Breeding Journal, Species: Amphiprion rubrocinctus

General
Species:  Amphiprion rubrocinctus
Social Structure:  Pair
Size of Individuals:  4.5" female, 4" male
Age of Individuals:  Unknown
Date added to Tank:  08/11/2012

Broodstock Tank Details
Size of Tank: Breeding setup approx 1000L total. Tank 380x610x390mm 67L 17.5US Gal
Substrate Details: None
Filtration Details: Skimmer, UV, Macro Algae, Live Rock, Carbon, GFO and ATS
Water Changes: 100L Fortnight
Water Temperature: 27C
Lighting: Power Compact
Lighting Cycle: 7am to 7:45pm
Other Tank Inhabitants: None

Broodstock Feeding Details
Food Types: Spectrum Thera A+, Spectrum Salt H20 flakes, Enriched Brine Shrimp, Marine Green, Home Made Mash (prawn, pipi clam, white bait, squid, garlic, norrie etc). Occasional live brine shrimp
Feeding Schedule: Morning and night. Pellets followed 10 minutes later with defrosted frozen food.

Spawning Details
Date of First Spawn:  10/1/2012
Spawn Time of Day:  Unknown
Dates of Consecutive Spawns:  2/28/15, 5/4/2015 for settlement report   
Courtship Details:  Some cleaning, but mostly chasing/attacking the glass if you come near
Egg Size:  2mm
Egg Color:  orange
Egg Count:  150+

Hatch Details
Hatch Date:  5/13/2015 (spawned 5/4/2015)
Hatch Time of Day:  10pm
# Days after Spawn:  8
Larvae Description:    Small clear fry with two dark eyes and slightly red belly.  Approx 2-3mm long
Consecutive Hatch Dates:   approx 14-16 days

Larval Tank Details 
Temperature:  26C  
Size of Larval Tank:  20L for first 5 days, upgraded to 50L there after  
Substrate Details:  None  
Other Tank Decor:  Heater  
Filtration Details:  water change and air stone  
Lighting:  Power Compact  
Lighting Cycle:  6am to 10pm  
Water Changes:  50% every 3 days or as required  

Larval Feeding Details 
Food Types:  Rotifers raised on Reed Rotifer Diet. Greenwater acheived by tinting the water with Reed Nannocholoropsis, about 2ml, and 1ml of AmGuard for ammonia control daily.   NHBBS
Feeding Schedule:  morning, afternoon and night  

Metamorphosis/Settlement
Date of Settlement Start:  5/21/2015
Days after Hatch:  9
Date of Settlement End: 5/22/2015      
Description of Fry:  Typical clown fish behavior as fry, once settled they are darker than most other clowns other than clarkii.  Two bands are evident on all of the fish today (5/2215), with the head band easy to identify, the tail band is visible on most fish. 

Grow-Out Tank Details
Temperature: 
Size of Grow-Out Tank: 
Substrate Details: 
Other Tank Decor: 
Filtration Details: 
Lighting: 
Lighting Cycle: 
Water Changes: 
Size at Transfer: 
Age at Transfer: 

Grow-Out Feeding Details
Food Types: 
Feeding Schedule: 

Additional Information

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

Additional Spawns: 
S = Date of Spawn 
H = Date of Hatch 
S 8/24/2013
S 2/19/2014
S 2/28/2015
S 5/4/2015
H 5/13/2015
S 2015/09/27

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.

Female

 
Male
 
Normal positions


First nest in my care

Woot!

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

Question, how do you know these to be A. rubrocinctus and not some other species (they look like A. frenatus to me - don't match the Rubrocinctus I've ever seen)

Sorry, matt but I disagree with them looking like A. frenatus.  The A. frenatus I have are quite light through the body with dark patches towards to top half of the fish.  I think these fish do look quite similar to the pair of A.melanopus I have, however there are differences.
 
Do you know if there is significant colour differences with A. frentas within their range.  The reason I ask is fish base lists them as sometimes darkening with age and Im wondering if this is what you are thinking of.
 
In the case of this pair, they were purchased from a local breeder who has now stopped breeding (gpsmart here on mbi, mofib and masa.asn.au).  He had them identified as A. rubrocinctus with Western Australian colouration.  I believe he purchased them from a collector from northern Western Australia.
 
