Breeding Journal, Species: Amphiprion Ocellaris

General
Species:  Amphiprion Ocellaris Female is Regular, the Male is Misbar 
Social Structure: mated pair 
Size of Individuals:  Male 2.5" Female 3.25" 
Age of Individuals:   2 to 3 years 
Date added to Tank:  5-01-11,  Update on 3-18-12 Moved to Brood system 10-01-2011 

Broodstock Tank Details
Size of Tank: The clowns are in a 90 gallon refugium which is part of a 180 display, 100 gallon sump and 40 gallon "extra" tank. Update on 3-18-12 10 gallon aquarium connected to 7 other 10 gallon tanks and a 30 gallon sump. 
Substrate Details: 1" Special Grade crushed coral   Update on 3-18-12 none
Filtration Details:  Update on 3-18-12 50 lbs LR, Cheato, Eshopps PSK 150 skimmer, 3 gallons of bioballs. 
Water Changes:  70 gallons ever 4 weeks.  Update on 3-18-12 20 gallons every 2 weeks
Water Temperature: 80
Lighting: Single 32 watt flourescent shop light
Lighting Cycle: On 14 off 10
Other Tank Inhabitants: nothing

Broodstock Feeding Details
Food Types:  Prime Reef flake, Formula 1 pellet, Frozen Brine Shrimp with Kent Zoe and Garlic Extreme, Angel and Butterfly mix frozen, New Life Spectrum flake.  Update on 3-18-12  New Life Spectrum flake and small fish pellet, Formula 1 pellet, Formula 2 flake, Red algae sheets used for sushi, regular frozen mysis, SF Bay Brine shrimp, H2O Life coral food (frozen copepods, baby brine), fresh farm raised shrimp, frozen clam, frozen squid, frozen mussel, fresh salmon, Garlic Extreme, Kent Zoe and Zoecon.  All blended together and frozen in ziplock bags. 
 
Feeding Schedule:  Formula 1, 3 x day, Brine Shrimp 1-2 times a day and the rest mixed in on rotating days. Update on 3-18-12  Formula 1 first feeding, frozen mix 3 x after that.  

Spawning Details
Date of First Spawn:  9-17-11 
Spawn Time of Day: 10 p.m. 
Dates of Consecutive Spawns:  9-17-11, 9-28-11, 10-14-11, 10-28-11, 11-9-11, 11-21-11, 12-5-11, 12-30-11, 1-10-12, 1-22-12, 2-3-12, 2-15-12, 2-26-12, 3-9-12, 3-21-12 
Courtship Details:  Not witnessed 
Egg Size:  About the size of a small grain of rice? 
Egg Color:  Orange 
Egg Count:  9-17-11 Approx. 300 9-28-11 Approx. 200

Hatch Details
Hatch Date: 10-6-11
Hatch Time of Day:  11 pm 
# Days after Spawn: 8
Larvae Description: Tiny fish with big eyes and silver bellies.  Of the 200 or so eggs I have about 12 that are surviving. 


Larval Tank Details
Temperature: 80.5 degrees F 
Size of Larval Tank: 10 gallons 
Substrate Details: none
Other Tank Decor:  none 
Filtration Details: Water changes.  Will add a sponge filte after 2 weeks 
Lighting:  13w CF bulb
Lighting Cycle: 12 on 12 off  Updated on 3-18-12  Light for 24 hrs the until accepting OtoA usually 7-10 days.
Water Changes: Thinking about a gallon every other day until the sponge filter is added. 

Larval Feeding Details
Food Types: L type Rotifers with GR+ in the laral tank. Update 3-18-12 Switched to Roti Grow Omege for greenwater.  Start BB on day three and start OtoA about day six.   
Feeding Schedule: Morning and night.  I plan to keep enough rots in the 10g to allow the larva to catch food easily. 

Metamorphosis/Settlement
Date of Settlement Start: 10-16-11
Days after Hatch:  10
Date of Settlement End:  10-18-11
Description of Fry: Small orange clownfish with one head stripe.  Mouths are always moving like they are constantly eating rotifers. 


 



on Details: 
Lighting: 13w CFL 
Lighting Cycle:  12 on 12 off 
Water Changes: 2 g a week 
Size at Transfer: 
Age at Transfer: 

Grow-Out Feeding Details
Food Types:  OtoA, OtoB1, OtoB2, TDOC1, TDOC2 
Feeding Schedule:  3x day 

Additional Information

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



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Sorry for the low quality.  The lights were out at the time.  This is the first time raising marine fish and I am very excited to see what happens.  I will keep you updated.

I am not very good with a camera.

Attached Image(s)

I am ready for the eggs to hatch!  Tonight would be the seventh night.  The last batch came out on the eigth night but I wanted everything ready just in case they come early.
 
