Breeding Journal, Species: Amphiprion ocellaris (Regular x Darwin)

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shannpeach
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Breeding Journal, Species: Amphiprion ocellaris (Regular x Darwin) - Tuesday, January 8, 2013 2:40 PM
Breeding Journal DataSheet
This first post should be updated regularly to include new information as events take place or changes are made to your system

General
Species:  Amphiprion ocellaris
Social Structure:  Trio (Female Darwin, spawning orange male, submale Darwin that doesn't spawn)
Size of Individuals:  Female ~4 inches,  male (spawning) ~3 inches
Age of Individuals:  Male is roughly 7 or 8 years old, female unknown
Date added to Tank:  ~1 year this tank, trio has been together for about 4 years throughout several moves

Broodstock Tank Details
Size of Tank:  50 gallons
Substrate Details: Sand
Filtration Details:  Protein skimmer
Water Changes:  5 gallons every one or two weeks
Water Temperature: 78-80 F 
Lighting:  T5s
Lighting Cycle: Lights on at 10am and off at about 8pm 
Other Tank Inhabitants:  Small tang (bristletooth?), female Synchiropus stellatus, Escenius bicolor, misc snails and crabs

Broodstock Feeding Details
Food Types:  Spectrum pellets, Limpets frozen, frozen mash, PE mysis, brine shrimp, various flake foods
Feeding Schedule:  At least 2x per day, more often when I can

Spawning Details
Date of First Spawn:  12.14.2012
Spawn Time of Day:  ~5pm
Dates of Consecutive Spawns:  12.30.2012
Courtship Details:  Nudging, twitching, rock cleaning...the usual
Egg Size:  2mm or so, didn't actually measure
Egg Color:  Yellow at first, change to silver before hatching
Egg Count:  ~100, maybe a little more

Hatch Details
Hatch Date: 12.23.2012; 1.9.13
Hatch Time of Day:  ~9pm
# Days after Spawn:  9 days
Larvae Description:    small and clear with large eyes
Consecutive Hatch Dates:     


Larval Tank Details
Temperature:  80
Size of Larval Tank:  10 gallons filled with about 4 gallons of water
Substrate Details:  none
Other Tank Decor:  Heater, airstone
Filtration Details:  none
Lighting:  compact fluorescent
Lighting Cycle:  Lights on ~5:30am and off about 9pm
Water Changes:  Daily, 10-50% depending on what is needed

Larval Feeding Details
Food Types:  Greenwater (TET mainly, some T-Iso), rotifers and tisbe used the entire first week.  nhbbs put in on day 6, but the addition was minimal.  
Feeding Schedule:  Morning and evening add more phyto or rots/tisbe as needed, or remove when necessary

Metamorphosis/Settlement
Date of Settlement Start:  12.29.2012 some bodies began to deepen, 12.30.2012 the first head stripes were noted
Days after Hatch:  6 and 7 days, respectively
Date of Settlement End:  1.4.2013
Description of Fry:  Adorable! Brighter orange than I expected considering the Darwin mixed in, very fiesty and territorial.

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:  Crushed Formula 2 flakes, enriched bbs a few days a week
Feeding Schedule:  Crushed flake first thing in the morning, once in the late afternoon/early evening, and once more later in the evening during the week.  Weekends I feed more often, up to 6x a day.

Additional Information

(No Pictures or Videos in the Section Please)
Miscellaneous Information: 
The regular A. ocellaris was my first fish when I got into the hobby.  I later purchased a bonded (mated pair possibly, I can't remember if they had spawned for their previous owner) pair of Darwin ocellaris.  During a tank move, I was sort of forced to put the three together or sell some of them.  I tried them together and they have been great since then.  I had hoped the two Darwins would spawn, but this is what I got.  The trio will be split up in the next month or so.


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.

<message edited by shannpeach on Tuesday, January 15, 2013 12:05 PM>

shannpeach
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Amphiprion ocellaris (Regular x Darwin) - Tuesday, January 8, 2013 2:55 PM
Male:

 
Spawning:


 
The few larvae that hatched and I was able to collect:

 
One of the couple that ended up misbarred:

 
14 days old:

 
Sorry the pics aren't great...I took them with my iPhone and unfortunately, since I dropped said iPhone about 6 times and shattered the back piece the last time (and didn't bother to replace it), the pics don't come out too wonderfully anymore since the camera lens area is a bit messed up

shannpeach
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Amphiprion ocellaris (Regular x Darwin) - Wednesday, January 9, 2013 8:32 AM
Their second nest hatched last night.  I let it go because they only laid about 50 eggs to begin with, and it was down to 20 by the night of the hatch.  When they spawned that nest, they started later in the evening, about 7, and I wonder if part of the reason the nest was so small was because the lights went out before they were done.  I've also been trying to feed more often with the hopes that her next nest will be bigger.

shannpeach
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Amphiprion ocellaris (Regular x Darwin) - Tuesday, January 15, 2013 11:57 AM
I upped the feeding the last couple weeks and they spawned again last night, starting around 5:30 or 6 (I was actually acclimating fish to the tank and cleaning the glass...didn't even slow them down). This nest is larger then the last two, by quite a bit.  If it stays this way, I will separate out the orange fish and e-pair it with another.  I just need to find a new ocellaris that I really, really like.
 

 
Video (if I get it to work right...)

 
 

shannpeach
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Amphiprion ocellaris (Regular x Darwin) - Tuesday, January 15, 2013 11:58 AM
The male went back after spawning was done and removed the eggs that didn't look like they had been fertilized.

shannpeach
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Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Amphiprion ocellaris (Regular x Darwin) - Saturday, January 26, 2013 8:15 PM
Two night before the nest was going to hatch, I took the spawning male out. The nonspawning
male didn't eat the eggs immediately. He was allowed near the eggs by the female but was sort of awkward with the nest tending duties. I wasn't sure if he was trying to damage the eggs or care for them since he was smacking the area with his tail.


I collected about 50 larvae of the original pair's third, and last nest. Today is day three and I am down to about 20 I think. I feel like my larval collection technique leaves a lot to be desired. I ordered a snagger and hopefully it will be here soon. I will also put a tile in to see if the new pair will lay on that. Fingers crossed!