Breeding Journal, Species: Amphiprion Ocellaris

General
Species:  Amphiprion Ocellaris
Social Structure:  1 male, 1 female
Size of Individuals:  Male: 2.25in. Female 3.25in.
Age of Individuals:  Approximately 2 years
Date added to Tank:  March 5th, 2012

Broodstock Tank Details
Size of Tank:  65 gallons
Substrate Details:  White Sand
Filtration Details:  20 gallons sump with refuge
Water Changes:  10% monthly
Water Temperature:  78-80 Fahrenheit
Lighting:  250W 14k Metal Halides with PC supplements
Lighting Cycle:  12 hours on, 12 hours off
Other Tank Inhabitants:  2 Midas Blenny, Tailspot Blenny, Yellow Tang, Lawnmower Blenny

Broodstock Feeding Details
Food Types:  Rod's food breeders recipe, Cobalt Flakes with probiotics, Frozen mysis shrimp, Otohime EP1 & 2.
Feeding Schedule:  3 times per day

Spawning Details
Date of First Spawn:  3/6/2013
Spawn Time of Day: 2:00 pm
Dates of Consecutive Spawns:  3/20/2013; 4/3/2013
Courtship Details:  Female keeping male by the nest,
Egg Size:  1mm
Egg Color:  bright orange
Egg Count:  200+

Hatch Details
Hatch Date:  4/11/2013
Hatch Time of Day:  10pm
# Days after Spawn:  7
Larvae Description:    1.5mm very active
Consecutive Hatch Dates:     


Larval Tank Details
Temperature:  82 Farenheit
Size of Larval Tank:  10gallons
Substrate Details:  Bare bottom
Other Tank Decor:  Glass sides Painted Black
Filtration Details:  None
Lighting:  60w light incandescent bulb
Lighting Cycle:  lights on for first 7 days
Water Changes:  Very few as ammonia rises.

Larval Feeding Details
Food Types:  Live rotifers fed by RGcomplete, Otohime A
Feeding Schedule:  3 times daily.

Metamorphosis/Settlement
Date of Settlement Start:  4/24/2013
Days after Hatch:  13 days
Date of Settlement End:  4/27/2013
Description of Fry:  Fry is turning bright orange and developing their first two stripes, head stripe was first to appear.

Grow-Out Tank Details
Temperature:  81 farenheit
Size of Grow-Out Tank:  10g but only filled 3/4 of the way.
Substrate Details:  None
Other Tank Decor:  PVC pipes and 90 degree elbows
Filtration Details:  Sponge filter
Lighting:  60w bulb
Lighting Cycle:  12on / 12 off
Water Changes:  10% weekly
Size at Transfer:  4mm
Age at Transfer:  17DPH

Grow-Out Feeding Details
Food Types:  Otohime B2 > Otohime C1
Feeding Schedule:  3 times daily

Additional Information

(No Pictures or Videos in the Section Please)
Miscellaneous Information: 
Both parents are snowflake clowns.


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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.

Use a photo hosting site like Photobucket and use the IMG code to post your pics.

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

Got it, thank you

Parents:

Are you sure these are A. percula? They look more like Snowflakes to me and they are A. ocellaris.

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

Yes, my apologies. I chose the wrong fish in the drop down menu. They're definitely Ocellaris. I corrected the report.
 

UPDATE: Got everything setup tonight to collect the larvae like I usually do.
Eggs are a light gray, eyes are reflective silver but no spawn... Temp has been bouncing around 79-80 throughout the day.
Will try again tomorrow night.

Has this pair produced for you in the past? I think it was Matt Pedersen last week that speculated that it may be detrimental to offspring to have two doses of the snowflake gene. It got me searching online but couldn't find much in either direction on the subject.

Just curious
Joe

They have, my first two clutches had a high amount of die off due to rookie mistakes on my part, but the survivors are extremely healthy and nearly bulletproof.
I will definitely keep an eye out for any deformities or issues with the fry and update the thread on regular basis.

About 1/3 of the eggs hatched tonight, this has been the routine since they begin laying eggs. The rest should hatch tomorrow night.

Not the best quality

This is what's left today, after a quick count it appears about 200 eggs are left.

 
Yes, I did "speculate", but that's based on the reports of other breeders who've worked with Snowflakes (so not really MY idea).  So what kind phenotype spread did you get in your survivors?

 
Roughly 70% of the fish is coming out with a snowflake pattern. Few things that could cause this in my opinion.

1. Larvae with the snowflake trait are stronger and more likely to survive (I did notice they have a tendency of developing much faster than normal Ocellaris).
2. Luck of the draw, most of my survivors happened to be snowflakes.
3. Being that both parents are premium snowflakes they may be likely to produce high amounts of snowflakes.

I personally think #1 is the more likely, It's amazing a much faster the larvae develops into a juvenile. In my (short) experience, snowflakes have been a minimum of 3 days ahead of schedule when compared to the rest.
Another strange thing I noticed, is juveniles barely post metamorphosis attacking the smaller and underdeveloped fish to the point of death. I read that as the species 'culling' their own, any ideas?

Pecking order. The individuals at the bottom end of this chain need to be removed. Pretty much just like high school. 

Larvae post metamorphism right after transfer to grow out tank.

 

90 Days:

Hmmm...this seems to suggest that snowflake is simply a dominant gene (if a single gene). If each parent in this pair carried one allele on the "Snowflake Loci", then the offspring spread would be 25% regular, 50% single-doze snowflake, and 25% double-dose snowflake. If there's no outward difference between single dose and double dose of the gene, then we should expect the 75% offspring with a snowflake pattern.  This would jive with the observation that Snowflake X Ocellaris = 50% snowflake.

INTERESTING.