Breeding Journal, Species: Amphiprion chrysopterus

General
Species:     Amphiprion chrysopterus,  Yellowfin anemonefish, Bluestripe anemonefish
Social Structure:  pair
Size of Individuals:  Large, about 4 inches for the female
Age of Individuals:  Unknown, wild caught , origin Fiji
Date added to Tank:  April, 2007, these are not my fish.  Kevin Steinmann owns them. He lives about 2 hours from me by car.               

Broodstock Tank Details
Size of Tank:  125 gallon tank on a 300 gallon system
Substrate Details:  Reef tank with live rock, sand, corals, etc.
Filtration Details:   S.G.=1.026, live rock, protein skimmer
Water Changes: 
Water Temperature:   78-82F
Lighting:  175W metal halide
Lighting Cycle:  12hours day, 12 hours night
Other Tank Inhabitants:   2 tangs and 2 blue assesor, corals, invertebrates
Broodstock Feeding Details
Food Types: 
Feeding Schedule: 

Spawning Details
Date of First Spawn: Feb, 2011          
Spawn Time of Day:  unknown
Dates of Consecutive Spawns: KS on June 1, "They have spawned a total of 7 times.  They will lay 2 or 3 batches within a couple of weeks and then that's it.  I think that temp plays a key role.  Most notably a drop of 2-3 degrees of their normal temp. for several days seems to get them in the mood." This spawn was on approximately 4/19/2012, but we are not sure.                
Courtship Details:  female becomes gravid, but otherwise unknown details
Egg Size:  2mm by 1mm
Egg Color:  orange, then brown, and then silver, just like all clownfish eggs
Egg Count:  around 200

Hatch Details
Hatch Date: 4/27/2012
Hatch Time of Day:  suspect around 5:30-6 am, not sure. 
# Days after Spawn:  8 or 9 not sure as we are not sure of the spawn date.
Larvae Description normal clownfish looking larvae, about 4mm long, transparent with eyes, tummy, tail.  They seem a bit more energetic than ocellaris.
Consecutive Hatch Dates:   some premature hatchlings on 4/25 and 4/26, but the main hatch happened on 4/27/2012 . (This pair does not spawn on a timetable.)               


Larval Tank Details
Temperature:  80F
Size of Larval Tank:  5 gallons in a 15 gallon BRT                
Substrate Details:  bare
Other Tank Decor:  heater, airstone, seasoned sponge filter at around day 7
Filtration Details:  none at first, small doses of chloramX with phytoplankton added. Seasoned sponge filter added after 1 week, bottom siphoning done a couple of times.
Lighting:   Marineland LED strip, blue. on rim of tank, otherwise ambient lighting.  After a few days, switched to 18 watt fluorescent bulb with reflector mounted just 10 inches above the water, and only for day.  I used the blue LED strip at night for the first 12 days or so. Then I used the 18 watt bulb for 14 hours daylight, and darkness for 10 hours night time.
Lighting Cycle:  14 day, 10 night
Water Changes:  addition of 1 gallon per day of fresh saltwater for the first week.  Rotifers were removed with a gallon of water 3 times during the first week.  Rotifers were added after the addition of the sponge filter about 3 times. Top up with fresh unsalted water as needed to compensate for evaporation.

Larval Feeding Details
Food Types:  initially rotifers raised on RG complete, enriched with Instant Algae Isochrysis and N-Rich . Apocyclops panamensis, Otoheim A, and Newly Hatched Brine Shrimp. 
Feeding Schedule:  30-50 rots /ml, as needed .  At day 2, added some Apocyclops panamensis. Added more 2 days later.  At day 13, added newly hatched brine shrimp, but not much, and every day thereafter.  Tried Otoheim A size pellet feed each day starting on Day 9 or 10 but no real evidence of it being consumed.  Just a tiny sprinkling.

Metamorphosis/Settlement
Date of Settlement Start:  5/12/2012
Days after Hatch: 15                     
Date of Settlement End:  5/16/2012
Description of Fry: Dark body, clear nose, Black spots on body, clear long fins, faint white headband, rather thick. Body 1 cm long approximately.  Mostly hangs out at the meniscus.                         

Grow-Out Tank Details
Temperature:  81F
Size of Grow-Out Tank:  20 gallon
Substrate Details: none                            
Other Tank Decor:  heater and sponge filter for a while, and then system was turned on
Filtration Details:  sponge at first then K1 kaldnes media, after filter bag, then heaters and UV 40 watt on 240 gallon system
Lighting:  string of LED, 2 watts per foot
Lighting Cycle:  14 hours day, 10 hours dark
Water Changes:  about 10% weekly
Size at Transfer:  about a quarter to an eighth of an inch 
Age at Transfer:  about 4 weeks
Grow-Out Feeding Details
Food Types:  Otoheim pellet food
Feeding Schedule:  4 times per day

Additional Information
"Ron Popeil's" attempts and success from 2007:
http://www.reefcentral.co...owthread.php?t=1032143
 
 
 
(No Pictures or Videos in the Section Please)
Miscellaneous Information: 
note: 1st spawn was 4 mnths after moving from a 72gal fowlr to the 125 reef with much more space and much higher water quality.  They have spawned a total of 7 times.  They will lay 2 or 3 batches within a couple of weeks and then thats it.  I think that temp plays a key role.  Most notably a drop of 2-3 degrees of there normal temp. for several days seems to get them in the mood.  If they spawn with this cold snap i may try to hook up a chiller and see if i can force it. 


