Breeding Journal, Species: Amphiprion frenatus (Tomato)

General
Species:  Amphiprion frenatus (Tomato Clownfish)
Social Structure:  Pair
Size of Individuals:  Female 3.5", male 1.5"
Age of Individuals:   Female unknown wild-caught around 3.25".  Male bought as juvenile from ORA.  ORA website says they ship Tomatoes about 6-7 months of age.
Date added to Tank:  Female January 2012.  Male April 2012.

Broodstock Tank Details
Size of Tank:  90-gallon reef
Substrate Details:  None
Filtration Details:  Central sump
Water Changes:  Bi-weekly 10%
Water Temperature:  78-82 F
Lighting:  Metal halides and T5 blues.
Lighting Cycle:  Halides 6 hours, T5 12 hours.
Other Tank Inhabitants:  Breeding pair of Yellowtail Damsels, Square Spot Anthias male, Tailspot Blenny.

Broodstock Feeding Details
Food Types:  Homemade mash and occasionally TDO EP2 and PE Mysis.
Feeding Schedule:  Usually once per day, but sometimes twice.

Spawning Details
Date of First Spawn:  Dec 14, 2013.
Spawn Time of Day:  Midday.
Dates of Consecutive Spawns: 
Dec 28, 2013. 140 eggs.
Jan 7, 2014.  262 eggs.
Courtship Details:  They cleaned the rock for about a year before spawning - more so the male.  Morning of spawning I noticed the female's ovipositor was out.
Egg Size:  2.5 mm x 1.5 mm
Egg Color:  Bright red at first, darkening to blood red.
Egg Count:  125

Hatch Details
Hatch Date:  Dec 21, 2013.  (not collected)
Hatch Time of Day:  An hour after lights out.
# Days after Spawn:  8-9
Larvae Description:  Shaped like little carrots from above.  Big silver eyes, big mouth, little clear tail.  Reddish colored.
Consecutive Hatch Dates:     
Jan 3, 2014.  (not collected)
Jan 15, 2014.  (255 collected)
Larval Tank Details
Temperature:  80 F
Size of Larval Tank:  5-gallon filled halfway
Substrate Details:  None
Other Tank Decor:  Airstone
Filtration Details:  None
Lighting:  Spiral compact fluorescent turned away to provide minimal light.
Lighting Cycle:  14 on, 12 off.
Water Changes:  None until meta.  Start adding water on 4th day to slowly double volume by meta.

Larval Feeding Details
Food Types:  Rotifers type "L". 
Feeding Schedule:  Continuous.  Add only enough enriched rotifers so they are cleared from the water column by evening.  NHBBS fed once per day starting day 10 until meta is complete.

Metamorphosis/Settlement
Date of Settlement Start:  Jan 28, 2014 (Jan 15 batch)
Days after Hatch:  14
Date of Settlement End:  Jan 31, 2014
Description of Fry:  Still red, deep bodied, white head band.

Grow-Out Tank Details
Temperature:  80F
Size of Grow-Out Tank:  20 gallons
Substrate Details:  None
Other Tank Decor:  None 
Filtration Details:  Central sump with filter sock, protein skimmer, and bioballs.
Lighting:  Ambient fish room light.
Lighting Cycle:  14 hours on, 10 off.
Water Changes:  Sporadic.
Size at Transfer:  3/8"
Age at Transfer:  45 days

Grow-Out Feeding Details
Food Types:  New Life Spectrum Grow pellets.
Feeding Schedule:  4x per day.

Additional Information

These two fish have very different coloring.  I purchased the large female wild-caught at my LFS and we attempted to order a small one to pair, but only large ones were shipped.  I gave up and bought a small ORA Tomato.  The little guy adored the female from the get-go, but even though she never showed any aggression to him she would not let him in the anemone.  It took about 6 months before he was allowed in the anemone.  He started cleaning the rock as soon as he was allowed in the anemone.  The female joined in a few weeks later, but was not as intent as he.  In typical Clownfish behavior, the female doesn't clean the rocks much except the morning of spawning she goes nuts.

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

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

I just scraped and siphoned out 246 eggs from their January 7th spawn (their third spawn).  I have the eggs tumbling in a glass in the dark.  The eggs should hatch tonight (with any luck.  I haven't tried this method with Clownfish eggs before.

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

I guess they decided to hold off a day.  The ones I left in the tank didn't hatch either.

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

255 of the 262 eggs hatched tonight.  The others died (opaque).  Very strong looking larvae.  I was surprised to see they have red bellies - unused yolk maybe?
 

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

I love the red bellies!
 
I have been debating using the scraped eggs--> tumble method for clownfish eggs.  I have a pair that lays decent nests but I can't let them hatch in tank (too many aiptasia, too much flow, etc) because then I don't get any larvae but when I pull the tile for hatching they just don't seem to hatch out well or on time.  How did you like the tumbling method?  It sounds like you got a pretty good hatch out of it...How rigorously were they tumbled? Did you do anything to sterilize the eggs?

 
Yeah it worked really well!  I don't know if it was sheer luck or what, but it seemed easier than I expected it to be.  I didn't scrape them all off the rock, but I got most of them.  I wasn't gentle at all, and I only squished 4 eggs.  I soaked the eggs in solution of 1L water and 5 mL 3% hydrogen peroxide for 15 mins, drained then put them in the drinking glass.  The air was fairly strong in order to keep them tumbling around.  The water in the reef tank is 1.026 and the sterilizing solution and the water in the glass was 1.020.  The larvae didn't seem to mind this change.  I checked on the eggs an hour after lights out and they were all hatched.  I think if they tumbled too long they would likely die.

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

So you siphoned them the day you expected them to hatch? Just use rigid airline tubing? I really think I'm going to try this on the nest my Darwins just laid today.

 
I siphoned them out on day 8, and they didn't hatch until day 9.  The ones left in the tank didn't hath until day 9 either.  So the eggs tumbled in the glass for about 28 hours.  The saltwater in the glass was sterilized with chlorine and then dehlorinated. 
 
I used a 24" piece of rigid airline tubing with another 48" or so of flexible airline tubing on the end of the rigid stuff.  This way it can make a siphon and suck the eggs out into a bucket as I scrape.  I cut the rigid line at a 45 degree angle to make scraping easier.  It's easier than it sounds.  I didn't think it was working at all, and I was surprised when I looked in the bucket to see a bunch of eggs swirling around.  Ha!

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

So far so good.  The Tomato larvae are in with some Onyx larvae that are a day older.  Interestingly, the Onyx larvae are much bigger than the Tomato larvae.  The Onyx have been spawning for 6 months though, and this is only the third spawn for the Tomatoes, so maybe that is why. The Onyx larvae are silver/grey and the Tomato larvae are red so it is easy to tell who is who.

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

Metamorphosis:
 


 
Note to self:  Mar 28 is 60 DPS.

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

Here are pics from Apr 20.  73 DPS.
Yo can see two near the center of the photo here:

 
One on the left and one on the right of this photo:

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