Breeding Journal, Species: A. ocellaris

General
Species: A. ocellaris
Social Structure: Mated pair
Size of Individuals: Female: 2.5" Male: 2"
Age of Individuals: Female probably 3yrs(ORA) Male probably2+yrs (Wild caught, Phillipines?)
Date added to Tank: 8-05-08

Broodstock Tank Details
Size of Tank: Standard 10G 
Substrate Details: Fine layer of black sand
Filtration Details: Plumed in central system. Approx 90G 
Water Changes: 30% bi-weekly
Water Temperature: 80-82F 
Lighting: Shop light
Lighting Cycle: 14hrs light, 10hrs dark
Other Tank Inhabitants:

Broodstock Feeding Details
Food Types: Various frozen foods including squid, bloodworms, krill, Spectrum pellets enriched with RatioHUFA
Feeding Schedule: Every 4 hours. 

Spawning Details
Date of First Spawn: 12-28-08 
Dates of Consecutive Spawns: Every 14-16 days 

Larval Tank Details
Temperature: 82F
Size of Larval Tank: Stand alone 10G
Substrate Details: None 
Other Tank Decor: Small piece of LR 
Filtration Details: None until day 14 when sponge filter is added.
Lighting: CF bulb with reflector 
Lighting Cycle: 14hrs light, 10hrs dark 
Water Changes: Siphon detritus and replace with fresh water from main system. 25% around day 14. 

Larval Feeding Details
Food Types: Rotifers through day 14, Otohime A and finely crushed flake foods start around day 5.  Cyclopeeze with garlic around day 14. 
Feeding Schedule: Every 4 hours.

Metamorphosis/Settlement
Date of Metamorphosis: Usually by day 9. 
Date of Settlement:  Usually by day 14.

Grow-Out Tank Details
Temperature: 80-82F 
Size of Grow-Out Tank: Standard 20G 
Substrate Details: Fine layer of black sand, small piece of LR. 
Other Tank Decor:
Filtration Details:  Plumbed into central system.  Approx 130G 
Lighting: Shop light 
Lighting Cycle: 14hrs light, 10hrs dark
Water Changes: 25% bi-weekly 
Size at Transfer: 1cm 
Age at Transfer: 21 days 

Grow-Out Feeding Details
Food Types: Crushed flake foods, small Spectrum pellets, cyclopeeze with garlic, enriched with RatioHUFA
Feeding Schedule: Every 4 hours. 

Additional Information
Miscellaneous Information:  First stripe appears around day 4, second stripe around day 14 and third stripe usually by day 21.

http://www.fishtalpropagations.com/#!home/mainPage
"Making captive breeding easier."

Broodstock:
 

 

 

http://www.fishtalpropagations.com/#!home/mainPage
"Making captive breeding easier."

Spawn:
 

 
Post Hatch:
 

 

 

 
5DPH
 

 
2nd stripe about 14DPH:
 

 
About 28DPH, just prior to transfer to grow out:
 

 
In grow out with A. percula and A. ocellaris Darwin (mis bars):
 

http://www.fishtalpropagations.com/#!home/mainPage
"Making captive breeding easier."

Could you explain what you do to keep the water quality good until day 14?  Just want to make sure I'm doing it right :-)

Sure.   First off, when I pull the eggs and put them in the hatch/rearing tank, I only fill it enough to cover the pot.  I usually don't do anything other than add rots and phyto for the first couple of days.  

Around the 4th day I'll start adding some water from the BS system, about a gallon a day, until the 10G is almost full.

Usually around the 7th day you'll want to start siphoning the detritus off the bottom, replacing siphoned water.  That should get you to the point when you can add the sponge filter.

If you see any mortality in the early days that indicates you need to do a water change.  Using a product like Amquel is also something I do when needed.

Water quality is going to be affected by how many eggs hatch.  If only a few hatch, maintaining water quality is easy... if you have a big hatch it's going to degrade more quickly. 

For the greenwater, I usually start out with live Nanno, supplemented with T-ISO Instant Algae.  
"Live" phyto helps with water quality but can alter pH at night.  IA won't alter pH but won't help with water quality either.  With my dottybacks I use "live" only because I light them 24/7.  I do use the IA to enrich the rotifers I feed them though to round out the lipid profile.

Hope that helps.  Let me know if you have any other questions.

http://www.fishtalpropagations.com/#!home/mainPage
"Making captive breeding easier."

Sorry to butt in..

Why do you only light the Dotty's 24/7 and not all of them?

Chad Penney - MBI Council
Agis quod Adis

There is no benefit to lighting clowns 24/7.  Dottys need to consume a LOT of rotifers, if copepods aren't available, so allowing them to feed 24/7 helps with that. 

http://www.fishtalpropagations.com/#!home/mainPage
"Making captive breeding easier."

Does it hurt though? I mean if it helps to hold PH more stable.

Chad Penney - MBI Council
Agis quod Adis

Can't say that it "hurts" but it's my feeling that they(clowns) need some down time.  Besides, they won't be feeding at night, just using energy.  I haven't found that clowns are bothered by pH swings as much as dottys.  

Clowns grow much faster than dottys, getting to meta much sooner.  Dottys grow slower and need to eat smaller foods for a longer period.  Make sense?

http://www.fishtalpropagations.com/#!home/mainPage
"Making captive breeding easier."

Ok....I was just wondering

Chad Penney - MBI Council
Agis quod Adis

for better growth rest is necessary, unless you are using growth hormones. Dottybacks die of shock if the lights go off suddenly, if you have a dimer that can mimic sunset they do fine, i raised about 250K outside before.

I removed the clay pots and replaced them with tiles last week.  The A. ocellaris didn't seem to like them but they were the first pair to start spawning again:






Much easier to see the eggs on the lighter colored tiles.

http://www.fishtalpropagations.com/#!home/mainPage
"Making captive breeding easier."

I moved the tile last night and got hatches right away.  This morning I had 99.9999% hatch. (1 egg didn't hatch)

I did have a bit of die off, I think I should have added rotifers last night since they started hatching early.  Next time I'll do that.

I am very happy with the results using the tiles.

http://www.fishtalpropagations.com/#!home/mainPage
"Making captive breeding easier."

I moved a tile this evening and snapped some pics. The clutch was rather sparse this time, possibly due to the heat this week.

http://www.fishtalpropagations.com/#!home/mainPage
"Making captive breeding easier."

As Adam pointed out yesterday my female looks like she's going to explode! I think she's going to lay the mother lode soon, what do you think?
 

http://www.fishtalpropagations.com/#!home/mainPage
"Making captive breeding easier."

And a few hours later...
 

http://www.fishtalpropagations.com/#!home/mainPage
"Making captive breeding easier."

I saw that coming... she was a monster!

-Adam

look at poor papa saying 'what am I suppose to do with this!!!' ......

Yeah, you pointed it out... Hopefully they're back in the groove now.

http://www.fishtalpropagations.com/#!home/mainPage
"Making captive breeding easier."