Clownfish Larvea

[therrman9813]

I have a question on clownfish larvae, I know that in the larvae tank you cant have a filter so adding food for the larvae increases ammonia how do you make safe water changes?

 

[bang guy]

Any detritus or food that settles on the bottom needs to be siphoned out once or twice a day. This will prevent it from rotting and creating ammonia as well as allowing you to do a small water change. At first the larvae will not be able to avoid the siphon so be gentle and don't create a strong siphon. The lower the bucket is compared to the tank the stronger the siphon will be. Look in the bucket for any larvae and put them back in the tank.

 

[therrman9813]

Ok thanks for the help! and when adding new water in with larvae still in the larval tank, do you just use water from the parents tank?

 

[bang guy]

Yes, but I would dilute it slightly with RO water. I found that if I gradually lowered the salinity of the fry tank over a couple of weeks more of the Clownfish would survive.

 

[therrman9813]

Thanks! Can you tell me this? I know once clownfish larvae get past a certain age in their metamorphoses they have to eat newly hatched brine how do you get the just hatched brine, out of the tank your culturing them in and into the tank with the larvae? Or would the larvae still live if they where fed AlgaGen Decap'd Brine Eggs. Which one do you guys suggest live brine or this AlgaGen Decap'd Brine Eggs?

 

[bang guy]

Newly hatched BBS are a pretty good food for Clownfish fry but also keep up the enriched Rotifers.
Two facts you can use to separate BBS from the egg shells:
1 - BBS are attracted to light
2 - Egg shells first float to the top and then sink to the bottom
So, If you cover the top & bottom of the container and shine a light on the side, all of the BBS will congregate on the lit side. You can then easily siphon out just the BBS. Be sure to strain out the water, it's nasty and not good for your fish fry.
It's not too difficult to decapsulate your own Artemia eggs using bleach but it's pretty easy to separate the BBS from the egg shells too.

 

[therrman9813]

Im trying to get my mated pair of clownfish to spawn, and im wondering if they will spawn in a 20 gallon tank with a red coris wrasse and a damsel both fairly small? their is also a couple of corals, and hermit crabs in the tank.

 

[bang guy]

Normally, yes, they will spawn. Is the Damsel harassing the pair at all? What species of Damsel and what species of Clownfish?

 

[therrman9813]

Black Ocellaris clownfish and Yellowtail Damselfish. The red coris wrasse, scooter blenny and the damsel don't bother the clowns, but the coris wrasse, and damsel like the tile I put in their for the eggs, they hang around it a lot, but as far as I see their is no disputes happening.

 

[bang guy]

The Coris Wrasse really needs to go. Not only can it easily outmaneuver the Clownfish and eat any eggs, a 20 gallon is no place for a fish that gets to be over a foot long.

 

[therrman9813]

Well I was keeping him in a 20 gallon because in my 55 gallon their is a porcupine puffer and he's about 3 inches long and the wrasse is around an inch, I don't want such a beautiful fish to be eaten up by the puffer, do you think the wrasse is fast enough to outmaneuver the puffer? And will the clowns still spawn with the wrasse in the tank?

 

[bang guy]

I wouldn't put that Wrasse in anything shorter than 6 feet.
They Clowns may not feel threatened today so they may spawn. If other fish are hanging around their prime spawning area then they are not in control of their "spot". If they do not absolutely control their adopted area then it is doubtful they will spawn.

 

[therrman9813]

What are the best rotifers to feed larvae clownfish, and what should I feed the rotifers. I would prefer to feed the rotifers something out of a bottle not a live phytoplankton culture, let me know your thoughts, Thanks!!!

 

[bang guy]

I always preferred saltwater Rotifers. Other than that they are all similar in that they deliver nutrition.
I used to use a cryopaste long time ago. I had to give that up when they started using a preservative. Unfortunately the preservative encouraged ciliate growth and they always crashed the Rotifer colony. Maybe that has been fixed...

 

[therrman9813]

Would you suggest the AlgaGen Rotifers for the larvae clownfish?