Reef Discussion

MagicJ

Moderator
Jul 11, 2011
9,650
3,761
Hobart, Tasmania
The Start of the Long Road to breeding Amphiprion ocellaris
As some members may have noticed, my clowns laid their first batch of eggs a few weeks ago. For a long time I have been thinking about trying my hand at breeding some marine fish and have decided that the time may now be right - well, in a few months anyway.

I welcome any input from members who have some experience with with this caper - @dr_schell and @TheJordans I am looking at you :)

A couple of equipment questions first.

  • a lot of things seems to require air - the larval tank, the rots, the green water etc. It has been a while since I needed to buy a airpump - is a standard diaphragm pump good enough or should I invest in something larger that will meet all of my needs? Do you have 2 or 3 pumps being used and wish that you had purchased a larger one to start with?
  • The larval tanks - what size would you recommend. In some articles they suggest that a round tank is beneficial because it prevents fry getting caught in the corners - I am not sure about this??

    Standard aquariums are not cheap in Hobart, and there is not the steady supply of second hand tanks like you find in the larger cities. I suspect that I would be able to buy a largish round bowl cheaper than a small aquarium.

    Thoughts?

    I am thinking a standard 2ft tank for a grow-out tank...
I have lots more questions but that will do for now :)

Cheers

Record of Spawns

  1. Spawn - 21/5/13 (estimated)
    Hatch - 31/5/13 (10 days since spawn - estimated)
  2. Spawn - 13/6/13 (23 days since last spawn)
    Hatch - Most on 23/6/13 with the rest 24/6/13 (10/11 days since spawn)
  3. Spawn - 4/7/13 (21 days since last spawn)
    Hatch - Most on 14/7/13 with the rest 15/7/13 (10/11 days since spawn)
  4. Spawn - 25/7/13 (21 days since last spawn)
    Hatch - 4/8/13 (10 days since spawn)
  5. Spawn 11/8/13 (17 days since last spawn-was expected 15/8/13)
    Hatch - 21/8/13 (10 days since spawn)
  6. Spawn - 29/8/13 (18 days since last spawn)
    Hatch - 7/9/13 (9 days since spawn)
  7. Spawn - 14/9/13 (16 days since last spawn)
    Hatch - eggs disappeared 19/9/13 - I suspect they were eaten by something in the tank
  8. Spawn - 29/9/13 (15 days since last spawn)
    Hatch - 8/10/13 (9 days since spawn)
After a bit of a break, and a couple of nests that I didn't keep track of, it's time to start keeping records again :)

  1. Spawn - 5/12/13
    Hatch - 14/12/13 (9 days since spawn)
  2. Spawn - 21/12/13 (16 days since last spawn)
    Hatch - ?? I was away for a few days and missed the hatch.
  3. Spawn - 2/1/14 (11 days since last spawn)
    Hatch - 12/1/14 (10 days since spawn)
  4. Spawn - 18/1/14 (16 days since last spawn)
    Hatch - not sure
  5. Spawn - 2/3/14
    Hatch - not sure
  6. Spawn - 16/3/14 (14 days since last spawn)
    Hatch - 24/3/14
  7. Spawn - 29/3/14
    Hatch - Most on 7/4/14 with the remainder 8/4/14 (9 days since spawn)
  8. Spawn - 24/4/14
    Hatch - complete hatch on 4/5/14 (10 days since spawn)
  9. Spawn - 15/5/14
    Hatch - the majority on 24/5/14 with a few stragglers the next day.
Unfortunately, this will be the last spawn for this pair as the female jumped/was pushed on 24/5/14. Interestingly, a juvenile from Spawn 5 was getting close to the male and was mouthing some of the eggs from the last spawn. I suspect that the male will now transform into a female and the juvenile will become the dominant male.
 
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Dr. Schell

The Fuckin' Doc
Jul 12, 2011
1,972
1,228
Brisbane
standard air pumps are fine. I only use air for the larvae and the rotifers, not for the phyto (grows outside year-round up here). I have 2 pumps that I use, one has 2 outlets (effectively 2 pumps in 1 (used for the fish larvae and the rotifers), and the second pump, I use to hatch brine shrimp (used to feed to the larvae from day 7 onwards).

