Breeding Journal, Species: [Amphiprion Ocellaris "Black Snowflake" x Amphiprion Ocellaris "Darwin Black" ]

General
Species:  Amphiprion Ocellaris
Social Structure: Pair.  1 Female, 1 Male 
Size of Individuals:  Male 1.5 Inches, Female 3 inches
Age of Individuals:  Male ~ 1 Year, Female Unknown
Date added to Tank:  Male added in October 2014

Broodstock Tank Details
Size of Tank:  20 Gallon
Substrate Details:  None
Filtration Details:  Central filter
Water Changes:  Weekly to biweekly water changes 10 percent
Water Temperature:  78 degrees
Lighting:  shop lights
Lighting Cycle:  14 hours on 10 hours off
Other Tank Inhabitants:  1 Mexican Turbo Snail

Broodstock Feeding Details
Food Types:  Rods breeders blend + homemade blend(shrimp, clams, squid, fish of the day, nori, selco)
Feeding Schedule:  2 - 3 times daily, up to 4 times on the weekend

Spawning Details
Date of First Spawn:  1/18/2015
Spawn Time of Day:  ~4pm
Dates of Consecutive Spawns: 
Courtship Details:  Pair dart in and out of the pot while wiggling their bodies rigorously along the pot each taking turns to do so.  Spawning usually occurs around 7 - 8pm.  While laying the eggs the female gently drags along the pot for 10 seconds and then the male fertilizes.  They repeat this process until all the eggs have been deposited.  
Egg Size:  Unable to measure
Egg Color:  Silver as of 1/24/15
Egg Count:  ~150 eggs

Hatch Details
Hatch Date: 
Hatch Time of Day: 
# Days after Spawn: 
Larvae Description:   
Consecutive Hatch Dates:     


Larval Tank Details
Temperature: 
Size of Larval Tank: 
Substrate Details: 
Other Tank Decor: 
Filtration Details: 
Lighting: 
Lighting Cycle: 
Water Changes: 

Larval Feeding Details
Food Types: 
Feeding Schedule: 

Metamorphosis/Settlement
Date of Settlement Start: 
Days after Hatch: 
Date of Settlement End: 
Description of Fry: 

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: 
Feeding Schedule: 

Additional Information

(No Pictures or Videos in the Section Please)
Miscellaneous Information: 



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.

I had a pair of Darwin blacks that had been together for 2 years and had shown no interest in each other.  On the advice of Tal at the last MBI meeting I separated them and added new juveniles to each one.  I chose to add a snowflake instead of another Darwin to see what happened.  I was really surprised to see eggs only 3 months later.  Here are some pictures of the Eggs and the Parents.  Could not get a great picture of the eggs but you can see the male fanning the eggs with his mouth in the first picture.
 

I removed the Eggs this Sunday 1/25/2015.  They have not hatched as of today.  I am still hopeful that they will still hatch as the eggs still look good with silver eyes.  I will have to let the next batch remain in the broodstock tank a couple of days longer next time.

Eggs finally hatched.  I count ~50 fry.  I am going to keep the pot in the larval rearing tub one more night to see if I have any more that will hatch out.  I tried to get some pictures but they are not turning out very well.  I will try again this weekend to post. 

had a major die off this morning with only a little over 10 fry remaining. The remaining fry were hugging the walls of the tub and did not seem to be eating even though there are many rotifers in the tub. In desperation I grabbed an extra pendant light and placed it over the tub. and after only two minutes the fry were off the walls eating the rotifers. It seems that my lighting is not adequate enough. I believe that is why I had a die off.

With the more light I still have 7 fry remaining. Nice and plump swimming around and eating rotifers. The parents have made an additional nest of ~ 150 - 200 eggs last night 2/5/15. I will let them stay in the parent tank an additional two days this time and hopefully see better hatching rates. I plan on also introducing better lighting earlier on and see if this is truly the reason for my die off.

I have not updated this in a while.  I got down to one lonely fry which unfortunately passed away about two weeks ago.  My female contracted a nasty parasite which she is now recovered from and looking plump again so I will hopefully have more eggs to work with.