what do i do with clownfish fry?

[jon russell]

i've had a mated pair of clownfish for about 5 months. they spawned and the eggs hatched. i now have about 100 babies living in my tank. their about a month old now. i have no idea what they are living off of. i haven't added any rotifers or algae that would go along with rotifers. am i supposed to add rotifers asap or brine shrimp or should i just let them continue to eat whatever they are now being's that they come this far? side note: these things are tiny, they haven't grown much since i first noticed them, what's the growth rate of these things?

 

[tangs rule]

Welcome to the site!
Some of us are gonna read this and wanna puke (like me).....most of the time the babies never survive unless they are caught, and cared for seperatly in their own tank and fed rots or oyster eggs.....I've had clowns lay eggs for YEARS and never seen a baby clown, and you have a hunderd on them! lucky!!

I've wanted my clowns to successfully rear a batch for years, but they seem to eat the eggs prior to hatching .
As far as feeding them, yes, rots, oyster eggs, Cyclop-eez would help feed them, though they have found some food in there. As long as mom/dad/other tank mates don't eat them i'd leave them where they are. If the numbers drop - pull them and give them a seperate tank..They do grow kinda slow - seemingly, but offering more food should speed up the process. That's great stuff - as any lfs will likely buy them from ya when they get to 1/2 or 3/4" in legnth, and should give ya about 5-10 bucks each for them.
Welcome to the site again - how bout a picture or 2? I'd love to see another sucessful breed.

 

[aquaknight]

 

[bang guy]

Here's a picture series of the first 15 days of an Ocellaris.
Are you sure you're looking at baby fish and not Copepods, Mysid Shrimp, or some other small critter? If they are a month old they would not longer be tiny, just small, perhaps 1/2" depending on the species. At that point they can be fed Cyclop-Eeze of other minced meaty fish food.

 

[jon russell]

so... whatever these things are... clownfish babies or shrimp... another batch of like 500 just popped up and my clowns are acting crazy. take a look and see if you can make out what they are.

 

[tangs rule]

They look like shrimps. Do they crawl on the glass?

 

[meowzer]

Do you have peppermint shrimp? look like their babies to me

 

[bang guy]

Definately a shrimp hatch.

 

[spanko]

look like mysid larvae to me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U_LsDo-FyM&feature=related

 

[jon russell]

i don't have any shrimp.. i do have a few copapods.. but they don't swim... i thought they were clownfish babies beings that they are orange and the mother is very defensive towards my hand in the tank.. she bites me every time i go near her spot.. i appreciate all of your comments.. hopefully i'll be able to grow these things to their fullest and finally put this all to rest.

 

[bang guy]

Well, I'm convinced you have Mysid Shrimp. They are a very beneficial detrivore and make excellent fish food.

 

[btldreef]

I don't think they're clownfish fry either.
You don't have to have shrimp to end up with shrimp larvae. You probably introduced them through a coral or live rock.