Breeding Journal, Species: Amphiprion percula (Picasso variant)

General
Species:  Amphiprion percula, both Grade B picasso
Social Structure:  Mated pair
Size of Individuals:  male ~2", female ~2.75"
Age of Individuals:  both about 2 years old
Date added to Tank:  3/31/2009

Broodstock Tank Details
Size of Tank:  50 gallon, 16 gallon sump
Substrate Details: Caribsea special grade reef sand 
Filtration Details:  Bubble Magus NAC-6
Water Changes: 5 gallons weekly (more like biweekly)
Water Temperature:  79-80 F
Lighting:  AquaIllumination 12" Sol Blue LED at ~46%
Lighting Cycle:  9am-8:30pm
Other Tank Inhabitants:  orange spotted shrimp goby, mystery wrasse, algae blenny, tiger pistol shrimp

Broodstock Feeding Details
Food Types: Frozen Krill, cyclops, Rod's Food(coral,fish only and fish egg blends), Spectrum Thera +A, Coral Frenzy

Feeding Schedule:  1-2 times per day. One frozen treat as mentioned above and some pellets

Spawning Details
Date of First Spawn: 7/01/2011
Spawn Time of Day:  4pm
Dates of Consecutive Spawns: 
Courtship Details:  they always have been "bickering" and I hadn't noticed anything different, both host in 75 head duncan
Egg Size:  ~1mm
Egg Color:  bright orange
Egg Count:  about 200

Hatch Details
Hatch Date:  7/8/2011
Hatch Time of Day:  12:00am
# Days after Spawn:  8 days
Larvae Description:  ? about 1cm. swimming upright

Larval Tank Details
Temperature:  79-80F
Size of Larval Tank:  10
Substrate Details:  barebottom
Other Tank Decor:  none
Filtration Details:  water changes
Lighting:  basic room light
Lighting Cycle: 24/0 for the first 5 days
Water Changes: 20% every other day

Larval Feeding Details
Food Types:  rotifers in roti-green
Feeding Schedule:  once, or as needed

Metamorphosis/Settlement
Date of Settlement Start:  07/16/2011
Days after Hatch:  8
Date of Settlement End:  07/20/2011
Description of Fry:  20 fry, about 5-6mm. first head stripe on 70%. I noticed a few larva darting about. Some appeared to race around with their heads out of the water like a boat would be sailing across the water. Further inspection revealed some pigment change in the form of their first white stripe. The juveniles will case each other around and become a little territorial. During the days12-16 I noticed a few bent tails, a sign of meta. I also witnessed, what is my opinion is, the development of at least one platinum. Photos and video are in post #128. Please let me know what other info is normally presented with settlement.

Grow-Out Tank Details
Temperature:  80F
Size of Grow-Out Tank:  20g
Substrate Details:  Barebottom
Other Tank Decor:  PVC connectors
Filtration Details:  40B sump, ATB 840 skimmer, 15g fuge
Lighting:  2x39w shop light
Lighting Cycle:  16on/8off
Water Changes:  10% monthly or as needed
Size at Transfer:  1/4"
Age at Transfer:  4 weeks

Grow-Out Feeding Details
Food Types:  Otohime TD in various sizes
Feeding Schedule:  3-4 times per day

Additional Information

(No Pictures or Videos in the Section Please)
Miscellaneous Information: 



You will be required to provide photographic or video evidence in this thread of each event submitted for the MBI Program.
If your thread does not contain these photos the MBI Committee will not be able to approve your reports. PHOTOS AND VIDEO S MUST BE PLACED IN ADDITIONAL POSTS, NEVER IN THE FIRST POST IN A JOURNAL.

This is my first spawn!! I am trying to learn as much as possible. I had bought this pair when they were very young with hopes of one day breeding them. I will have a ton of questions and I hope to find other that will help a newbie out. I am planning  my grow out system and food culture system with a budget in mind. Thank you for your time and I look forward to this journey ahead. Here are some pictures of my grade B picassos.

Beautiful pair
 
(how are they graded to a B? I have babies, about 4 months old now....how do I know what grade they will be? they were not graded when purchased, they came from ProAquatix via a LFS)
 
Cannot wait to follow your thread

Michelle  
 

Thank you. I expect hatching any day now but I will let this first clutch go. I should be ready for the next batch. 
Here is a copied statement from fishtalpropagations.com- Grade A Picasso has at least two bars connecting on both sides. Grade B's have two bars connecting on one side.
 
 
 
 

Nice photos! That male is looking very fierce.

--Andy, the bucket man.
"Not to know the mandolin is to argue oneself unknown...." --Clara Lanza, 1886

Those are some seriously pretty clownfish!

BTW, I didn't make that up myself, I copied the description parameters from Doni's site.

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

Yes thank you both- I have looked at Tal's site, (lol it is still up on my computer as I am following what to do as the days come according to his info, haha ) And I have also looked at Doni's site... I will need to wait until they have their patterns in fully I guess before I can figure it out
 
I notice that your eggs seem to be grouped more closely together than mine were...
Is that a picasso trait?