In terms of fry rearing, the smaller the better (in my opinion). This will allow you to get high rotifer densities and increase the feeding opportunities for larvae under 4 days. I use standard shaped 10-15L aquariums but only half fill them. Water quality is dealt with by copious amounts of water changes.

Other things that you need to consider is something to 'black-out' the sides of the aquarium so light only comes from the top (the fish get confused with side lighting and cease to feed), In addition, for young fry, you need diffused light (strong lighting will cause the larvae to swim to the bottom where they will smash into the glass and will perish). At day 2-5 you can begin to increase the intensity of the lighting, so perhaps invest in a dimmer to control the light level.

Hope this helps
 

TheJordans

Member
Mar 29, 2013
722
369
Sunbury
I don't know when I will get to reply to this properly as bub is almost always in my arms except for when I'm finally asleep myself :-( (I just sneezed and he's started screaming in my arms again...) so I'm typing on my phone and it's quite frustrating :mad:

Anywho, I'll try.

Re pumps: i use multiple pumps, mainly controllable ones so that i can dial them back. Otherwise, i use little valves to control the flow.

Re rearing tanks: we're currently in the (drawn out) process of making a bank of (primarily) kreisel tanks. From what we've read, they're best suited to our multi-purpose rack (shrimp, fish and ponies).
But in saying that, i've read of numerous sucesses with glass tanks, right down to buckets and cookie jars! so really, i believe that it's about what suits your space and budget.

I also second everything Chris has written above.

If i think of anything else, i will pop back on, but for now my phone is annoying me lol
 

Dr. Schell

The Fuckin' Doc
Jul 12, 2011
1,972
1,228
Brisbane
expect the first few attempts to be an exercise in learning, and use it as a time to refine and develop a methodology that works for your situation. Once they get the hang of it, the clowns should be fecund and provide you with far too many eggs to rear.
Best to take your time and produce fewer GOOD QUALITY/Healthy fish, than large amounts of poor quality/defective fish.
 

TheJordans

Member
Mar 29, 2013
722
369
Sunbury
^ what he said :D

No, sseriously he's 100% right. I'm well and truly as newbie to all of this as yourself, but everything I've learned has been through reading and practice! Don't be afraid to try something new and fail; it's a mistake you'll never make again and it brings you one step closer to success!
 

MagicJ

Moderator
Jul 11, 2011
9,650
3,761
Hobart, Tasmania
Re pumps: i use multiple pumps, mainly controllable ones so that i can dial them back. Otherwise, i use little valves to control the flow.
OK, but if you could start again, would you just to have one big one and then tap off this for all of your requirements, or would you still get multiple pumps.

Had a long day today with an early flight to Melbourne, did a few things in the office, caught up with Jen to pick up some goodies, had a half hour delay because they closed one of the runways in Melbourne due to the weather, and finally got home at around 8.00pm.

Guess what ??

The clowns were laying again :)

I have got some good video of the clowns doing their thing which I will put up tomorrow night, but this gives you an idea - she is very fat so I am expecting quite a few eggs this time.

Clownfish.jpg
 

TheJordans

Member
Mar 29, 2013
722
369
Sunbury
Congratulations!! That's great news!

If I could do it again I would have one pump per subject (sorry, can't think of a better word lol). ie, one pump between the two rotifer cultures; one between the 4x nanno tubs etc etc. I guess that's just so that I could have uniformity? It irks me when I can't get the bubble rate the same in both buckets of rotifers lol. But I certainly wouldn't want one pump split between rots/nanno and fry. I'd want to be able to adjust them individually. (... Which, now that I'm thinking about it, could be achieved by adjusting the flow with a splitter *blush* Hey! I'm tired! Give me a break!! lol)

But I'd still vote one pump per project b/c I like to over-complicate things ;)
 

chrispc66

Member
Apr 24, 2012
317
160
Awesome.....your shed will now look like a drug laboratory growing phyto, then BBS, you think reefkeeping is a job, just wait until this caper starts.

I admire anyone who dedicates the time to this caper. Tried it for a year with red saddleback anemone fish....just wasn't good enough to do I. Sold the pair to a breeder.

Good luck with it all, I really hope you enjoy the fruits of your efforts....cheers:)