Fungus grows fast!

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nrbelk
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Fungus grows fast! - Thursday, June 27, 2013 11:40 AM
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This batch of eggs was my first experience with the fungus stuff.  On previous batches I thought I had the bubbles hitting the eggs too hard so this time I had the bubbles off to the side and at a slower rate.
 
I've been working on figuring out other problems (low hatch rates, fish don't live past the first few hours) but this time I had more hatch than I have had before (5 vs 2 lol).  But when I still thought there were more healthy eggs that should have hatched, I looked into the pot and man, it was completely grown over with yellowish fungus stuff.  It was in the eggs (I could still see their eyes) and grown over them as well. 
 
I wish I would have taken a picture...
 
So I think next time I'll keep the eggs touching the boubles and just use a lot less air.

KathyL
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Re:Fungus grows fast! - Thursday, June 27, 2013 3:38 PM
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My experience with air on eggs is that they do alright if the bubbles touch the eggs and keep right on going, as when the eggs are fixed to a vertical surface.  If the eggs are on the horizontal and the air bubbles squish the egg against the surface, the larvae don't do well, seem deformed or "bent".
 
If you have a good air orientation, AND all the eggs hatch the evening you pull the nest, that is the best scenario. If the eggs are pulled early, you need some fungus protection. Methylene blue, enough to tint the water darkly, or hydrogen peroxide as a dip for 30 seconds(I can't remember the concentration, you will have to look it up.) has worked for me in the past.
 
Recently, I forgot about a large nest that I wanted to hatch.  The evening before I had set up a tank and hatched out two other nests OK. But I didn't have a tank to put the new nest in, and hatching seemed imminent.  The eggs were on a large clay pot.  I got the pot, replacing it with a clean one for the parental fish, and gave it a 30 second peroxide dip and cleaned off the big gunk.  Then I put it into a bucket with a heater and an airstone and saltwater that had recently been bleached and dechlorinated. Airbubbles hit near to the eggs without hitting the eggs with the pot's side in a slanted, near vertical position. Lots of larvae hatched and I got them into the previous days hatch's tank. I replaced the pot in the bucket, added new clean water, and waited for the next evening.  Again, lots of larvae hatched , they were removed to the same laval rearing tank, but there were still some good looking eggs on the pot. Back in the bucket it went, and by morning, I had a dozen or so more clownfish larvae.  the few eggs left were clouded over with fungus.
 
I've been having a lot of mixed results with egg quality and larval robustness lately, but this larval run is going rather well, with few deaths and lot s of plump larvae.  I think it was a change in broodstock diet that has helped me more than anything.
check out Kathy's Clowns, llc website:
http://kathysclowns.com
Captive bred clownfish and more
(Wholesale to the trade.)

nrbelk
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Re:Fungus grows fast! - Thursday, June 27, 2013 3:48 PM
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Is the pot close to upside down?  My fish lay on the back end, both on the bottom and sides (if the pot was sitting up in its normal position).  I'm not sure how I could get the air to touch them and flow by.   Right now I either set the eggs directly up (12:00 position) and make the bubbles hit them and then the bubbles flow along the top and out the pot (probably part of my problem since that means a good amount of eggs could be contanstantly in contact with air) or rotate the pot so that instead of directly up, they are on the side (3:00 position) and put the airstone as close as possible which means that the eggs don't get hit with bubbles because of the curve of the pot.
 
Should I try flipping the pot upside down?  I would think that this would make two problems, one, the fry wouldn't be able to leave the pot, and 2, the bubbles might not escape very well.
 
What do you think?

KathyL
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Re:Fungus grows fast! - Thursday, June 27, 2013 3:53 PM
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I vote for the 3 oclock position of the eggs.
check out Kathy's Clowns, llc website:
http://kathysclowns.com
Captive bred clownfish and more
(Wholesale to the trade.)

nrbelk
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Re:Fungus grows fast! - Thursday, June 27, 2013 3:55 PM
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Thanks!  I'll stick with that way then.
 
How much air should I be using?  I also was thinking about trying to find an airstone that makes more fine bubbles (I currently use the cheap blue one from walmart).  Would that help?

waldend
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Re:Fungus grows fast! - Thursday, June 27, 2013 6:14 PM
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I would also recommend waiting until literally minutes before lights out to pull the pot. Doing it at that time and placing it in dark I would have all the eggs hatched out in 2 hours or less. My second recommendation was same as Kathy which was to treat your water.

nrbelk
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Re:Fungus grows fast! - Thursday, June 27, 2013 6:16 PM
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What are some common things I can use to deactivate the bleach?  Or do you always have to order it online (ammonia x?)

nrbelk
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Re:Fungus grows fast! - Saturday, June 29, 2013 2:19 PM
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I got a surprise the other day.  After not seeing any fry in the BRT, I pulled the plug on the heater and airstone.  Three days later I had a friend over and he looked in with a flash light (was showing him the bodies on the bottom lol) and he saw a flash.  I looked and there was a clownfish fry, it had survived! 
 
Its dead now though... which isn't surprising seeing how for a few days there was no aeration/heat/enriched rotifers.
 
But that makes me more hopefull that I'm finding and fixing my problems one by one.