Tomato Clowns have spawned. What now?

[Ocyurus]

I have had Tom and Cherry (mis-named before we knew their sexes) for 2 1/2 years. They are absolutely the most hardy fish I have ever owned. After our Holocaust, which wiped out everything else including blue-legs, we found them in the top corner gasping for breath. They lived through flood, fire, power-outage and Aiptasia.

Now, they live in a 45 gallon tank with only a turbo snail and a small piling of rocks that they have their nest in. I knew they were mated some months ago after they quit biting each others fins and dancing around and dug out their den.

I have noticed in the last week that they have been spending additional time keeping the gravel out of their burrow. Today, we were making preparations for the Reef to be re-established and took a quick look at them and saw their eggs attached to the underside of a prominent rock in their hole.

We would like to attempt to raise the fry, even if only to say we tried. Going to get Wilkerson's book tomorrow but want as much advice as can be gathered.

The fish take good care of their unborn young, constantly blowing water on them and picking at them with their mouths. When I tried to take a picture of their nest they periodically charged my camera.

Should we move the rock the eggs are on into a new 10g tank now and wait for them to hatch or should we wait and catch the swimming fry?

What should we feed them? How often? Where to get it?

What sort of filtration do we need and what should we get to not suck them up into it?

 

[FishinGal]

Well Wilkersons book will probably be of more help than I will, but Ill give it a shot
First off, since this is your first brood you will likely get lots more. If this attempt doesnt pan out, at least you will learn a good bit and be more ready the next time.
Im pretty sure the only filtration acceptable for a broodstock tank is a sponge filter, powered by an airpump. Keeping a sponge in the main tank or sump will help you get the 10g cycled and ready for them.
It is easier I believe to remove the eggs, if you can get to the rock easy enough.
I am almost positive that the first food needs to be rotifers. You will need to culture these or find someone in your area that is already doing so.
Incubation time is about 6-9 days depending on temperature, so you have a few days to figure things out.
Best of luck!

 

[Ocyurus]

Thanks for your feedback. The pair are doing the same thing they have been doing for several days. I have a particulate filter in the tank with the fish that was right near their nest, so I moved it to the other end of the tank in case I am not aware when they hatch. I am still not sure that will make any difference.

I am setting up the tank for the fry now and going to fill it with ocean water. The tank they are in was filled with mixed water which should be much different chemistry from their current home. Should I acclimate them like any other fish I am moving into a new tank? Or something more elaborate?

I feel now that in their current situation the eggs would suffer more damage if moved than tiny swimming fish will so, I think I will leave them in and try the flash-light over the tank idea that I read some time back on the board. Will I have any problems with the parents eating their fry?

I just placed the order for phytoplankton and rotifer cultures with Florida Aqua Farms a few minutes ago. I am desperately hoping they arrive with enough time to set them up and have food ready. My location is only a few hours drive away from the Gainesville area.

Any more feedback?

 

[keethrax]

I am setting up the tank for the fry now and going to fill it with ocean water. The tank they are in was filled with mixed water which should be much different chemistry from their current home. Should I acclimate them like any other fish I am moving into a new tank? Or something more elaborate?

Why not use water from the existing tank?

 

[Ocyurus]

Thanks for the tip, it just hadn't crossed my mind to do a 10g water change and use the water I took out to keep the fry separate. I will eventually phase out the water into seawater because that is what I intend to primarily use.

The eggs have turned a maroon colour which I am under the impression is a harbinger of soon hatching. I am trying to make plans to feed them in the case they arrive before the Florida Aqua Farms package.

This is what is available at the LFS. Will it suffice for a while until I could replace it with proper rotifers?

http://www.petsmart.com/global/prod...T<>prd_id=845524441781443&bmUID=1093642793834

Any other recommendations?

 

[Ocyurus]

Day 8.
I can see the full larvae inside their egg-cases, their eyes are fully developed. Black nerves are visible and the bottom of their eggs are turning silver. I am anticipating the larvae tomorrow, the rotifer and micro-algae cultures came today and I have them set up in the kitchen. I will try to take plenty of pictures and post what I find out.

