Ocellaris Breeding Inquiry

[AUEagleinDC]

Greetings fellow reefers,

For the last year or so, I have studied the possibility of breeding ocellaris clowns. At this point, I feel extremely well-read and ready to begin. Because money is scarce, my broodstock set-up won't have all the bells and whistles, but let me know what you all think. I also have a couple ?s.

Basic facts: 10 gallon eclipse (biowheel removed) with about 13 lbs of fiji LR and an inch or so of crushed coral on the bottom.

Question # 1: JD Wilkerson eludes to the fact that ANY TWO JUVENILLE ocellaris clowns will eventually spawn if left to grow up together. In your view, what is the % chance that a given pair WILL spawn within a year or two? What is the chance they won't mate at all? (I know this is tough, but try your hands and give me best guesses, please!).

Question # 2: To diversify the gene pool, would it be wise to select juvenilles from TWO SEPARATE and non-related tank raised "batches?" Would siblings mate anyway?

Question # 3: Because this is a FOWLR (but a mating tank which must be kept pristine), what kind of additives must I add?

Thanks for everything. You guys and girls are great.

Chris

 

[AUEagleinDC]

JD Wilkerson mentions in her book a dry larval first food...."Addison's Larval Feed"....developed by bill addison at c-quest (she mentions ocellaris clowns are particularly capable at surviving with it as a first food). I understand that rotifers are THE way to go, but IF (given my cramped space and financial restraints in a DC dorm room) I can't invest in rotifer/algae cultures, would this stuff work at sustaining SOME of the larvae.

Thanks, Chris

 

[Martin Moe]

Breeding clowns are not difficult, but it does take some facilities and a good bit of time, especially at the beginning.

1. True that young ocellaris clowns will adjust their sexes to create a male female pair. However, success in developing a mated pair might be better with 3 to 5 small fish instead of just 2. You can get 2 to 3 pairs out of 6 small clowns and your chances of gettine a good breeding pair are increased.

2. I don't think it really makes a difference at this point. The captive stock is not yet inbred to the point that genetic diversity is compromised by close relationships. Possibably in a situation where an offspring is mated to a parent, but probably not with siblings.

3. Established pairs should be held in separate brood stock tanks, of course, but aside from good fish keeping practice, I don't think you need any additives, although I don't know what you might have reference to here.

 

[AUEagleinDC]

Thanks, Martin. Any knowledge or experience with Addison's Larval Feed as a first food for clown larvae? Thanks in advance....take care....Chris

 

[Martin Moe]

Hi Chris,
I don't have any experience with Bill Addison's larval food for clownfish, but I have reared clownfish on a good quality dry flake food ground to the right particle size (small, you have to experiment) followed by brine shrimp. Not many make it through and the quality of the resulting juveniles leaves something to be desired. Also any dry food that you use as a first or second stage food base causes problems because 1. You have to have a fairly high density of food particles in the water column at first feeding and for the first 5 days or so after first feeding. This means that you have to feed very often. 2. This results in a large accumulation of uneaten food on the bottom of the rearing tank. This must be siphoned out frequently and increases the necessity for water changes.

If you want to rear clownfish in a very small hatchery system I would suggest the following. (very briefly)

Equipment:
Three 10 gallon tanks and one 20 gallon tank. Two 10 gallon tanks serve as brood stock and larvae tanks, the 20 as a grow out tank and the last 10 gallon tank is used as a rotifer culture tank.

Three gallon jars to use as rotifer maintainence system, and a couple of 1 liter soda bottles for brine shrimp hatcheries.

Of course you need a good air pump and access to a refrigerator.

1. Establish a breeding pair of ocellaris clowns in the 10 gallon tank.
2. Find a source of rotifers and set them up in one or two of the gallon jars, you will need a very small sieve, a coffee sieve or very fine tea strainer should do. Set up the rotifers in the gallon jars. You can feed them with a phytoplankton paste available from commercial sources and kept in the refrigerator (probalby the best way to go) or you can feed them on a formula made from V8 vegetable juice. (I have done this successfully). When you begin to need large numbers of rotifers, you can set up one of the 10 gallon tanks to provide all the rotifers you need.
3. Set up one of the 10 gallon tanks as the larval tank. Surround the tank with black plastic (makes the right background for the larval clowns), fill it with salt water, use one (or two airstones) to gently circulate the water, place the hatched out larvae in the tank, don't put more than maybe 150 larvae in the tank, leave the rest in the brood stock tank, tough to do but 500 larvae in a 10 gallon tank is too much, have a light over the larvae tank, dosen't have to be high intensity, but should be fairly bright.

Add rotifers on the day after the night of hatch. Maintain the rotifers at a about 3 to 5 per ml for the first few days, then begin to feed new hatch brine shrimp, go easy on the brine shrimp (very important advice) and as soon as possible, probably day 10 to 12, begin to add a particulate food, either fine particles of flake food or make up fine particles of ground fresh frozen table shrimp. You can use a larger sieve to force the particles through it so that you don't add too much food that can't be consumed.

Have your grow out tank set up with lights, a live rock or two for biological filtration, and aeration of course, and move the fish to this tank as soon they have established a relationship with the bottom and have all their color, maybe about 3 weeks old and a quarter to 3/8th inch long. Alternatively, you can add live rock to the 10 gallon tank, clean the bottom, change a little water and use that as a grow out tank.

Of course there is a lot more to it but this will get you started. Eventually you will need more room and more tanks.......

Martin

 

[chadonna]

I too have a question. I have a pair of A. Ocellaris, that I hope will be a breeding pair. However, after 8 months there is no size difference between them as I have seen pairs displaying online. They are together 100% of the time, meaning with 10-12 inches of each other in 150 gallon tank. Are they waiting for a trigger to become turn on their biological switch?

 

[wade1]

It took 2 years for my pair of A. percula to form. And it has taken more than 3 for my pink skunks to get along (and they are no where near breeding yet). This process takes a long time in some species!

A. ocellaris are probably one of the faster species to breed.

AUEagleinDC: Your setup sounds fine, although I would remove about half the live rock. Its not needed with only the two fish and it will actually just promote them spawning someplace where the eggs are not recoverable (like a big piece of rock). I'd reduce the rock and add a piece of tile on a slant if they start showing breeding tendances.

Once they do start to breed, if you change the layout of the tank, you will cause a halt in breeding for a wihle.

Wade

PS- There's a guy in Havre de Grace who breeds tons of ocellaris. If you want his contact, let me know.