Michelle  
 

Thank you everyone. I am very excited to try and raise some beautiful fish to help save wild capture.
I'm not sure on density of the egg formation being a picasso trait. It seems to be a large first batch to me but I'm not sure if I just missed some spawns or not.
Fishtal- I hope it was ok for me to copy and paste from your website.

Well, as of 2/08/11 at 11:20pm the eggs have not hatched. I can see silver bodies and eyes looking back at me. Kind-of makes me sad to let them hatch in the display tank to be eaten. So this is day 9 since noticing the eggs and they still haven't hatched. I hope this is not a sign of problems.

No worries, just wanted to clarify.

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

Hatch time!! 02/09/11 12:55am. Next batch is all mine. I let this one go to prep and give them a chance at learning to keep them clean.

Did you get a vid of the hatch?

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

 
No, I didn't. I was live chatting on this site and missed all the action. Most I saw was a few left swimming in the water column. I guess this disqualifies me from earning any points, huh?

OK, here is some pictures of my first clutch 7 days after they were laid.
 

 

 
 
They hatched on day 9 and were left in my display on purpose.

I see little eyes! Hatch time is soon.

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

I spent two days trying to prop up a piece of tile for my clowns to use next time. Long story short is that I decided to use clay pots. I went to Home Depot and bought three different sizes in order to find on the 1.fit on the rock 2.would allow myself to keep the hosting duncan colony close 3. didn't block the light for the duncan 4. was large enough for my fish.
I figured that I had a few days to work on this considering that the last clutch just hatched two days ago..........wrong. My clowns spawned again!!!! I thought they would spawn 7-10 AFTER hatching but I guess it is 7-10 days from spawning. Here is some shots of the latest spawn. They mostly used a frag plug holder that I can switch out but I'm not sure how to set the eggs up once in the hatching tank in order to have bubbles go over them. Any suggestions? They seem to like this spot and if you can't tell in the pictures, only a few eggs are on the actual frag plug. So by removing the frag plug station I should be able to remove 95% of the eggs into the larva tank. Do you think I should just stick with the frag plug station as their spawn site?
 

 

 

 

 

 
Side note: I can't figure out how to time stamp my photos. Should I do it manually in photoshop?

Now that I am planning on pulling this clutch and trying to raise them I feel like I am watching them like a hawk. It is 5 days post spawn and here is the picture just taken. It took 9 days last time for them to hatch. But this looks like they can go any day. What are your opinions on how close these are to hatching? Should I wait another few days? This is the first day that I can really see their eyes.
 

 

Really nice pic! IMO, they still have a couple of days to go. The eyes are a good sign but the rest of the egg sac will get more clear as they approach hatch time. Unless your temp is higher than last time they will probably hatch after the same number of days post spawn.

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

Thanks Tal. I'll sit on my hands for a few more days....lol. I was surprised on how well this picture came out, and I only took two. Usually, I don't take the greatest pictures but I guess I got lucky. Thanks again for all the advice.

Alright, I just pulled this clutch as I'm expecting them to hatch tonight or tomorrow. How does this airflow look? I should add the roti-green so I can't see the bottom of a 10 gallon tank with 5" of water? Should my concentration of rots be similar to my culture bucket? I don't have a way to measure rots per ml. Here is a quick video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-9P1qtTavQ
 

I would slow it down just a bit. Don't want them to get knocked around too much.
 
You can add the RotiGreen now or wait until the morning if you prefer. Yes, RotiGreen should be dense enough that you can't quite see the bottom.
 
Rotifer density should be high enough that you can see them throughout the tank. I add the rotifers before the RotiGreen so I can see how the density looks. With both the RotiGreen and rotifer densities I eyeball it.
 
One tip: Don't shine a light on the eggs at this point, it can cause them not to hatch. After I transfer them I darken the tank completely. Good luck!

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

Good morning
So how are the larvae doing? Did they all hatch?
Any new pics this morning?
 
Have I mentioned I LOVE your pair, lol- the coloration is very nice
Can't wait to see the babies

Michelle  
 

Only one hatched out last night. I think this was due to too much airflow over the eggs??? All the others are still looking good from what I can tell. I added the gotigreen and rots last night and I'm hoping that the extra time in the larva tank won't cause water quality issues. There were a few eggs laid on the frag plug of the hosting duncan that was left in the display tank. Those eggs have not hatched either. I'm putting my money on tonight. Here is a short video and picture of the one that came out last night. I shot this before Tal suggested that I shouldn't be shining a flashlight in there......opps. I am learning the ins and outs and I appreciate tips like that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80f8GuVgFmE

Thank you for the compliment on my fish. I really enjoy them. I hope to pass on the offspring for other to enjoy as well.

Day one post hatch. I am a bit disappointed because most did not make it. I am not really sure why, so I am looking for help to identify my problems. I understand only so much can be explained on my practice so I'll try to do this as well as possible.
 
