Clownfish eggs - now what?

[mafrank101]

A few weeks ago my clownfish laid a clutch of eggs that I failed miserably in raising (one hatched and lived for a couple of days).

I thought this was an anomaly, but now they've laid another clutch. I've done some research on the internet, and it looks like to have any success in raising the young, I need a setup to raise algae and rotifers. I don't have the time right now to do this, and was wondering if anyone has had any success in raising clownfish without rotifers?

I bought some frozen rotifers, but obviously those didn't seem to work last time. It seems like I need to feed them rotifers for the first 10 days or so before I can switch to brine shrimp. Anybody have any tips/ideas?

Thanks

 

[mmkeeper]

elmo18 is the master.

 

[diablo]

tagging along... i will post my exp later today.

 

[Rod Buehler]

A few weeks ago my clownfish laid a clutch of eggs that I failed miserably in raising (one hatched and lived for a couple of days).

I thought this was an anomaly, but now they've laid another clutch. I've done some research on the internet, and it looks like to have any success in raising the young, I need a setup to raise algae and rotifers. I don't have the time right now to do this, and was wondering if anyone has had any success in raising clownfish without rotifers?

I bought some frozen rotifers, but obviously those didn't seem to work last time. It seems like I need to feed them rotifers for the first 10 days or so before I can switch to brine shrimp. Anybody have any tips/ideas?

Thanks

Rotifers arent hard (their actually simple) but getting them "going" takes a little time. Feeding the rotifers can be the hard part. They feed on phytoplankton. Many people culture their own phyto, but to me its not worth it.. I feed my rotifers the algae paste from Reeds mariculture (rotifer diet) or DTs phytoplankton.

If you are going to continue your attempts to raise clownfishes, you will want to culture rotifers yourself (its easy).. Not order new ones for every batch

It will take a few days to get the cultures up to a density that you can harvest every day, but once you do, you should harvest about 1/3 to 1/2 of you culture every day.. Top off the culture vessel with new salt water (1.015 - 1.020) and then top off with some phytoplankton (enough to tint the whole vessel pretty green. The next day, your rotifers will have consumed all of the phyto (clear water in the vessels) and doubled their population.. HArvest 1/3 1/2 ... top off with salt water.. top off with phyto...

Below are a few pics of my vessels. One of these should be more than enough for your single pair

At harvest time, I open the valve for a very brief second to flush any of the crap out that has settled... Then I hold my rotifer sieve under the valve.. open the valve to let the water /rotifers out, the rotifers will collect into the sieve, and the water into a bucket. when you have drained about 1/3 of the water, close the valve.. top off, and feed

Then feed the rotifers to the fry.. tint the fry water green with phyto

Joyce Wilkerson's Clownfishes book is a must!