Breeding Journal, Species: Dascyllus aruanus, Three Stripe Damselfish

I'm giving the damsels parvo nauplii every day, twice a day. Pretzel jar is tinted with Isochrysis. Air bubbling gently. Light shining at 1 o'clock.
 
Damsel's are getting black eyes.  They travel mostly head down, occasionally striking at something. This is day 2.  I hope to see some expanding middles tomorrow or else soon.

check out Kathy's Clowns, llc website:
http://kathysclowns.com
Captive bred clownfish and more
(Wholesale to the trade.)

Sooo...luck?

Could you please post a picture of your pretzel jar set up? I'm curious exactly what shape that is.

Can't call luck until day 5 or 6, and I may have shot myself in the foot by adding in the dragonet larvae. They will have eyes by then, but their starvation day is much later.  Hard to tell the difference of the larvae between the two species.

check out Kathy's Clowns, llc website:
http://kathysclowns.com
Captive bred clownfish and more
(Wholesale to the trade.)

I never had good luck trying to co culture larvae. Someone always wins..and someone always loses..at least that's how I remember it!

Yeah, but wouldn't it be cool if I could get both through in the same pretzel jar?  They do seem to have the same nutritional needs, have the same body size, hatch as prolarvae...

check out Kathy's Clowns, llc website:
http://kathysclowns.com
Captive bred clownfish and more
(Wholesale to the trade.)

I for one am REALLY hoping you get these through!  I need some inspiration Kathy!!! Been trying to work on my Chrysiptera parasema and have been having some crazy bad luck...  Heaters breaking on hatch night, green water crashing repeatedly, rotifers not making whoopie. (Well, since they are crashing I guess they have been making whoopie...but you know what i mean!)  Its been amateur week in the fish room!  You get those Damsels! 

thanks jeremy.  don't be discouraged. Things happen, and we just keep trying.

check out Kathy's Clowns, llc website:
http://kathysclowns.com
Captive bred clownfish and more
(Wholesale to the trade.)

I hatched some eggs last night by putting the large tile in a well prepared BRT.  Removed the tile an hour later to return it to the broodstock tank.
It was not as large a spawn as previous runs have been, but a good number hatched.  This morning I added about a gallon of live phyto, a mix of rhodomonas and isochrysis, drip wise.  I really didn't mean to add so much, but I got distracted. The larvae, however, seem not to mind, and I can still see them in the BRT. I'll add food tomorrow when I expect they might have a mouth.  Light is clamped on the side of the tub.

check out Kathy's Clowns, llc website:
http://kathysclowns.com
Captive bred clownfish and more
(Wholesale to the trade.)

all dead.
 
Turns out, I had no heat to the broodstock tank.  OK in summer, but it got cold this weekend, and I finally noticed, after wondering why the spawns were smaller and more infrequent. 
So this was  a big spawn, and all the eggs hatched except for 2 still left on the tile.  I hatched the  tile in a prepared BRT.  Since these larvae have no pigmented eyes and no mouth or gut, i am not turning the light on at night.  

check out Kathy's Clowns, llc website:
http://kathysclowns.com
Captive bred clownfish and more
(Wholesale to the trade.)

End of day 2, the damsel larvae have eyes as of late yesterday, and have been given 3 feedings of parvo nauplii.  They are in about 10 gallons in a BRT, rotifers are also present in the tub. Isochrysis "greenwater", but just barely.
There are a lot of larvae, and they either drift or strike. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?
 
My retired husband has been working in the basement, and after an incident with sawdust in a larval tub, I now cover all tubs with clear plastic from a large plastic bag.  This has the added benefit of condensing evaporated water, and dripping it back into the tub.  Necessity is the mother of invention.

check out Kathy's Clowns, llc website:
http://kathysclowns.com
Captive bred clownfish and more
(Wholesale to the trade.)

End of day 3.  Checked the abundant larvae twice today, and there are brown stomachs indicating food consumption. Still adding parvo naups twice daily.

check out Kathy's Clowns, llc website:
http://kathysclowns.com
Captive bred clownfish and more
(Wholesale to the trade.)

Day 4, some die off, but strong looking larvae.
Parents spawned on day 3 as usual.

check out Kathy's Clowns, llc website:
http://kathysclowns.com
Captive bred clownfish and more
(Wholesale to the trade.)

Day 5, and all dead, hatch tonight, same old/ same old.

check out Kathy's Clowns, llc website:
http://kathysclowns.com
Captive bred clownfish and more
(Wholesale to the trade.)

I can't complain. Their larval tank is a 10 gallon blooming Culture of Parvo. And I need it!

check out Kathy's Clowns, llc website:
http://kathysclowns.com
Captive bred clownfish and more
(Wholesale to the trade.)