I measured the specific gravity on my rot culture(which was about 1.021) and decided to make the larval tank only slightly higher to avoid shock to the rots. I settled on about 1.0215 specific gravity for my larval tank. I first transferred the eggs from my display tank of a SG of 1.0255, without acclimating them, because I thought they would be able to withstand the transfer "cold turkey". It turns out that I believe that I moved them into the display a night too early, so it took two day to hatch in the larval tank. Temp was kept the same at 79F. One the first night I also added my rot culture and rotigreen. I think I was pretty close on the correct amount(see attachments). Although, the water was more cloudy the day before and a lot of rotigreen settled to the floor. I am suspecting fungus but I might be wrong. What do you think? As of now, I only see 2-3 that are alive
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuuxi_3Mzmk

After quick inspection, the few eggs that were left on the frag plug within the display tank have not hatched either. Possibly this could indicate an unhealthy clutch all the way around???

It's hard to tell in the vid and pics but the RotiGreen and rotifer density seems low. RotiGreen shouldn't settle, you might try swishing it around a bit when you add it. You may also want to increase the airflow to keep the water moving. FWIW, eggs that have fungused will appear cloudy. 

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

Well, I'm not sure what I did with the rotigreen. I did mix it pretty well and the water was hard to see through at first. Maybe next time I will add a second air stone to keep water moving. I only see one larva alive now. I hope to have been success on my next try. I tried to get a good shot of the eggs lying on the floor of the tank. I'm not sure I would call them cloudy but I would say they are white with eyes, so I know they died(most likely before hatching). Thanks.

If the eggs aren't attached to the rock anymore it's not a good sign. Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it.  

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

Spawn date: 3/14/11 at 4:00pm.......
 
They finally moved their spawn site into the clay pot. I glued some rocks together in order to wedge the pot into place. Now I realize that the pot is a horrible angle to see the eggs, never mind photographing them......I hope that I can adjust the pot on the next switch'o-roo without causing another month long break.

I was not expecting the eggs to hatch until tomorrow but it turns out that they hatched last night. So hatch date will be called the night of 3/21/11 (unknown time). The temp did not change but I believe the flow was decreased due to using the clay pot this time around. Before, when the eggs were on the frag disk I could see then moving around much more. Now inside the clay pot, they were noticeably calmer. Next time I will plan on pulling them at 7 days post spawn.

Spawn date March 25 at 2pm. I am excited for this batch. It looks to be almost double the size of any other spawn to date. I hope to have some success with this clutch. I switched out clay pots (identical ones) even though I mis-timed pulling the last one. Now they have laid eggs on both pots and shouldn't get spooked anymore.

Well, back to the drawing board. Another clutch didn't hatch out very well at all. I only see two larva alive and the rest of the eggs turned white. They were still sticking to the pot but were very easily brushed off once I noticed that they were all white. The only two possible issues I can see right now is with temperature and specific gravity. A heater is set at 82 but the thermometer reads 77. My reef tank (were the broadstock and eggs are kept until hatch night)is kept at 78-79. I also dilute the seawater from 1.026 down to 1.022 to better match the specific gravity of my rotifer culture. I heard that the eggs are not effected by shifts in SG as much as the rots but maybe this is were I'm going wrong. I waited to start the greenwater until the morning in order to assess the situation but I am having problems before hatch so food quality isn't my problem......yet. I'm hoping to find a "duh" kind if solution here. Here is another picture . I will read up some more and try to identify my issues. Right now I suspect SG shift to be my worse problem. I kept an air stone inside the pot to directly flow over the eggs but move it for the picture. Thank you.
 

Newest spawn: 4/7/11 8:10pm.
 
I have bought a bottle of Formalin to dip the eggs next time around. Should I just follow the directions on the box? I states when used for a dip that it should be used for 50 min. Shall I dip for that long?

I did a formalin dip for adult fish at the rate of 1ml per gallon of water. Not sure the strength and length of time for eggs though.

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

Is the position of the eggs in the picture (8 o'clock it appears) the same as when you were aerating?  If so then you were probably having issues keeping them sufficiently moving/clean.  If possible try to put them at 12 and they should be easier to aerate.  Did you try an in-tank hatch to see if they have the same issue?  That may help point to egg issues or environmental causes.

^Thanks for your reply. I had the eggs placed at the 12 o'clock position while aerating them. I bought a nice micro bubble air stone that covered 95% of the eggs directly. I also let the first clutch hatch in my reef tank. I missed most of the active hatch session but did notice 4-5 larva still swimming in the water column. The spawn site was clear and no white eggs were observed floating around or on the substrate.

I am considering doing another in tank(display) hatch to confirm an egg issue or larva tank/transfer issue. Here is a shot 8 days post spawn. Do these eggs look OK to you? I know this isn't the best picture, sorry!

from what I see that's what mine look like. They should hatch tonight if it's been 8 days shouldn't they?

RLTW

180 Gallon Mixed Reef

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" Isaiah 6:8