Setting up a fish breedery

[Fearlessmoto]

This is a thread for any basement breeders to post their pics of their breederies, successes, tips, etc.

 

[Bainic]

Funny that you mention this! I just recently (tried) to start raising my clownfish eggs. I got the setup, 10gallon, airpump, heater, all with water from my main tank, and put the tile with eggs on it into the tank. Out of the maybe 80 eggs that were laid I could only count about 12 fry that hatched. I started feeding them regularly, and got to about day 5 when they started dying off. Once they had all died, I was trying to figure out why? I vacuumed the tank out everyday, fed regularly, but the only conclusion that I could come to was that all of the eggs that didn't hatch (which I left in the tank on the tile), somehow once they died started to foul the water.

Fortunately my clowns lay eggs frequently so I will try again.

 

[Fearlessmoto]

what kind of lighting do you use?, do you use a sump with protien skimmer,or do water changes?, also WHAT do you feed them?, sounds familiar to a few dieoff stories I heard on the rare clown forum. this info could help get an answer to your problem

 

[clownfish152089]

I would use no protein skimmer in the fry tank; and you feed them live rotifers and I can post some pics if you guy teach me how because I'm new to this web site

 

[Fearlessmoto]

I would use no protein skimmer in the fry tank; and you feed them live rotifers and I can post some pics if you guy teach me how because I'm new to this web site

I use a protein skimmer in the sump of my system, the overflows of my system have a very small micron screen over them and the return pump has a ball valve for each tank so i can turn down the flow to nothing when fry are in and max it out when it is empty to keep it clean, the protien skimmer really minimizes water changes, in some cases I dont have to do any(believe me I keep a real close eye on water quality, I test my system at least once a day.)

 

[vwmoneypit]

I think he is talking about a seperate tank all together for his fry the lay in the main then puts them in the litle ten gal..But i will be onboard with this one guys ..I am trying to find the nitch here in spokane to take off a buisness to make a living out of this..We should also make mention to all the feeding ideas that go along with the fry making it!For this I hope we can get some seasoned reefers to help us out on this..I am thinking myself of trying to get these fry to make it!

 

[clownfish152089]

moneypit did you go to the web site yet because it is hard to raise clownfish it took me many times to try to raise the fry's and I still haven't had the best results with them !

your clownfish will spawn every 7-14 days so don't worry

 

[vwmoneypit]

Yeah i did i wil make some progress in that area when i get the frag setup ready !I will post some pics of my refuge as i go !

 

[Fearlessmoto]

I think he is talking about a seperate tank all together for his fry the lay in the main then puts them in the litle ten gal..But i will be onboard with this one guys ..I am trying to find the nitch here in spokane to take off a buisness to make a living out of this..We should also make mention to all the feeding ideas that go along with the fry making it!For this I hope we can get some seasoned reefers to help us out on this..I am thinking myself of trying to get these fry to make it!

I know, i was just giving a suggestion, the seperate tank will work just fine as long as the parameters are kept the same as the parent tank and he does regular water changes, It is hard raising the fry at first and takes a lot of practice to get it right,even the pros dont have a high percentage(maybe 50-70%survival to 2 weeks)

 

[vwmoneypit]

So from I see the eggs to when do u swap them into the other tank ?And how long till hatch.What lighting needed..ect..TEACH ME !

 

[Fearlessmoto]

I leave them in the parent tank untill hatch night, varies from 5-7 days depending on species, normally when the eye spots show., for more info, read Clownfishes by Joyce D. Wilkerson, or conditioning,spawninig and rearing of marine fish by Hoff.

 

[Bainic]

Ok, I'm on the next batch now. Yes seperate 10g tank, no skimmer. Only have a heater, air pump, and a small power head in there. I only turn the power head on during the daytime before any fry have hatched.

So here's my dilemna now, I put the current batch in my fry tank about 2 days ago anticipating a hatch (yes, I saw eyes on the eggs). I didn't turn the power head on the first day. No hatch the next morning. After the first day I started to notice some of the eggs in the center of the batch started turning a whiteish color. Day 2 and even more of them are the whiteish color. No hatch yet. The only thing that I can think is that, when a male clownfish tends to the eggs, he circulates the water around the eggs and supplies them with fresh oxygen, they didn't get that "circulation" for the first day in the fry tank, the only water movement was from the air stone. Any thoughts?

 

[clownfish152089]

hear look at this video http://www.vimeo.com/3140042 and go to this website for more info http://www.marinebreeder.org/ but I would not use a power head it would kill them

 

[Bainic]

I didn't have the power head on all the time, only during daytime hours before any of the fry have hatched (but not the first day).

Thanks clownfish152089 for the video, I'm still learning so every bit of information helps. I will succeed - one of these days!

 

[vwmoneypit]

I would say just use a air stone watch it put it near the fry so the current upflo is near it..get creative.

 

[vwmoneypit]

wow that vids say a hole lot of things w/o having to say nothing

 

[Fearlessmoto]

you need water circulation over the eggs, when they turn white like that it means they are dead, when the male hovers over the eggs he is fanning them with his pectoral fins. an airstone placed near the eggs, NOT RIGHT NEXT to them but near them should stop this. they NEED continuos water circulation and proper oxygen levels in order to get to hatching, this is your first big challenge as a breeder:getting your eggs to hatch.
good luck!

 

[jag3534]

How long can it take b4 your clowns start spawning (or know they will do so?) I have had my pair for 2/3 mos, i can see that one has become the female, i dont have an anenome(not enough light). I should probably just go find a good book huh? any good sugg? thanks

 

[vwmoneypit]

Well I have to say I have had mine about 3 years and they just started to do so ..They are also 5 yrs or so old!I think it is based off two things Age and tanksetup...!

 

[jag3534]

Wow! i didnt realize it could be so long. Saltwater sure is interesting. When we had a fresh setup with gouramis, mollies, & something else, those stupid mollys would kill anything in the tank, then keep reproducing!!! We started with 3, and had around 50 when we switched to SW. I think the added degree of difficulty keeps the SW fun. You have to TRY, u know?