a couple hours I decided maybe it wouldn't be the night. But I went to put the little flashlight pointing down from the top of the tank. And there were a few small fry already there at the top! I got excited and collected them into a mesh breeding net which was already at the top of the tank. But I never saw any more fry.

I kept checking every 15-30mins, and fell asleep on the couch. Never did see any more fry, and a rogue Bangai Cardinalfish was lurking around in the dark. So, I suspect he had a nice feast, cuz no eggs left, just the residue on the wall. And the few I was able to collect must have died. I saw one little body with silvery eyes, and nothing else *sigh*

But the clowns are at it again. Maybe next time.

[kad]

Well, after some more reading on this site, I am wondering if the parents didn't eat the babies as they hatched. I need to try to place a tile in that corner, something that I can remove before hatching. Do they tend to lay the eggs in the same place over and over?

[davek0819]

interesting thought, the last few batches I had considerable less fry than the first time and I noticed the parents hanging out at the eggs. I assumed they might of been assisting with the hatch not enjoying a snack. For the next hatch I'll probable feed the tank a couple cubes of mysis shrimp to curb their hunger.

Sorry to hear about the hatch, they good news is you'll be able to try it again in two weeks.

After you collected them into the mesh breeding net did you relocate them to a separate tank? Wouldn't the rotifers escape from the net? Also i'd be concerned about the lighting for your main tank. Good luck. I only managed to collect around 15 fry from the last batch (seven still surviving), the eight day waiting period seems to take forever.

[kad]

Well the mesh net was just to hold them til I could move them. But the 3 that I had in there seem to have died, although I only saw one. I also thought the parents were hanging next to the eggs to help them along. They were very active, fanning and such. It was another post on this site where I read that the parents ate them as they hatched. At my fish store, they said the parents will eat them if there are other fish trying to as well. Kinda like "nobody eats my babies but me!" It was a good learning experience, and I look forward to the next batch. Thanks for your thoughts and reply