Breeding Journal, Species: Amphiprion percula (Onyx X Picasso)

General
Species:  A. percula (wild caught Onyx male, ORA Picasso female)
Social Structure:   Proven pair
Size of Individuals:   Male is 1.5" and female is 2.25"
Age of Individuals:   Male is 4-5 years old and previously proven, female is 3 years old previously virgin.
Date added to Tank:    The Picasso female I've grown out from a juvie that I bought in Sept 2010.  The Onyx male a friend grew out from a juvie.  I acquired him Jan 19, 2012 aged approximately 4 years. The two were housed together in a couple different tanks for some time (a few months?) before they were moved to their current tank on Oct 28, 2012.

Broodstock Tank Details
Size of Tank:  15 gallons plumbed to 165-gallon broodstock system
Substrate Details:  Light dusting of sand
Filtration Details:  Central sump - filter sock, submerged bioballs, EuroReef RS-180 skimmer.
Water Changes:   40-50% every 2-3 weeks.
Water Temperature:  80F
Lighting:  Ambient room light from light spill from other tanks right now.
Lighting Cycle:  14 hours on, 10 hours off.
Other Tank Inhabitants:  None.

Broodstock Feeding Details
Food Types:  Mostly homemade mash, some frozen PE Mysis, some HBH Super Soft Spirulina pellets, and some TDO EP1.  They are not very good feeders, they are shy.
Feeding Schedule:  2-3x daily.

Spawning Details
Date of First Spawn:  Approximately Nov 28, 2012 (spawned on tile bottom)
Spawn Time of Day:  Not observed
Dates of Consecutive Spawns: 
12/21/12.
* I was away from the breeding room for the winter. *
03/30/13.  294 eggs.
04/12/13.  Not counted, about the same as previous.
05/10/13.
Courtship Details:  None observed before first spawn.  Totally unexpected.  They do seem a bit more skittish than usual for a couple days before spawning, but they are normally quite skittish.  Otherwise, they don't really act any different pre-spawn.  The female's ovipositor is only visible during spawning.  I am usually surprised to see them spawning.
Egg Size:  Not measured.
Egg Color:  Bright orange, oblong.
Egg Count:   Only 3 eggs found on Nov 30, 2012.

Hatch Details
Hatch Date:  04/07-08/13.
Hatch Time of Day:  An hour after dark.
# Days after Spawn:  8-10
Larvae Description:   4 mm including the little clear tail fin.  Big head, yellow belly area, and tiny little tails.  Big silver eyes, big mouths.  Larvae move in a fluttering and darting motion.   Larvae turned orange around day 3 which is much quicker than Occelaris which don't turn orange until meta.  NOTE - Later I have noted that the orange coloration is actually a direct result of feeding TDO.  No TDO, no orange.
Consecutive Hatch Dates:     
04/20/13.  About 10 remaining on tile unhatched, but looking healthy.
05/17-18/13.  Missed the hatch on the 17th, caught the larvae on the 18th hatch.

Larval Tank Details
Temperature:  80F
Size of Larval Tank:  5-gallon aquarium half filled, or 9-gallon BRT 1/3 filled. 
Substrate Details:  None
Other Tank Decor:  Airstone
Filtration Details:  None
Lighting:  7.5 watt incandescent bulb for the first few days, then 13w spiral compact fluorescent turned away.  Some tanks are ambient room lighting.
Lighting Cycle:  14 on, 10 off
Water Changes:  50% every 1-2 days.  New plan - no waterchanges until after meta (no dry food either).

Larval Feeding Details
Food Types:  L-type rotifers grown with RotiGrow Plus, enriched with N-Rich PL Plus.  TDO A added on day 3.  Rotifers tapered off towards meta as larvae as seen eating TDO A.  New plan - TDO A added after meta.
Feeding Schedule:  Rotifers are fed in the morning, TDO A is added 3x per day.  New plan - enriched rotifers added in the morning, more (not enriched) added in the afternoon if needed.

Metamorphosis/Settlement
Date of Settlement Start:  05/25/13  (04/07/13 batch started settlement 04/20)
Days after Hatch:  8
Date of Settlement End:  05/28/13  (04/07/13 batch end settlement 04/23)
Description of Fry:  At hatch the larvae are streamlined carrot-shaped.  As they get closer to meta, the body deepens so they become oval shaped (like adult Percula) when viewed from the side.  At the end of meta, the first stripe is evident.  During meta the swimming motion changes from the larvae flutter to the Clownfish bob/wag.  About 8 mm including tail.

