Clown breeding

[Hanna]

Hello Martin,
I have a pair of black percula clowns which spawn almost every three weeks since the last six months. The young always become fish food. I tried separating the parents into their own tank but they stopped breeding. Last time I got up in the middle of the night and by sheer chance they had just left the rock and I was able to catch quite a few of them and deposit them in a guppy net hanging in the tank.When I got up in the morning I could'nt find any at all. This is very frustrating. Help. How can I keep them alive?
Hanna.

 

[FMarini]

Hanna:
I'm not Martin, and hopefully he'll jump in, but in the interim i will address your q?
So the problem for you is that you have to find a way of getting the clownfry out of the tank. The easist way is to siphon the fry off the rock when they are ready to exit the eggs. Apparantly you can time these fry pretty well, so get up in the middle of the night and scoop or siphon the fry.
Second i wouldn't use a breeders net w/ the clown fry, if you want to grow them, you should set up a seperate breeding tank. As you will learn clown fry are phototropic and thats a bad thing in your aquarium. You will also need a supply of rotifers and greenwater as clown fry are very small and eat smaller foods.
The best course for clownfish breeding info is Joyce Wilkersons book Clownfish. As you will learn from this book that clown fry are labor intensvie but they do very well.
In future column i will be coverin some clownfish fry basics, but to cover the complete how-to requires her book
Best of luck
frank

 

[jamesw]

Hanna,

You're in luck! My clownfish eggs (as shown in the picture in Martin's article) just hatched last night!

I can tell you the procedure that I use to catch the fry as they hatch. (I have been trying to get the parents to spawn on a tile, but no luck so far).

About 1/2 hr before lights out, I heavily feed the tank/fish. Helps keep them from eating the fry. I then turn off my pumps and turn the tank lights off. I tape a flashlight to the upper right corner of the tank, close to the eggs - pointing down into the tank. It's a bright flashlight (4 AA batteries).

Wait about 15 minutes and also prepare a 2.5g tank with a bubbler and a heater. Cover the sides w/ black paper. Fill part way.

Now, I use a specimen container to catch the fry. As they hatch, they swim to the surface where the light is shining. I can cup them out here gently, making sure they never leave the water. I spend about an hour catching them. If I stayed up later, I could get more, but I have to work in the morning... I gently move the fry to the fry tank and transfer them. This way I can also count them as they go. I usually get between 5 and 10 per cup.

Last night I got 55 out of the whole brood (probably 300 eggs). That isn't a high %'age, but it's the best I can do when the parents lay eggs in the reeftank.

I won't go into rearing the fry, that's another story altogether!

HTH
James Wiseman

 

[Mac1]

Wow James, glad to see you're getting some out. That's a great idea for the method too! I tried something similar with my Cleaner Shrimp, but never had any luck growing them out.
I just noticed my first batch of (what I think are) Clownfish eggs from my TR Perc's! I'm in no way prepared to rear them, but have been waiting for a sign that they're ready to breed before I prepare myself... Guess I gotta re-read that section in Joyce's book.
How hard is it? Have you brought any to maturity (well, big enough to sell/trade/share with friends)? It sounds like a lot of work by Joyce's account, but would make for a nice winter project.

- Mac

 

[jamesw]

My fry have a dismal survival rate. But it IS possible. I have gotten some past metamorphosis.

Your species should be MUCH easier.
HTH
James