 

[Ocyurus]

They hatched last night, we saved almost all from the ravages of their parents and successfully moved them to the larvae tank. Feeding them the rotifer cultures and they are eating good. We will see how they fair after the critical period.

 

[garagebrian]

Hey, I was following your post and was curious if there was an update on the success of raising the fry?

B.

 

[Ocyurus]

Hurricane Frances went over over us 3 days after they hatched. We were without power for the last 10 days. I ran all my tanks on battery-powered air pumps for the first 4 days until we heard an ad on the radio that Sears Parts & Service had a dozen generators come in, we raced down there and got a 5500 watt Briggs & Stratton.

The biggest issue for the fry during the four days was not air, but instead light. Without sufficient light they cannot see their food and starve. We were able to keep only a few dozen after that period and have lost a couple since then. It turned out well for me that the rotifer and micro-algae cultures did fine just out in partial sun without any aeration except occasionally shaking of the algae bottles.

Our power is back on now, I am trying to salvage all that I can of the poorly timed larvae. I usually use either ocean or fish-store water in the tanks and both are closed off right now due to the storm. I am trying to make some water with an old bag of Instant Ocean salt I have, it seems unbearably slow to me.

 

[garagebrian]

Thanks for the update! Sorry to hear about the troubles with Frances. It is encouraging that at least some of them survived that ordeal. Hope you are back to normal soon.

It will be interesting to see if your clowns spawn again, keep us informed!

So why do you use ocean water(other than easy access)? Are you worried about introducing pests/parasites by using ocean water? Do you cure it at all or look for bad guys?

 

[Ocyurus]

Everything here is mostly back to normal, at the grocery they finally have water and canned goods readily available. The only mark that a storm ever passed is the mysterious absence of any Sterno.

The pair don't seem to have been adversely effected by the few days without power, when the generator turned the lights back on they came out with a "Whoa! Dude, what a night!" look and colouration. They quickly perked up and are back to normal now. Though still in need of a water change.

I like seawater for a number of reasons, the first being, as you pointed out, ease of access. It seems to me that it is impossible to exactly mimic the chemistry of natural ocean water these animals have evolved in. This is not just H2O and NaCl, there are millions of different compounds found only in parts per billionth or less. I don't filter the water before I put it in the tanks, instead I try to put it in the aquariums as quick as possible to prevent die-off that could possibly effect the water quality. I will probably, in the future experiment with various methods of filtration before adding the water to see any varied response.

 

[Ocyurus]

Just a quick update before I go to bed.

I now have four of the young clowns left, they are all well past metamorphosis and eat baby brine shrimp and Spirulina flakes. They really are cute little things, orange with their little stripes and they already have a pecking order, sibling rivalries.

Tonight when I was feeding the parents I noticed under the same rock as before, more eggs. Here we go again, but this time I am armed with experience. Pictures of the young to come soon.

 

[garagebrian]

Very cool! Thanks for the update. Looking forward to the pictures, how big were the babies when they hatched and how big are they now?

 

[Ocyurus]

*Flips open wallet to display proud baby photos*

This is the leader, Top Fish, so to speak.

Brothers.

Awww, look how he swims, he's a Clown fish! Tomato grow two defined stripes after metamorphosis and then lose one when they mature to adults.

Shot right before a routine scuffle.

 

[garagebrian]

Awesome pics! Congrats on being a proud papa! I'm hoping to try raising fry next year, I might ask questions later

 

[garagebrian]

How are the small frys doing? Are the adults spawning again?

 

[reefdork]

Hi, this was a very nice thread to have read, and very informative...I hope things are going well with them, and the new fry to...If you are planning to sell any, how much would you want for 3 of them, and also I wanted to ask why did the one in the picture have a second stripe towards the rear of its body, while the other/s had only the normal one stripe?

Thanks alot and take care.