Grow-Out Tank Details
Temperature:  80F
Size of Grow-Out Tank:  5-gallon aquarium filled.
Substrate Details:  None
Other Tank Decor:  Airstone
Filtration Details:  None
Lighting:  13 watt compact fluorescent
Lighting Cycle:  14 on, 10 off
Water Changes:  50% once every 2 weeks
Size at Transfer:  Not transfered.  This is the hatch tank.
Age at Transfer:  See above.

Grow-Out Feeding Details
Food Types:  TDO B2
Feeding Schedule:  4x per day via auto feeder

Additional Information

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



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

I am working out of province for the winter months this year in preparation to make a big move in the spring.  I have been away for a month now, and came home to find a few eggs on their tile.  That makes me happy.  My first Percula spawn. 

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

Here they are.  They have one egg left this morning (it's on the bottom, look close!).  The male Onyx is a wild caught specimen that I have known his whole life.  He used to be very black, but lost that coloring.  I have no idea why.  His old mate did the same thing.  I'm interested to see how their offspring turn out.  I am hoping to collect their next spawn.

 

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

This pair likes to switch it up.  I came home last Saturday to find they had some mature eggs on their tile, on the slanted side.  Today they laid a decent-sized clutch on the vertical side.  I will try to get a pic if I can without disturbing them too much.  They are a nervous pair.  I plan to raise this batch.

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

My pairs switch spots from time to time too.

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

03/31/13 spawn 294 eggs.  Sure doesn't look like that many.  Haha!

 

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

Nice job , good luck

Settlement photo (look close for the white stripe!), and I guess it is hatch photo too since I see I didn't take one...

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

I'm not seeing the white stripe just yet.  Any new photos?

I decided to wait for the next batch for my settlement photo to see if there were any changes on the day number.  This new batch has most of them with their first stripe clearly visible in person, although difficult to see in my pictures.  I fed them some BBS to get them closer to the camera.   Can you see it this time?

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

My new plan, no dry food and no waterchanges until after meta has proven to be near 100% survival.  This is a small batch, but I'm going to apply this new technique to my larger batches of A ocellaris to see if I can get better survival.  After meta, the A percula were very quick to start taking up TDO A.  They took to it right away needing no weaning, although I did continue to add a small amount of rotifers and a few NHBBS just to prevent any digestive upset for a few days.
 
The babies from the 04/07-08/13 batch (56-57 dph, approx 46 dps) finally have a hint of a second stripe showing on two of them.  My A ocellaris 'Snowflake' babies always develop their second stripe starting at the top and slowly working down.  These A percula 'Onyx x Picasso' babies are developing their second stripe starting in the middle of their bodies.  Weird.  The A ocellaris 'Darwin' babies that are a few days older than the Percs already have full third stripes even though the Percs and Darwins are the same size.  I know Percs develop slower than Occys, but I'm going to go check out some other journals to see if it is normal to develop this slowly.
 
EDIT:  Seems "normal" second stripe timeline is anything from 21 dph to 70 dph.  Hmmm... 

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

When will you have some of these for sale Mindy?

I'm not sure how fast they are going to grow.  Probably a few months...??  I only have a dozen in this batch (the egg tile fell over when it was hatching).  There is a second batch that is a month younger.

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

The first babies from the 04/07-08 batch to reach settlement will be 60 dps on June 17th (must confirm with my notes).  This is a note to self.  Hehe. 
 
EDIT:  60 dps on June 22nd.  :p

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

any good patterns showing up

No, but only two are showing any second stripe.  My younger batch look like they are developing their white a tad quicker...I can see a hint of second stripe on them.

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

Here is my 60 dps photo (the darker ones are Darwins):

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

The younger batch is 37 dph and have caught up to the older 77 dph batch (pictured above from yesterday at 60 dps) in size and are also just about caught up to my 75 dph Snowflakes.  I am not sure why they are growing so fast other than I still have them in a BRT, I'm doing minimal waterchanges, they are fairly lightly stocked (40 in about 5 gallons), and I feed them a gorging of live BBS once every couple days. 
 
They are also starting to show some interesting patterning on a couple fish...

 

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

Photo from Sept 15th.  5 months post settlement.  A couple weeks from market.

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

I have a batch that is about 3/4" right now - about 40 or 50 or them.  There are about half a dozen that are Onyx colored.  About 75% of the batch has Picasso-ish markings, but I have yet to raise any Grade A Picasso from this pair.  About 98% are semi-Picasso/Grade B.

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