Raising clown fish

[ameno]

I'm posting this to try and help out a friend that has two percila clowns that are constantly laying eggs and hatching babies. But he has not been able to keep them. I'm looking to get some advice from someone on what needs to be done to try and keep them alive. I know we need to keep them away from power heads and such and have tried that but still no luck, we've even tried to seperate them from the main tank and put them in the refuge, but still they disapear.

 

[reefer545]

Originally Posted by ameno
I'm posting this to try and help out a friend that has two percila clowns that are constantly laying eggs and hatching babies. But he has not been able to keep them. I'm looking to get some advice from someone on what needs to be done to try and keep them alive. I know we need to keep them away from power heads and such and have tried that but still no luck, we've even tried to seperate them from the main tank and put them in the refuge, but still they disapear.
Get an intank rearing cage that will hang on the front or side with a few SMALL holes for flow. Feed them rotifers. After a couple weeks, they should be big enough to put back in the main, sell, or be put in their own tank for more growth. You can also seperate them in their own tank as fry with low flow, and optimal water quality.. They need lots of feedings as babies do,

 

[ameno]

Thanks I'll look into that

 

[ameno]

ok I check with this friend and he has got the hang on rearing cage but has had a problem getting the rotifers. Do you have to raise these? IS there somewere you can buy them? Do they need to be live rotifers?

 

[reefer545]

live rotifers. once you get a culture to start feeding with, you can easily culture/grow your own. google it.

 

[rod buehle]

First I would recommend getting Joyce wilkersons book "clownfishes". Then get a start on culturing rotifers. You will need a seperate tank to raise the larva in. I use 5 gallon tanks. There is now way that you can keep the rotifer densities up in a hang on tank, nor could you keep the rotifers nutritional enough to support clownfish fry. nor could you drill holes small enough to keep larva in. It will take much longer than a couple of weeks before you could put them back into the main tank.
It will take a few weeks to get the riotifer cultures going strong enough to support clownfish babies, so if your friend is really serious about raising then babies, get the book, and get rotifers going strongly and dont worry about trying to raise the next few batches. As you said, they spawn consistantly about every 2 weeks so there will be plenty of oportunities after a little studying and getting rotifers going

 

[pugidogs]

Definatly get the book. It tells everything you need to know. A great investment for sure...Pugi

 

[ameno]

Thanks for the advice, I'll recommend he get the book.