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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: [Amphiprion percula ]
Friday, July 8, 2011 7:44 AM
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Looks good so far. The clay pot had no dead ones left on it. Before I would typically have a handful left on the pot that were white in color but this time only empty egg casings. I also didn't notice very many dead on the floor of the tank. Therefore, I expected to see more larva swimming around but I only counted 35-40. It is a bit more difficult to count them because I choose to keep two air lines going(one under the heater and I stuck the one that was used for the pot against the side wall) at a gentle flow rate . I can see that when some larva get too close they will tumble away. I thought I would risk losing a few due to injury than losing all because of poor oxygenation (if that is my downfall in the past?, still not sure). I also choose to used course bubbles this time because this is the one variable that I wanted to change. I will keep updates coming today.
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: [Amphiprion percula ]
Saturday, July 9, 2011 9:18 AM
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Well, I'm past the 24 hour mark and I think I can say this is my most successful clutch to date. It's true that I had a few live to day 4 or 5 in the past but was only a couple larva. This time was a smaller clutch of eggs but I still have about 50 larva past 24 hours. Pretty much all I changed is that I am now using course air bubbles. I switch from micro bubbles because I really didn't know what else to try. I also only strained about 2.5 gallons of my rotifer culture to use in 5 gallons of larva water. I used to do at least 6 gallons of rotifer culture(strained). I still kept it 100% broodstock water. I wanted to try less variables to narrow down what is working and what isn't. Somebody on a different forum gave my some good suggestions and I will read through his journal and post here the other changes I will attempt.
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: [Amphiprion percula ]
Sunday, July 10, 2011 11:05 AM
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I had over 50 before I turned out the lights at midnight. I woke up, about 8am and could only count 21. I started a slow drip(1 drip every 30-40sec.) of brood stock water. I will remove about a gallon and add a gallon by this method each day. What do you think?
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: [Amphiprion percula ]
Sunday, July 10, 2011 3:37 PM
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If your getting so many dieing off so quickly when do you add rots? immediately or the morning after hatch? Also you say you have cut down the amount of rot culture you are adding to the tank, but it's the density that is important. Might be worth checking water params when so many die too see if this is the issue. Also trying to get a handle on the density of the rots , not just the volume of water strained.
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: [Amphiprion percula ]
Sunday, July 10, 2011 7:51 PM
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I most recently tried adding the rots in morning about 8 hours after hatching. I would describe the density of rotifers in the larva tank at 1-2 per length of larva. To tell the truth I haven't checked water parameters besides temp. and specific gravity. Most of the time I lost the clutch with 24 hours. I wouldn't think water quality could be so bad in such a short period of time. This is another reason I decided to be proactive with water changes. I plan on doing a 20% waterchange daily. Should I test for more than ammonia? Somebody told me that the first 8-10 clutches of breeding clowns would be unviable. Any truth to this? I believe I am around the 8th.
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: [Amphiprion percula ]
Sunday, July 10, 2011 10:24 PM
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So you are about day 3 ish now? I would think that by the 8th-ish clutch the eggs should be fine. Are you turning the lights off at night? I personally do not turn off the lights til the larva hit meta, it allows the weak feeders the opportunity to be better feeders. I seem to remember reading somewhere that you have approx 72 hours post hatch for the babies to be proficient or you can have higher mortality. If you are about 72 hours and experiencing higher deaths I would look at lighting also. I appears that this has been your best clutch yet so we are in the right direction.
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: [Amphiprion percula ]
Sunday, July 10, 2011 10:33 PM
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I don't want to complicate things here but, with my clowns, I run them on a 14hr lighting schedule from day 1. On the contrary, I light my dottyback larvae 24/7 until meta.
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: [Amphiprion percula ]
Monday, July 11, 2011 12:17 PM
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Day #4- Larva count:21 Recap-So 48 hours post hatch I decided to turn out the lights for 8 hours. I lost over 50%. I have not turned out the lights since (24 hours/day) and I haven't lost any. I know other factors are included but this is my experience. I did a 20% water change yesterday and plan on doing another one today. This is day #4 and I have 21 larva alive. They seem to be slowly moving around the tank and I will see one dart about 2" once in a while. Although, mostly they seem to be floating in the same spot. Rot density is still good with the addition of more roti-green last night. Now, the water is clear enough to see the bottom of the tank but no larva are swimming against the sides. I want to keep the rotifers nutritionally packed so maybe I will add some more roti-grow for the rest of today and attempt to transfer into a Otohime A tomorrow. They don't look interested today in the OA. I appreciate everybody's input and please don't feel that I'm ignoring your advice. As you can see everybody has different ways of doing things and I will try them all. The great part about it is if one thing doesn't work for me I can try another way. Thanks again and updates to come. On a side note, I'm glad to have some progress with success. I know I have a long way to go but.......
<message edited by BriGuy31+ on Monday, July 11, 2011 5:27 PM>
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: [Amphiprion percula ]
Monday, July 11, 2011 3:58 PM
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Glad to see your making progress Bri. Keep it up and it will eventually come together. You are right,we all have our own little rituals and ways of doing things. Its the pooling of ideas that makes this site so great!
