Clownfish eggs!!!!!!!

[Akshay]

Ok so a few batches down now... Had hatchlings of batch no.6 a couple of days ago.

Some basic info on how it happens :
1. Hatch night is always night of day 8.
2. Time of hatch depends solely on lights, as soon as lights go off, the eggs hatch within half an hour.
3. Hatchlings are completely free swimming and tend to go towards the light and stay at the surface of the water.
4. Need immediate feeding.

Here is a pic of the just hatched fry. As my holding tank is submerged within the sump (to keep water parameters the same), I have unfortunately lost all of them, mostly they would have slipped out of the holding tank into the sump. So some design changes now required for their holding tank.

 

[DianaKay]

Thanks for sharing the info & picture of them...so very tiny they are!
Looks like you are getting closer to raising a few with perhaps a very fine netting maybe ?? Then comes feeding issues. All lots of work but very interesting.

 

[Akshay]

Thanks Diana... for now it's jst an education curve... one step at a time.
Any progress with your pair?

 

[DianaKay]

Thanks Diana... for now it's jst an education curve... one step at a time.
Any progress with your pair?

My pair are still just "clowning around" :LOL: They guard, clean & wiggle in their little clay pot like it was full of golden eggs but I haven't see any eggs yet.
My cherub angel has been harassing them real often and they stay busy keeping him away with bites & chases.
I think I've given up on them actually spawning.
I'm glad you are keeping this thread updated...love hearing about your eggs & it's so AWESOME you actually had some live baby clowns

 

[Akshay]

Here is batch 7....due anytime soon for hatching.

So now have raised the holding tank in the sump itself, so water parameters & temp remains the same & they cant get out.
Small aeration tube for water movement. Now fingers crossed.

 

[lbiminiblue]

Don't let a barracuda get too close to them. That tends to end up badly, as far as father-son relationships go.

 

[lbiminiblue]

Now that's a good idea!! Raising clowns in your sump. Super cool.

 

[Oxylebius]

Update?

 

[Akshay]

Still missing out on the timing. Got them out too early at afternoon of day 8!
Thought would be safe, but it didn't work out. Only a few hatched, rest just didn't.
New Strategy : Wait till night 8, switch off lights & wave maker & wait till they hatch in the main tank itself.
Pick them out one by one, once they hatch and transfer to holding tank in sump.

This is frustrating.

 

[Blue Space]

you'll get the hang of it and soon you'll be swimming in clownfish fry.

 

[mikethebike7]

It looks like the anemone is oohing and aahing over the clutch of eggs.

 

[Akshay]

Thanks Chris, kinda getting the hang of it... still a long way to go...
Mike the anemone is gone... it was artificially colored! Not buying anything anymore from the LFS guy who sold it to me.

These are from the Xmas batch that hatched on 25th Dec... 6 made it to day 11. I still have not managed to find any rotifers in my area
Over the weekend (day 11-12) one started metamorphasizing into a proper clownfish... You can see the first black lined white stripe appear behind the eyes..
He was kind of down during this phase, sitting at the bottom of the tank, not eating and very little movement.

Today the second stripe has become much more prominent and now he looks pretty much like a baby clownfish!!!
Swimming around now in the water column and eating whatever brine shrimp comes his way.

Out of the remainder 5, 3 have started the metamorphasis process last night.
The entire process looks very draining on them. So fingers crossed that they all pull out of it.

 

[ziggy]

sounds really fascinating. keep your fingers crossed

 

[Snelly40]

so cool!!! surprised theyre hosting in a condy but that's awesome!!!

 

[Oxylebius]

Yeah, fingers crossed. Thanks for the update.

 

[whippetguy]

you may get votes for cutest photo for the month with these little guys. I'm so glad some are surviving for you.

 

[ziggy]

how soon did you remove the lave after hatching?

 

[lbiminiblue]

Are you going to sell them?

 

[Oxylebius]

I bought my clowns locally from someone who raised them - $25 each for black and white clowns! They were 5 months old and tiny but stable. They had just started eating regular food (not just roties and brine). So, you have a several months to go keeping these cuties alive.

 

[Akshay]

how soon did you remove the lave after hatching?

I transferred the rock at the night of the hatching. After so many failures, now I know it's exactly the 8th night from laying that they hatch.
They hatch about 3-4 hrs after a full blck out of lights.