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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.

My friend, the saltwater savant, has a pair of Bluestripes spawning in his tank.  He is sharing the eggs with me.  I got a bunch of them today, and so far, 3 eggs have hatched.   I think the rest will hatch tonight.  I'm excited.   I can't claim a spawning report, but a hatching report will do.

Congrats! Can't wait to see little ones.

Thanks Dan, me neither.

WOW - REAR THESE!  LOTS!

Um, OK.
 
 
The hard part is getting them to spawn, and Kevin is the Man.

Kathy, do you know what geographic location they're from?  I ask, because there's a fair amount of geographic variation in this species (eg: white tails vs. yellow tails). (Matt's hoping they're a yellow tail form that has extended caudal fin lobes...kinda like a lyretail).
 
Oh, and when do we get to see pictures of the broodstock?

I'll see what I can do for pictures.
 
i think these guys have yellow tails, but I am not certain.  Kevin has a similar pair of fish of a different species…., and I recall that one of the pairs has a lyre tail, but I could be wrong.
 
Kevin has done aquarium maintenance for a zillion years, and he quaranteens his customers' new fish for them at his home.  He is amazing at getting fish to live that would not otherwise do well. So he orders in fish from his connections, and can at times order in something for himself.  That's all I know about where these came from.
 
Edit: The broodstock are from Fiji.
 

I'll see what I can do for pictures.  Three hatched last night, but I could only find one this morning.  Their little hearts are still beating, so tonight is the night!

only15 last night…. I checked this morning before my morning walk, and I maybe found one…..
 
Thought I would give up on this hatch. I looked for more swimmers after the walk, and I didn't find any.  They could still be in there.  The BRT is very dark inside, and tranparent larvae are hard to see.
 
I went to clean up the hatcher and I thought I would check for late hatching larvae. I turned off the air, and lo and behold, they all hatched.  Except for about 10 eggs, they all hatched. I am thrilled!  They are very energetic despite having spent the night in the turbulent hatcher.  Now hours later in the BRT, they seem to be eating rotifers and doing fine.  I have a blue LED light strip over the tub, the lights we got as a door prize at MACNA (I really like them as they are waterproof).  Also, I have an airstone and a heater.  Rotifers at about 30-50/ml, 5 gallons of water, 30ppt.  Ill be making that a bit more dilute.  I am feeding the tank with Isochrysis from Reed as green water as well as RG complete.
 
After some conversation with Kevin, we are both thinking that these guys hatch later in the evening or early morning. I have a vague recollection that I checked the hatcher this morning, before the walk, and looked at an egg under the scope, but I may not remember it well, as I was barely awake at the time. If so,though, it means they hatched sometime between 5:30 am and 7:45.  Keven, who was up all night, thinks that they hatched around 3:30 am, and that previous hatches from this pair did not occur before midnight.
 
Also, to answer Matt, the parental tails are yellow, the region they came from is Fiji, and their first spawn was around April of 2007.  They are not lyre tailed.  Darn.  But I'll take what I can get.  YAY!

Here's a video of one of the eggs, yesterday:

And one of the larvae, today:

They are all swimming , and seem to be eating. Hard to see them in a BRT.  I'm leaving the light on overnight.

Awesome!

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

The larvae are still swimming energetically, but don't have fat tummies despite an abundance of rotifers. I guess we'll know in a couple of days if they are eating or not.  I'm feeding the rotifers in the BRT mostly Isochrysis, because a few drops of the new bottle of RGcomplete seems to create an oil slick.
 
They seem to really like the blue light, as they are concentrated underneath it.

After looking at some of the babies under the microscope, I'm afraid that they aren't eating.  I decided to add someApocyclops panamensis to their tub.  It's a cyclopoid copepod that is slightly larger than a rotifer, but has copepodites that are smaller.  And they are very nutritious.
Here's a picture of a Day 1 larvae:
 

Looking at the shiny belly region, perhaps they are eating....time will tell for sure.


 

Day 2.5
Lost a lot, so I guess they are not eating.  Still have about a dozen. Some are eating. Kevins half of the nest is down to 3. I wonder what metamorphosis will be like.
 
I measured one survivor today, and it is about 4mm, the same length as one of my ocellaris that is about ready to metamorphosize today.  Maybe they don't grow longer in the larval stage, just grow in width.  These larvae seem much smaller all around than ocellaris larvae at this age.  I wonder if this species needs S-rotifers or copepod nauplii in order to survive.