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: [Amphiprion percula ]
Monday, July 11, 2011 4:06 PM
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When you start the OtoA, do it sparingly. I just drop a tiny bit on the surface and swish a little around in the water with my fingers. Don't overfeed at this point when they aren't all eating it. I usually try once a day until I see most of them eating it.
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: [Amphiprion percula ]
Tuesday, July 12, 2011 10:24 PM
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Day #5(night of)- Larva count:21-22 Looking good so far. Larva look to have full bellies. These are my first so I think that's what I'm seeing, a slight bulge in the abdominal area. I also can start to see an orange tint to some of them . Still on rotifers, I tried Otohime A several times today. A very small amount on the surface and some in the water column. No larva seem to be interested. Although, it's hard for me to notice a difference between Oto A and rotifers, so I don't know how they can. Should I clear up the water with a sponge filter before trying Otohime A? I just notice that none come from even an inch away to get any Oto A. I even let the water clear up a bit. I added more roti-green tonight and will try Oto A again tomorrow. I did a one gallon water change on day #4 with broodstock water. I used a rigid tube to scrape the bottom after a syphon was started. And today I just added a gallon to increase total water to about 6 gallons.
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: [Amphiprion percula ]
Tuesday, July 12, 2011 10:27 PM
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Don't over do the OtoA. It usually takes them a couple of days to take it. I cut back on the RGreen when they are eating the Oto and then add the sponge filter around day 7-10.
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: [Amphiprion percula ]
Tuesday, July 12, 2011 10:33 PM
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Thanks Tal. I am using a very small amount, just enough to coat about 1/8 of a finger tip. That stuff really goes a long way once it hits the water. Will rotifers be an OK food source until day 10, given it takes that long to get them on Otohime A? When I do wean them onto Oto A, how many times per day should I feed?
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: [Amphiprion percula ]
Tuesday, July 12, 2011 10:55 PM
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As long as you're using RotiGreen to keep the rots fed and reproducing they will be fine until the larvae transition over to the Oto A. When you have them eating the Oto A I'd suggest feeding 4X per day if possible.
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: [Amphiprion percula ]
Thursday, July 14, 2011 10:05 AM
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Update: I went back and counted how many spawns I've had. I will try to label them this in order to keep things straight. Clutch #8 is on day #7. It appears as if I still have 21-22 larva. They are acting a bit weird and I will post a video I took last night. They have been hanging out on the sides, not really swimming into the sides just kind of resting. My video will show my roti-green concentration, I think it is close enough. Maybe a light cycle of 24/7 is catching up to them and they are tired. Like going out to the bar for a week straight........so I've heard. Clutch #9 was spawned on 7/13/11. This one looks much larger and better uniformity.
<message edited by BriGuy31+ on Thursday, July 14, 2011 4:35 PM>
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: [Amphiprion percula ]
Thursday, July 14, 2011 11:45 AM
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Here is the video of Clutch #8 taken the night of day#6. What do you think? None died over the night and at least half are back in the water column. Sorry about the focusing, I had to switch to manual.....I really need a tripod. http://www.metacafe.com/w...iprion_percula_day_6/#
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: [Amphiprion percula ]
Thursday, July 14, 2011 3:34 PM
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They look really good. Nice job.
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: [Amphiprion percula ]
Thursday, July 14, 2011 6:25 PM
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Looking Good Brian. I would say you have plenty of roti-green in the tank. I would maybe even start backing it off a little. Call me old school but I still feed bbs to my clowns from about day 5-6 to about day 14 while i'm weaning onto Oto A. They will typically always take to the bbs and quiker than Oto and it fills them more while they're adjusting. I know that there are people that do not use bbs anymore ( I think Tal goes straight from rotifers to Oto A.) but the last clutch I raised I had a 99% survival after 24 hours so I do what works for me
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: [Amphiprion percula ]
Saturday, July 16, 2011 7:26 PM
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Clutch #8 Day #9- Larva count: at least 20 Maybe I will try bbs sometime. It looks as if they are taking to the Otohime A. I haven't add anymore roti-green since yesterday afternoon and the water is clearing up, although the rots are still there. Should I try to get most out because they might not not nutritious for much longer? I notice a definite change in body shape in all but only 1 has a white stripe. It looks as if another two larva might be forming their first stripe very soon. Shall I start doing water changes and add my sponge filter? I will post some pictures of the settlement soon. I would prefer they all have stripes before claiming settlement but I officially have at least one that is post-meta. Thanks for all the help. My next clutch is at least twice the size and I hope to have more clownfish than I know what to do with. This brings up different issues but one step at a time right now.
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: [Amphiprion percula ]
Saturday, July 16, 2011 7:31 PM
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Congrats! I've never had a problem letting the rots just get eaten up or die off. I add a sponge filter a few days after meta is complete. Siphon detritus as needed and replace with new SW.
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