Breeding Journal, Species: Amphiprion mccullochi (F0/Wild Caught and Known Spawning Pair :-) )

General
Species:  Amphiprion mccullochi
Social Structure:  Pair
Size of Individuals:  4"
Age of Individuals:  Unknown
Date added to Tank:  3/8/2015 (pickup date)

Broodstock Tank Details 
Size of Tank: Separate system setup approx 290L total 74 Gal. Tank 610x610x390mm 145L 37.US Gal, sump 610x610x390mm 145L 37.US Gal 
Substrate Details: None 
Filtration Details: Skimmer, UV, Macro Algae, Live Rock and ATS 
Water Changes: 90L Fortnight 
Water Temperature: 25C 
Lighting: LED 
Lighting Cycle: 7am to 7:45pm 
Other Tank Inhabitants: None  

Broodstock Feeding Details 
Food Types: Spectrum Thera A+, Spectrum Salt H20 flakes, Enriched Brine Shrimp, Marine Green, Home Made Mash (prawn, pipi clam, white bait, squid, garlic, norrie etc).   
Feeding Schedule: Morning and night. Pellets followed 10 minutes later with defrosted frozen food.  

Spawning Details 
Date of First Spawn:  2015/08/27
Spawn Time of Day:     morning
Dates of Consecutive Spawns:   Intermittent, not recorded    
Courtship Details:    Shaking by the male, cleaning by both male and female
Egg Size:    1mm
Egg Color:     bright orange
Egg Count:     200-300

Hatch Details 
Hatch Date:    2015/09/03 (not collected)
Hatch Time of Day:    Night
# Days after Spawn:    7
Larvae Description:      Not collected
Consecutive Hatch Dates:    Not collected.

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:   
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Additional Information 

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

Additional Spawns:   
S = Date of Spawn   
H = Date of Hatch  
2015/08/27 S
2015/09/3 H (missed)
 

Stay up to date with my breeding efforts:
Regal Tang RegalTangBreeding
Mccullochi Clownfish MccullochiClownfishBreeding 

Did you somehow magically get ahold of some of Ryan's fish?  Wild caught spawning pair? Eureka!

This is a pair that has been in WA for at least 5 years that I know of.
My understanding is that they were not one of the pairs that Ryan collected as per the details http://www.mbisite.org/Forums/fb.ashx?m=73347
 
A couple of years ago I got three juveniles from this pair and I have now been able to purchase the adult pair.
 
I pick them up a in about a month once I get back from holidays.  Tank/System is being setup today to give it time to cycle etc.

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Mccullochi Clownfish MccullochiClownfishBreeding 

Holy cow, this is awesome!! Congrats. I am thinking perhaps I need to dust off the idea of the "Mccullochi Project".

What is the "Mccullochi Project"?

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Ha. Nothing really. Just my thought from your last thread of trying to research and identify all captive Mcc's (not likely all existing F1's from LA and such but at least F0 pairs, known F1 pairs
and pre-Ryan individuals) and develop a more formal plan for development of a sustainable captive population.

 
 
A very noble effort and idea; I raised a similar notion with Ryan Dwyer, suggesting that I'd buy a certain arrangement of juveniles from him which would have ensured no inbreeding in the F1 broodstock generation I would work with.  I'm glad to hear there is more foundation stock out there...would love to say, get a couple F1s from Darren and a couple F2 from ORA and pair them up as the outcrosses they'd be....that's solid captive population management and what we really need to be more aware of as breeders.

 
I like that idea as well, I wonder how practical it would be to in essence swap a couple of of fish somewhere down the track.

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Looks like I need to start work on hashing the idea out more.

The pair has now arrived and is being acclimatised.
There is very little size difference between them.  They are in a 20L/5 Gal bucket for acclimatisation.
 

 

 

 

 
They are very tame and an no way aggressive at all.  For the last couple of years they have been in a tank in a family area.  They come to the glass as you approach and were not fussed at all about being netted to be moved.

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Awesome!

I need to go back and read your prep thread again. I meant to and once it dropped off I forgot about it.

Any news with these? Would love to hear of some spawning.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ken

Came home about two weeks ago to catch them laying.
A grand total of two eggs.  I assumed that they had just started and left them in peace.
An hour later when I came back to have another look, they were gone.
It didn't look like that many eggs were laid from the pattern left where she had laid.
 
I wasn't really expecting them to lay as yet and my focus has been on getting them to eat more, as they tend to pick at the food a bit.
 
Overall Im really happy with how quickly they are coming along.

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Hey that's a start!  Quick too!
 
One thing I've done with pairs that are poor eaters is to add a Peppermint Shrimp or two.  The shrimp are food aggressive, and if the Clowns don't get in there quick they miss out.  This tactic has worked very well for me to get pairs to eat more aggressively.

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

Good idea, Ill do that, thanks
 
The female is looking plump as of last night, so with any luck things could get moving.

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After they start laying well, you will want to remove the shrimp.  My first pair, in a reef tank, killed all my shrimp once they, the clownfish, started laying.

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

Would be great to see some video of the fish. They are such beautiful and rare fish that it would be nice to see them.

I can help you with where 4-5 pairs are.  If anyone does decide to keep a list of those that they are aware of, let me know.

Yes I would be keen to keep a list of the known locations/types (f0, f1 etc).

I have started up a Facebook page to cover my breeding attempts and I would like to add as much detail as possible from others.

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Does anyone actually know what happened to Ryan and his pairs?

nope, I was going to ask you

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It would be devastating to know they were lost.

Well...last I know he was working on an article for CORAL Magazine and then he just vanished.  I could dig up old emails and try to contact him anew...

That would be great, I would be keen to talk to him if possible.

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Well after quite a few failed batches, I have decided to move the last nest of eggs over to another pair and try egg fostering.
 
The eggs are two days old today, they are now in with my A. rubrocinctus pair for them to look after.  I removed the A. rubrocinctus that was laid today and it is in with a darwin pair that won't spawn for me.

The image is of the A. Mccullochi eggs as I was transferring the pot to the rubocinctus tank.
I dd a cursory acclimatisation of the eggs between the water in the two systems, dripped water from the new tank over a period of 20 minutes.
The A. mccullochi system is entirely independent, so salinity and temp were different and I didn't want to have the eggs get a shock.  Its probably not really needed, but I figured that there was no harm either.

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Love the egg swapping.  You are multitasking!

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

Eggs!!! Good luck. I really want to see you have success with these!

Good luck! I wish I'd grabbed these when I had some available to me a couple of years ago.

Well that batch of eggs hatched on day 7 and I missed them, so I'm waiting on them to lay again.
About 1/2 of the eggs were eaten by the foster parents.

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Which means the other half weren't!  Which means this might yet work!
 

Yup, thats my thinking as well.  Just waiting for the next nest now.  Lots of cleaning going on and the male is doing his best to shake up a storm anytime she goes near him.
 

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Mccullochi Clownfish MccullochiClownfishBreeding 

Any news with these? I just saw some at a LFS supposedly sourced from ORA, little things about 2 cm long.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ken

Yes, they are back on ORA's order list. Usually they go quick and then aren't available for a few month's.