I am using a 10 gallon glass tank with the bottom and three sides painted black.  I have a heater and airstone running.  The female deposited the eggs on the underside of a rock and tonight I moved the rock to the 10 gallon tank.  I have the airstone below the eggs keeping them fanned.  My rotifer culture is nice and dense so I just have to wait now.  I am quite excited! 

Hard to get a good picture of these little guys!

Attached Image(s)

I was not home last night when the eggs hatched so I missed all of action after the lights went out.  I came home at 7 this morning and immediately went to the larva tank to see all of the new babies.  My heart sank when I saw the bottom of the tank and all the dead bodies laying there.  I have about 12 + or - that have survived. 
 
My wife added RG+ to the larval tank last night at about 11 and added enough rots so the larva wouldn't have to go more than 1/8th of an inch to capture food.  Tank temp was 80.6 and I used CloramX when I mixed up the initial water for the larval tank.  I had about 6 gallons in the 10 gallon tank.   I siphoned the dead bodies out right away and removed the rock that the eggs were attached to.  Of the 12 or so that are alive they seem to be swimming and moving like normal little fish.  I noticed a few that are kind of skimming the bottom of the tank and then doing a little dance like a fish that has a hook in its mouth. 
 
I know this is my first go around but I was dissapointed with my initial results.  Here are my thoughts for possible reasons:
 
Brood stock needed better nutrition
Possibly too much or two large air bubbles fanning the eggs
Removal of the eggs from the parents too soon
Mother nature
 
The parents were in a 90g fuge and the day I moved the eggs from the 90 I moved the parent to a brood stock tank with tiles already set up.  I am sure they are stressed and may not spawn for a few more weeks.
 
I would love your critique of this and want to learn from my mistakes.

I am at three days post hatch and I have 3 larva surviving.  I noticed they are hanging close to the sides so I added more GR+.  These may not survive but I am hooked and can't wait for the next batch of eggs.  First and formost I am going to ramp up the parents diet.  Eliminate each variable one at a time. 

13 DPH and the last two larva died today, along with most of my rotifers(that is another story).  The larva/fish never transitioned to Oto A or crushed up flake, at least I never saw either of these enter there mouths.  Feeling a bit defeated but I know this is a learing process and I am not alone.  I have a list of improvements for the next time around.  I believe they starved due to the rotifers basically crashing in the 5 gallon buckets and the larva tank. 
 
Observations/problems/solutions:
 
1)  Salinity goes up quick with a buubling airstone 24/7 in 6 gallons of water.  Need to maintain this better.  Maybe I will start a slow freshwater drip.
2) With only three then two surviving larva in 6 gallons of water the tank became a rotifer culture.  I added the initial rots the first night and only had to add GR+ every day to keep the water cloudy enough for the larva to see the prey.  This is a lot of GR+ and rots for two tiny mouths and water quality dropped.  Algae grew on the bottom and walls of the tank rather quickly.  I need to be cleaning the tank better and doing more small water changes.  I was using CloramX through this whole process but I did get Ammonia readings up to 1 ppm at times.
 
3)  PH was never very high.  Started at 7.4 and dropped to 7.2 by 13 dph.  I should be bumping this up to 7.8 or 8.0.  Add baking soda to raise PH?  I have to double check that info.
 
4)  I had a very low survival rate right after hatch.  I noticed the dead larva were white and think they could have succummed to fungus.  I plan to do a Methylene Blue dip on the eggs right before I add them to the larva tank.   
 
5)  I want to do a better job at a weeing diet.  I would like to try naupalii at about day 6-8 to get them on a large food.  They never really showed any interest in the Oto A or crushed flake so I want another nutritious food source larger that the rots to fill their bellies.
 
Your comments are welcome!

Bummer, but it happens to all of us. Here are a few thoughts...
 
1) I just add as little FW to top off each day and dont' have a problem.
2) I usually only add rotifers once at the beginning. Using RotiGreen usually keeps the culture reproducing. CloAm-X helps control ammonia.
3) I never check my pH.
4) You'll probably have better luck with future spawns as the broodstock gets conditioned.
5) I usually start OtoA around day 4-5, just a tiny amount.
 
Good luck with the next batch.
 

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

Thanks Tal.  Your advise is greatly appreciated.  Do I need to disinfect the larve tank between batches?  Bleach?

I just clean mine with FW and let it them dry. It's usually a couple of weeks in between uses so I don't bother with bleach.

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

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I have finally had some success!  I am trying to load some movies but they are not working at this time.

I have learned many things on my journey to this point.  I have 40 that are at 78 days and about 350 at 60 days post hatch.  I need to add pics of the older juveniles.  I think what made the difference for me was a better diet which consisted of more fresh seafood and starting baby brine at day 3.  I have been keeping the lights on 24/7 until meta starts.   
 
My first successful batch had 3 survivors, kind of ironic because of my name.