Clown Fry

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snafu38

Member
Joined
Feb 20, 2006
Messages
18
Location
Gosford
Hi,

my A. Ocellaris laid their 2nd lot of eggs (with me) and they hatched 7 days ago. I got sick of the male eating so many one day I moved the pot with the eggs to the fry tank, without the eggs leaving the water, & filled the tank with the adults water.

They began hatching that night & continued for another day or 2. I removed the pot about day 4 when the remaining eggs started to go bad. I fed the fry freshly hatched BS which was too big for them. I also fed them crushed Plankton tablets which was basically a powder. On about day 3 the fry became much more active & were either swimming or resting on the bottom, head down. Over the next few days I could see the fry chasing the BS, but only saw 1 get eaten.

On day 5 I changed 2 litres (about 12.5%) with the adults water, as I had been doing every 2nd day. On day 6 I noticed almost all the BS had gone, and most of the fry were laying on the bottom. I have been using Prime in the adult tank to detoxify any ammonia & nitrate etc.

Today, day 7, I recovered about 95 bodies when I did my 2 ltre change, though there were more bodies left Im sure. The remaining fry (I guess about 20 or 30) were either on the bottom, or those swimming did so in loops. I fed them another fresh batch of BS but it is difficult to see if they are eating. There appears to be a few orange bellies so perhaps some have eaten.

I am wondering if anyone has a theory, did the water change kill them, or could they be going through this day 10 metamorphosis early ? Though I would be satisfied with only 10 surviving from each hatching (Id probably only be able to sell that many each time), I would still like to have more success.

The fry tank only has a heater (set at 25C, or 78F) and an air stone. What do people think, should I do a 1 or 2 litre change daily, every 2nd day, or just let them go until the metamorphosis is complete ? Are there any obvious changes in them when they metamorphosise ? Any help will be appreciated, thanks,

Stan
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Actually it sounds more likley to be a nutritional deficiencey. The "swimming in loops" could be a clue to that. Not 100% sure, Elmo18 might have better advice. I would also think water quality would be a factor as well. You mention only 2 water changes over a 5 day period. With the food types being added and possible small water volume, water quality would quickly degrade. Prime and the like will help "detoxify" water but breaks down over time. Better use would have been very well aged/aerated (days) new SW so you are not adding the organics/pollutants from the parents tank and more effectively reducing the pollution in the fry tank. Water detoxifiers also have a tendancey to skew the results of most test kits giving a false possitives for NH3 (manufacturer depending) so they should be used as a "last resort" fall back, not first line of defense so to speak.

The nauplii are far to large to feed the new fry and I am fairly sure most of the BS would have perished lowering water quality. The crushed plankton tablets also contributing to that.

The best food source for newly hatched fry is live rotifers. They can be fed this for weeks and then switched to a larger food (gut loaded naulpii) when they are large enough to consume it.

Cheers
Steve
 
Thanks for that,

I prepared some new water for them & used some today. There is about 6 left that I can see, which is OK as I dont know if I could even sell all of them.

Unfortunately, rotifers will have to wait for a while, the price for them here is rediculous & I can honestly live with the losses, especially with the adults breeding so often. If I had any hope of selling 50+ per month, maybe, but the demand just isnt that big.

Those that make it living on plankton tabs & artemia will be the strongest anyhow so I'll be selling better stock anyhow. Thanks again.
 
I'm trying to save this for the workshop a bit later, but just a suggestion if you aren't doing so....

I don't recommend changing water before day 5-6...

Best,
Ilham
 
I also do not recommend starting with brine...as success rates will be very minimal....if any :)

Best,
Ilham
 
Thanks

Thanks everyone.

Its now day 9 so I guess tomorrow will decide their fate. There are 5 left, all but 1 are now eating artemia, & the one that isnt is trying, or maybe I just havent seen it eat.

Im in Sydney unfortunately, Im just not prepared to pay over $100 for eggs that wouldnt even cover the end of a pencil. Now knowing about what to do with water changes Id say I'll have more success next hatching, & as I said, Im not really concerned if I only get a few each time. Until/if theres a Nemo 2 theres just not the demand for dozens every few weeks.
 

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