Help-clownfish larvae keep dying

[sjk2840]

Help!! this is my 4th try at trying to raise clownfish larve, I've read numerous blogs and articles on what to do to raise them.. I catch the larvae with a glass bowl on hatch night and usually end up with 60+ larvae swimming in the larvae tank. i use water from the parent tank, the temp is about 80 degrees, the tank is covered in black paper and I have a light bulb hanging above the tank from a curtain rod.I've been keeping the light on for 24 hours and add rotifers to the water right away. 6 hours later most of the larvae die, usually there are about 5 left and within 24 hours they also die. I have a new batch of eggs that were laid today-I'm ordering a new batch of rotifers, not sure if the ones I have left are still alive. Any adice would be greatly appreciated. Am I missing something or forgetting something? Please Help
Thanks

 

[al&burke]

How are you keeping your rotifers and what are you feeding them? Are you adding an air line and heater to the fry tank. How much rotifers are you adding to the fry tank, they need to have enough in there in order for them to go one length (of the fry) to eat them. Cover all sides of the tank and leave the top open. I usually just leave the room light one for the first while. I take my eggs out of the parent tank and add them to a ten gallon tank that is about 1/2 full, airline and heater are very important. I just started raising clownfish a few months ago, I have Bang Guy from this forum to thank for my not to bad success, I have two batches on the go, both of them are about 50 fry in each. first batch is a month old the second is 10 days old. My pair just spawned today and in a week I will take the eggs out. Good luck and like I said Bang Guy is the person to go to. One more thing with rotifers they are really easy to keep, I think anyways, many feed with greenwater but I use RG complete, AP Breed brand - having an abundance of rotifers that all fry and tanks are enjoying. Good luck!!!!

 

[sjk2840]

After talking to a few LFS's I think I need to clean and bleach everything I use for the hatch tank and start over. I keep hearing the word" bacteria" in the larvae tank. I also am getting a new heater and I think I crashed my batch of rotifers. The rotifer water never gets lighter or darker and I cant see anythihg swimming around in there either. I am ordering my rotifers from a company that I see mentioned on this forum a lot. I guess this is a learning process. I also have an airline in the larvae tank with the bubbles set on low, I did fill the tank up to the top, gonna only fill it half way up next time. I'll change a few things and hope it works. I have the next batch due to hatch this wednesday night. The easy part is getting the larvae out of the parent tank- I just need to keep them alive now.
Thanks

 

[bang guy]

How many Rotifers are you feeding? I'm guessing that if you're not able to see them then you don't know how many you are feeding.
What are you feeding the Rotifers? It's important to keep the Rotifers bellies full of nutritious algae to pass on to the Clownfish larvae.

 

[al&burke]

I don't use a heater in my rotifers they multiply too fast with a heater.

 

[sjk2840]

I am feeding my rotifers "Roti-Reef" it came with the starter kit I bought. I looked in the water today and still cant see anything in there. I'm ordering Rotifers from somewhere else this time and just going to start over, hopefully with a better knowledge of how to do this. I also didnt buffer the Rotifer water when I added them to it, was I supposed to? I just used a newly mixed salt water with a SG of .019.
So to answer your question, I didnt know how many roifers i was feeding. I just scooped the top of the roifer bucket with a sieve and put whatever was in there into the larvae tank.

 

[sjk2840]

Here is a picture of my male clownfish tending to the eggs right after they were laid. I caught his reflection on the side glass. I put a piece of slate over the spot they originally laid the eggs on, but they laid this batch right above it. My plan of taking the piece of slate out on hatch night failed. They are smarter than i thought. They like the silicone in the corner of the tank better.

 

[al&burke]

When I feed the fry I just scoop out the water and rotifers and put it all in the fry tank. I shine an LED light in the fry tank by the side of the fry tank to make sure I can see rotifers. At first they say the larvae should not swim more than a body length to get food. I use tank water to change water in the rotifer bucket. I feed a lot of rotifers to my reef. These guys just keep growing and growing (multiplying) many times I have just poured them out. Tank a small scoop of the rotifers water and shine a light you should be able to see them moving. I even add the RG complete to the fry tank to control water parameters, on day 7 I add a sponge filter that has been soaking in my reef sump for a few days. I only add the sponge when I see that metamorphasis has started. If you have a even a few rotifers alive in your rotifer bucket they should still multiply, just keep the water a medium green, hard to explain.

 

[al&burke]

Here is a shot of the female with her eggs, she actually tens to them a lot.

 

[sjk2840]

I just oredered the starter rotifer kit that comes with the RG complete. I'll start this batch of rotifers with a better knowledge of how to raise them and hope this batch dosent crash. I still dont see any rotifers swimming in my first batch, I'll still feed them just in case. So I dont need to use the sieve when I add the rotifers to the larvae tank?? I wasnt sure wether I could add rotifer water to the larvae tank or not-i really appreciate all of the input, unfortunately all 3 of my LFS's dont have any knowledge on raising larvae or rotifers.Most of the stores carrry frozen rotifers for a reef.I think I am tteaching them something in the process.
My female clown only occasionally checks on the eggs, she sleeps in the sand under where they are hatched, it took my pair 5 years to finally spawn, now if i could just get my black/white pair to spawn!