This all fits in with the the information in http://www.fishbase.org/summary/Amphiprion-rubrocinctus.html and the following image http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?enlarge=0000+0000+1200+0141.
 

Some pics of my pairs
 
Amphiprion frenatus
 
Parents


Female


Male

 
Amphiprion melanopus
 
Adults
Parents

 
Juvenile

Ill try to get some less rubbish photos (not from a phone) for all three species, this may make it a little more clear.

 
A. frenatus is variable, as is A. melanopus, both within a population but also from a geographic standpoint.  


 
If they were KNOWN to be wild caught in the right spot, then yes, they must be Rubrocinctus.  However, if they were not, or if there was any doubt, their ID would be quite questionable given the whole A. barberi situation PLUS the fact that fish from NW Australia just really aren't collected much at all.
 
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?seq_num=27076&one=T - note that it's shot at the national aquarium in Washington DC.  I hate to say it, but if it came to the aquarium through the normal aquarium chain of custody, I'd fear it's ID to be highly suspect. There are frenatus that look no different than the fish depicted.  

That said, the image shown at  http://www.fishbase.org/summary/Amphiprion-rubrocinctus.html is directly attributed to a location that can only be A. rubrocinctus, and as such, it fits well.  But I wouldn't use the "darkness" as a sole indicator of species...coloration changes.
 
I would, if you could, simply confirm the provenance of these fish so instead of saying you "believe" something, you can say you "definitively KNOW" something.  Because frankly, to KNOW you have true Rubrocinctus that are breeding would be a really valuable thing from a biodiversity standpoint.

Keep in mind that in Perth, it is common to have fish collected from North Western Australia.
It's one of the closest reefs where collectors collect from and the two major local LFS are distributors and exporters of fish and corals.

In general unless I have hard evidence, I will say that I believe something rather than I know. This is simply because it is what I am convinced about. In this case there is reasonable difference between the fish and I'm comfortable with the info I have been provided at this time.

I'll see what additional information I can find out.

I have been able to confirm with the previous owner and then the collector that this pair were indeed caught in northern Western Australia.  The collector would not give me the specific location, but said it was between Broome and Geraldton.
As the only native "tomato" complex in the area they were caught is Amphiprion rubrocinctus, there is no question as to their identity.
 
(I suppose, if they were really good swimmers they may have done a finding nemo trip, from indonesia but its extremely unlikely ).

i want a pair of thoes with the yellow and white nice very cool

They are definitely stunning fish!

Don't let fear and common sense stop you! =]

ya they are they would look eaven better in my reef tank haha

They sure are pretty.

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

I know where you can get a few (I have about 300ish in total)
They actually sell really well here, much better than the melanopus and frentas.
 

 
Awesome news to hear.  Sad that he won't give you a real specific provenance, but that's understandable for competitive reasons!!!

So did you get any progress with these guys?  Rear any?  I'm eager to see some reports!

Yes I did do a batch, for some reason I didn't do any reports though. Not sure why.

The pair lays intermittently, only really well when the temp is higher in summer.
I'll do another batch soon and document.

Stay up to date with my breeding efforts:
Regal Tang RegalTangBreeding
Mccullochi Clownfish MccullochiClownfishBreeding 

SWEET.  Now I just need to find a way for you to export some to the US...I don't think we have this species in the trade at all.

Any updated photos of the Rubrocinctus?  Any you'd be willing to let me use in my next clownfish species installment over at Reef2Rainforest.com?  This one is proving to be the hardest...I'm trying to find it anywhere just so I can actually have it in the US...I'm 99.99% sure that it is NOT here at all, save one or two in a public institution.

Photos for hatch report
Approx 150 fry were collected from a nest of 300ish (quite a lot of dead on the bottom of the tank and fry collector).


 

 

Stay up to date with my breeding efforts:
Regal Tang RegalTangBreeding
Mccullochi Clownfish MccullochiClownfishBreeding 

All fish finished settlement today, about 30 left in total.  I had a big die off on day 1 and 2.
 
Photos for settlement report with NHBBS

 

Stay up to date with my breeding efforts:
Regal Tang RegalTangBreeding
Mccullochi Clownfish MccullochiClownfishBreeding