Breeding Journal, Species: [Amphiprion ocellaris var. Darwin]

General
Species:  Amphiprion ocellaris var. Darwin
Social Structure: 
Size of Individuals: 
Age of Individuals:  Around 3 yr
Date added to Tank:  9/30/12

Broodstock Tank Details
Size of Tank:  12" x 10" cube of 20g L anemone prop tank
Substrate Details:  none
Filtration Details:  protein skimmer, LR and internal sponge filter
Water Changes:  25% weekly
Water Temperature:  82.5 F
Lighting:  T-5
Lighting Cycle:  9am - 11pm lights on
Other Tank Inhabitants: 

Broodstock Feeding Details
Food Types:  Spectrum Pellets, Cyclopeeze, Shrimp, Mysis and Roe.
Feeding Schedule:  ALL THE TIME.

Spawning Details
Date of First Spawn:  Purchased as spawning pair.
Spawn Time of Day:  Late Evening
Dates of Consecutive Spawns:  Every eleven days.
Courtship Details:  Usual clownfish behavior. This is a good pair.
Egg Size:  Clownfish size.
Egg Color:  Yellow-Orange.
Egg Count:  First nest 8 eggs.
                    Second nest 473 eggs
                    Third nest 778 eggs
Hatch Details
Hatch Date: 
Hatch Time of Day: 
# Days after Spawn: 
Larvae Description:   
Consecutive Hatch Dates:     


Larval Tank Details
Temperature:  80.5F
Size of Larval Tank:  10 gallon
Substrate Details:  none
Other Tank Decor:  none
Filtration Details:  none
Lighting:  clamp light
Lighting Cycle:  24hr on
Water Changes:  two - three times a day

Larval Feeding Details
Food Types:  Brachionus plicatilis
Feeding Schedule:  Constant rots

Metamorphosis/Settlement
Date of Settlement Start: 
Days after Hatch: 
Date of Settlement End: 
Description of Fry: 

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
This is my favorite pair of clowns. I purchased this pair last spring, battled a disease when they first arrived. By the time I got them healthy and spawning I found out I was moving to Alaska. I mailed them to anchorage the day after their first spawn. That was in May. They spent the summer in a fish store display tank while I worked. I picked them up in August when I got to Fairbanks AK. They are currently on there second spawn here and it looks like this pair will be the best pair of Black and Whites I have ever owned. I expect to see them put down nests of 1000 or more eggs in the near future. Very glad they were one of the pairs that made it to AK with me.
(No Pictures or Videos in the Section Please)
Miscellaneous Information: 



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Here is the nest that will be hatching in the next couple nights. I counted the eggs using photoshop.
 

Attached Image(s)

Attached Image(s)

Welcome back, and best of luck to you!

check out Kathy's Clowns, llc website:
http://kathysclowns.com
Captive bred clownfish and more
(Wholesale to the trade.)

Thanks Kathy! It has been awhile since I have been active on any boards. I have been meaning to start posting here for a while though.
 
As a side note, kudos to Reed Mariculture for having the guts to ship me some live rots when it was -26F here. The culture made it fine. I was surprised that UAF did not have any live rots, in fact nobody in Fairbanks AK did. Thank goodness for Reed!
 
Eggs scheduled to hatch tomorrow night. Will keep updating. (Also our first puppy is showing up on Monday afternoon, so I may be a bit distracted this week!).

UPDATE: I pulled the tile last night and hatched the eggs in the larval tank. However, only about 400 of the larva hatched. I am not sure if I screwed it up by checking too early and the light on the eggs delayed the second half, or if they simply were not all ready to hatch. I have had pairs that have split night hatches, however I am inclined to believe that user error is the problem here.
I put the tile back in with the broodstock and will collect the rest of the larva from the brood tank tonight. I wouldn't normally collect a second night hatch as the larva are almost always really thin and not worth the effort.  BUT, since these are Black and Whites, they warrant the extra time spent.
Losses last night were minimal. I siphoned the tank this evening and removed only about a dozen morts. Silver bellies indicate feeding.  It has been a while since I have raised some clowns in such a non sterile environment. I am used to lab conditions, and laboratory like my living room is not. But with the ever decreasing daylight and below freezing temps in Fairbanks AK, I may as well raise some fish.
Will post pics when there is something more to look at than mini peanuts with silver bellies swimming in pea soup.
 
Colby

Well I decided against my better judgement to collect the rest of the nest, I let the parents hatch the nest. I got about 100 larva and the anemones got about 300 hundred. Oops.
As I suspected the next morning the late hatch larva were all dead. It could have been transfer stress, or it could be because the larva were so weak from a delayed hatch. Likely a combo of the two.
As far as the rest of the larva go, we are coming up on three days now and I do not have high hopes for them. I made a few critical errors, namely slacking on broodstock nutrition and a bad lighting scheme for the larva for the first few days. I was using a 60 watt incandescent light positioned a few feet above the tank, not a good situation. By the time I got to the store to get a more appropriate light it had been about 40 hours and I think the larva failed to initiate feeding due to the bad lighting. At this point they are feeding but very thin, I will be amazed if many live through today or tomorrow.
The good news is the broodstock will be spawning again soon and I picked up my new puppy last night!

Better luck with the next batch. They are beautiful fish.

http://www.suzysreef.com/

Thanks suzy. I have been meaning to get in touch with you when I am in SLC to come meet you and maybe check out your operation. I may be headed that way in January.
 
I am sure the next batch will be better, I should have known better than to do it half heartedly. I was too excited and busy getting ready for the puppy. But I almost felt guilty about letting a nest of 800 Black and Whites go!

Time for a quick update: In spite of myself a couple hundred black ocellaris made it through meta and now reside in my RBTA propagation tank. They are all about 1/4" and turning black quick, I would imagine most of them with be fully black within a week.  Skipped one batch and just collected another two nights ago, although I did mess up and let about 275 eggs die, so I ended up with roughly 500 larva on this recent hatch. Will add pics of juvies post settlement.

Great! Can't wait to see pics!

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

Oh and I forgot to mention, I did one really stupid thing that kinda messed me up here. When placing my emergency order for Rots, I ordered some RG Complete for Rot feed and intended to order some Nanno for greenwater, but somehow ordered Phyto Feast....soooo I have been using that for greenwater but it sinks quickly and I have a feeling it fouls the water up quick. I am debating trying the RG Complete for greenwater. Has anyone used that to darken up larval tanks? When I get back home from winter vacation I am just going to get live algae going again as I feel it is much easier and superior for small scale larviculture.
 

RotiGreen is the best product to use for greenwater applications. The other products may work, but they aren't formulated for that purpose.

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

Yeah, I do like rotigreen. I worked at a hatchery where we went through $500 of the stuff every two days! The problem with living in Fairbanks AK is it is hard and expensive to get anything here, especially when its -32F, otherwise I would just order some Rotigreen.
 
 

Well, based on the 100% mortality rate in the larval tank this morning, I think using the RGComplete as a greenwater substitute was a very poor choice! I figured, but it was worth a shot. Luckily this pair produces 1000 eggs every 14 days!