And then there were six.
And then there were three.
And then there were two today.
And now we wait.

Bummer to see you losing them. I have faith you will figure it out!

Thanks, I think the large die off is either broodstock nutrition, or that rotifers are too large for the babies.  They are really different from ocellaris.
Kevin also has 2 larvae, and no meta yet.  So 4 survivors so far.

for the next spawn, he'll be feeding them better, and I'll try S-rotifers, if I can get them.

I've got one brave soul left.  He's eating.  I've added copepods, Apocyclops panamensis, a couple of times.  There is now a sponge filter in the tank, making a circular current, weakly.  I've been trying to get him to eat Otoheim A, and I think I saw him strike and eat a particle.

He seems bigger, but still no metamorphosis. Still strikes at food.  I captured him in a beaker and got a good look at him.  He has an enormous shiny belly, and he is fish shaped, but still no stripes.  Maybe tomorrow.
 
I noticed that some smoke in the water seemed to be coming from the sponge filter.  It seems to be loaded with O. marina. I squeezed out the sponge in a container of water, and then looked at some under the scope.  There is an elusive critter in there, shaped like a tear drop, large as a rotifer, swims very gracefully.  I wonder if they are nutritious.  I may try to culture them.

Well,
 
He keeps getting bigger, and 2 white dots have appeared on his head, initially, I thought they were just reflections from his eyes, but now I think he'll be a misbar, and I think that he is just past the beginning of metamorphosis!  What do you think?

 

 

 

I captured the larvae in a clear pitcher today, and it is definately still larvae.  The two white dots went away.  It's day 13.  Will they ever metamorphosize?

Way to go Kathy, we need more people working on this beautiful species. I've got a pair of white tail chrysopterus, just crossing my fingers that they don't die before they breed (it happens most of the time).
 
 

Thanks Junkai,
Here are pictures of Day 15, I captured the larvae in a clear pitcher, and managed to get some kind of focus.

 

 
Fish shape, but no white stripes yet.
 

Several companies offer them now so it shouldn't be too hard.
 
Congrats on your success

I left a message at Reed, and no one returned the call.  I'll try again.

i was feeling a little discouraged that meta has not happened.  It's day 16.  Then i read over Ron Popeil's (Jordan) thread on RC in 2007 and his did not get stripes until day 16, so there is still time for wiggle room, and its not too late for my little guy.  He actually seems quite large for a larva, and has definately taken on a fishy shape. He seems plump. We wait...
 

 
Ugh, I hate our "phone system".  Having multiple office locations in different cities really makes this hard.
 
Call Monday, only talk to Kathy.  She is in 7am to 3pm PST.  

Of course, just when I was about to give up on this guy, he starts getting a stripe.
Pictures from yesterday:


 
And now today: It's day 19!!!


I'm calling it the end of metamorphosis!
 

Congrats! How often are they laying new nests?

Kathy,I have frequently seen in clarkii,a next of kin species,that some individuals don´t settle nor acquire adult colour for some time,yet they keep growing nicely in their pelagic mood.I theorized that these unsettled "post larvae" could wander far away and explain the extense range of clarkii.But can´t say if this trait is shared by chrysopterus.

Thanks Luis.  It makes sense, what you said above, in that there are two varients of chrysopterus, white tail and yellow tail, so they might be like the clarkiis.  Also kind of explains why these have not been bred much in captivity.
 
 

I'm just happy you have a headstripe!

Thanks Matt,
Yesterday I moved Mr. Big ( the chrysopterus fish/larva)  and his sponge filter to one of my larval tanks currently occupied by week old ocellaris.  I was really afraid I would harm him by doing this, but he's "eating", really surviving on the same food as the week olds, and I needed the BRT for some orchid dottys that may hatch tonight.
I put eating in quotes because even though he has clearly grown, and is twenty times the size of the ocellaris larvae, I've only been able to feed him with Oto A and NHBS, and I 've never seen him actually strike at either.
My foolproof rotifer system failed me with a massive crash. I lost a lot of the ocellaris but a goodly number survived.  I've never seen Mr Big eat OtoA.  He usually avoids it even if I sprinkle it right over him. I looked, but never saw him strike it.  Today, after surviving overnight in the larval tank, he clearly struck at Oto A when it was offered.  Also his head stripe is quite clearly there.  I can see it from way across the tank (its a 30 inch long tank.)  So it seems that all is well in the chrysopterus's world.

May 19:



 
and today, May 21: with one of his ocellaris cousins in the same tank:



Starting to see some yellow fins.  He's getting along pretty well with his ocellaris cousins.  No aggression yet.

Dan asked how often they lay new nests.  Not often. It has been erratic.  The room they are housed in is prone to temperature swings.

I'm going to try for the umpteenth time to file a settlement report.
 
 
Edited to remove snarl.  It's all OK.