Breed Clownfish | Saltwater Fish

[hews18]

Well im on week 4 with about 70 clownfish. I have had very minimal casualties throughout their fry stage; however, now that they have medamorphed I am loosing 7-10 a day. It seems they are dying when they become active (feeding time and when the light turns on). They will be swimming and eating normally, and in a split second, start swimming erratically and die within 10 seconds. My water parameters are good. They are in a 10 gallon with a sponge filter. I feed them twice a day with a good amount of fresh hatched baby brine. About a week ago I accidentally introduced some brine egg shells; however after about 2 days I had gotten rid of them. I have no clue why this is happening. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[davek0819]

hews, sorry to hear that. The only thing I can think of is two things Joyce Wilkerson described in her book clownfishes. Page 211 The Juvenile Diet. ....."but newly hatched brine shrimp are not a balanced diet for juveniles, they lack the essential fatty acid and low in protein. ...eating two many can cause shock. ....the other is on page 217 the Toxic Tank Syndrone..."it does not seam to strike systems without biological filtration....when TTS strikes, early juveniles can die within hours unless promptly moved into a different system...it is not understood....certain bacterial and protozoans that colonize filters maybe be responsible...watch for...fishes swimming in current with their heads inclined slightly upward...fishes make little forward headway while swimming..rapid death in fish for no apparent reason...more susceptible for maroon, ocellaris than clark and tomato...she goes onto say that it's not very common.

Have you been feeding crushed flake? I've been letting my brine shrimp grow out a little to get more protein. If it's the TTS she says to move them to a completly different tank, with new water and sterlize your current tank and filter. The TTS sounds as if you'll lose your all of your fry at once.

Sorry but thats I'll I can think of, I'm only on day 16 with my first hatch so I haven't made it that far yet.

[hews18]

It is almost like they are in shock. It only happens to a few a day. What book do you have? I didnt even know there was a book on this. Thanks for the reply!

[davek0819]

Clownfishes...A guide to their captive care, breeding and natural history. by Joyce D. Wilkerson.

I scanned two pages about the juvinile diet. On her chart she indicates that at day 25 they should not be fed newly hatched brine shrimp. Their diet requires more protein.

The TTS she mentions sounds as though it hits your tank all at once and you loose them all I don't think it's what your are describing.

Good luck.

[davek0819]

One more thought, have you checked your water peramiters? ph, ammonia...etc. With 70 clowns getting bigger each day in a 10 gallon you might have to keep it in check with daily water changes. I just added a sponge filter to mine, which makes me feel a little bit better, but I can't wait to put on a small hang-on to start filtering with some charcoal.

[miamiangler]

I feed my clowns after day 25 , live baby brine shrimp and frozen BBS , rotifers live and frozen and Cyclops-eez freeze dry food , all seem to do well on this diet and when a little larger I feed them adult brine shrimp .

as for a hang on filter I use the ones that are made for the 2 gal tanks or for nano tanks . they still work great on a 10 gal tank , I use it when the clowns are 1/4 inch in size .

[hews18]

wow thanks dave! I started them on crushed flakes immediately after your first post. I have not lost one since! It must of been the "shock syndrome" from the baby brine. Thanks for the post! I can now sleep at night. The pair just laid the second clutch, now I feel more confident.

BTW they are Black and White Ocellaris Clownfish.

Thanks again

[davek0819]

Great news.......I'm glad to hear it. Miami seems to have a nice diet plan for his little ones. I also like to mix it up with a variety of differnet foods live, dry and now trying frozen.

Currently at around Day 21, I have the following schedule.

In the morning
6:00am GP Diet 50 to 100 Micron Reef and Larval Diet (brine shrimp direct)
8:00am 48 to 96 hour old brine shrimp

In the evening
7:00pm GP 200-300 Mircron Larval Diet (brine shrimp direct)
9:00pm 48 to 96 hour old brine shrimp

(I add selco to the brine shrimp after the third day for feeding on the fourth day)

I started to add frozen cyclopeze to partially replace the 50 to 100 micron food, since they are starting to get bigger. The cyclop's package has the micron size at about 700. It's still a little to big for some of the smaller one's but the larger one's are starting to eat it.

I think it just helps to give them a variety....good luck with the next batch...