 

[bang guy]

Using a seive is far better in my opinion but a paper coffee filter will work also. But initially the water needs to be dense with rotifers so there is always one in the face of every Clownfish. Keep in mind that your larvae tank does not need to be full and the lower the water level the fewer rotifers are needed to maintain a good density.

 

[sjk2840]

The lower water level totally makes sense. I had mine filled to the top. I should have my shipment of rotifers on Tuesday, just gonna start a new batch and hope for the best. Should I add rotifers immediatley to the larvae tank on hatch night or wait till the next morning. I lost most of the larvae during the early morning- did they starve? I pulled the larvae out of the parent tank around 8 pm, 2 am. they were all still alive and by 6 that next morning only a few were left-.
My new batch is due on wednesday-trying to get all of the info before then, I'm hoping I can keep this batch alive.
How long do I keep the tank wrapped in black paper?
I apprecaite any advice or other tips.

 

[bang guy]

Are you growing out your rotifers? It sounds like you're just feeding what is being shipped. They need time to multiply. My suggestion would be to get more experience growing rotifers and get a couple colonies going steady. Once you can do that then start on the Clownfish. The Clownfish don't eat much if anything the first several hours. It takes them some time to learn how to hunt. I'm not convinced yours are starving that first day but they should have Rotifers immediately so they can learn to hunt.

 

[sjk2840]

Bang guy, you are right, I am not growing out my rotifers, my shipment usually arrives either on hatch night or the day before, so I'm just getting the culture going and then I have larvae hatching. How long does it take to get a good supply of rotifers going? I've got time off from work over the holidays, so I can get this whole process going. Its hard to get a system going when your juggling 10 hour work days and baby fish. I really want to make this work.

 

[al&burke]

I had mine growing for about month before I started saving the larvae. My biggest obstacle was getting them to lay eggs on the slate. Once that happened all was pretty good. I was thinking about your clowns laying eggs on the silicone, what if you got two strips of glass and siliconed it together to make a fake corner, put it in the corner they always lay eggs, then after 7 days take it out and put it in your fry tank. Just a thought.

 

[sjk2840]

Actually my 17yr. old son kept saying that about the piece of glass in the tank. i wanted to try the slate fisrt, but my fish outsmarted me. So after this batch I will put the glass panels in the spot they like and see what happens. How do you save your rotifers? do you harvest them and refrigerate them? or start new buckets?

 

[al&burke]

Quote:
Originally Posted by sjk2840 http:///t/393548/help-clownfish-larvae-keep-dying#post_3502130
Actually my 17yr. old son kept saying that about the piece of glass in the tank. i wanted to try the slate fisrt, but my fish outsmarted me. So after this batch I will put the glass panels in the spot they like and see what happens. How do you save your rotifers? do you harvest them and refrigerate them? or start new buckets?
You must keep them fed, do not let the rotifer water go clear for long. Always try to feed them enough to turn the water they are in a light to medium green. The RG Complete I add about 6 to 10 drops almost twice a day. When the rotifer water starts clearing faster I harvest them, put them in your reef tank if you have one, if you don't then start a second bucket. If there are too many in the rotifer bucket they will eat the RG complete real fast. Like I said before I take a little shot glass out and check under an LED light to make sure they are moving and still alive, you will know if they are not the water won't clear. THe shot glass thing is just a sanity check, if you know what I mean. If you have too many and don't have anything to feed them to dump half the bucket and add tank water to top it off. My third batch of eggs is going in the ten gallon tomorrow night when I get home, they are starting to get eyes now. Good luck and keep us up to date. But get those rotifers growing a good week or two before you try to save a batch. JMHO, and like Bang Guy said.

 

[sjk2840]

Thanks Al,
your rotifer method sounds a lot easier than alll of the stuff I was reading on the internet. It makes more sense. I guess I was reading to much into it and making it more complicated than it needed to be. I'll let this batch of eggs go and get my rotifers going first. I'm set up, but just need to get the rotifers .. Good luck with your batch.
I will keep you posted on my progress.

 

[al&burke]

Good luck sjk - very rewarding hobby watching these larvae transform into little clownfish. Be patient and you will be successful. Look forward to seeing your success.

 

[sjk2840]

Thanks Al,
Patience is a definite must in this hobby. I'm just glad after 5 years that my clownfish are spawning. I thought that was never going to happen. Next is hopefully my black and white pair.I will keep updates on this forum. I appreciate all the input I've gotten.
Happy Holidays
SJK
I'm sure at some point I will have more questions.