Tomatoe/Ocellaris breeding!

[cb747]

Ok today i had my hunch proved. My tomatoe and oscellaris are breeding! I watched him fertilize the eggs. unfortunatly i still cant get the eggs out as they laybed them 3 inches from the tile on a rock with several rbtas on it The eggs are viable cause this is ther third batch of eggs and ive watched the other eggs develope. Has anyone ever heard of this type of cross breeding? And does anyone have any pics of what might result??
Chris

[oceanarus]

That is so cool!!!!! I have never heard of that happening. We had a friend who took a couple of our babies one tomato and one ocellaris. But believe it or not the ocellaris killed the tomato.

So which one is the male/ female of your pair?

Amy

[cb747]

The male is the Tomatoe and the Female is the Oscellaris. I had tried putting a tile right next to where the have been laying there eggs but they didnt cooperate. I really wish i could get them out but i know its not possible to the best of my knowledge. Its pretty funny because the Tomatoe used to keep the other clowns out and away from his Anemone cluster but the female was persistant and wouldnt budge. Now there mating and the Tomatoe still chases the other clowns away! Im set up with rots and phyto because im trying to raise seahorses. After these eggs hatch i think im going to try epoxying a small rock right where they have been laying

[Genin]

that is very interesting. can you post pics of the wonderful pair?

[cb747]

Ill post a few pics in a few days. My wife has the camera and is away till tommorrow.

[showjet98]

that might be the most unusual pairing and possible offspring Ive ever heard of. Please try and get the tile in a place were they can be collected and try and raise them, Id really like to see the result from those two!

[cb747]

I would love to se it also! Itll be way cool!! Im really curious what they would look like. Hopefully ill see one of these days! There breeding like clock work so i should figure out a way to outsmart them
Chris

[phender]

Why can't you just collect the babies on the night that they hatch? That is the way I have always done it.

[cb747]

So far i havent been able to see them hatch. How do you catch them? With a net or like a turkey baster?

[phender]

The eggs will hatch in 7-9 days depending on temp. and clown species. The day before they hatch the eyes inside the eggs will be very silvery and the yolk sac will be almost gone. The babies will hatch about 1.5 - 2 hours after the lights go out. (I usually turn the lights off a little early that night, so I don't have to stay up late) An hour after the lights are off(that includes all other lights in the room) turn off all pumps and powerheads. An hour after that shine a flashlight down into the tank. The babies will follow the light beam up to the top. Then you gently scoop out the babies with a tuperware container or something and transfer them to the fry tank. The fry tank is usually a 10 gal tank with blacked out sides, filled with about 5 gal of water from the parent's tank (done earlier that evening). The fry tank needs a heater (with tape around the light) and a gently flowing airstone. Since you already have rots, the rest should be easy.

[cb747]

Thanks Phender. I know how the eggs look cause ive watched them develop a few times already. I didnt know that they hatched that quickly after the lights go off. Ill give it a shot!!

[phender]

Good luck! No telling what those babies might look like. Keep us informed.

[cb747]

I most definitely will!!! Thanks again

[Gary Majchrzak]

cb- are you experienced raising larval anemonefish? If not, you might want to locate a clownfish breeder and see if they're interested in what you have to offer...

[Atticus]

There is a very successful breeder in NY that breeds Fire Clowns in particular just wish I could remember his name.... He would be a great person to contact and maybe give some fry to try. ( shut up I know it rhymes... )

[Atticus]

Appearantly the search function does not go back far enough for me to find the person I was talking about... I would try your state clubs as I believe it was in one of their forums.

[cb747]

Gary I have no experience raising clowns. Im currently trying for the 3rd time to raise Reidi Sea Horses. I have lots of rotifers so if i am able to get some out of the tank i can atleast feed them. I also have Joyce Wilkersons book. I live on Long Island so if anyone knows a breeder around my area please let me know
Chris

[oceanarus]

Well raising clowns (most of them) is about 100 times easier than reidi seahorses. So don't let your lack of sucess with reidi discourage you. We raise 7 types of clowns, a goby, bangaii's etc. but gave up on the reidi after several tries.

[Wetchick]

I know a place in NY, Ithaca Reefs they breed clownfish.

Lisa

[Atticus]

Originally posted by Wetchick
I know a place in NY, Ithaca Reefs they breed clownfish.

Lisa

AH HA that is the one I was trying to think of... JarekP

[Gary Majchrzak]

I have visited 'Ithaca Reef'. Jarek lives an hour and a half from me.
I wonder how you folks heard of him, though?!

[Atticus]

I talked to him on here.

[cb747]

Heres a few pics of the happy couple and the eggs. Although im sure they werent happy with me

[phender]

Wow, that is amazing. You said you have watched them lay the eggs, right? The small ocellaris layed the eggs and the larger tomato clown fertilized them? That is sort of unusual.
I really hope you are successful with the babies. This is getting more and more interesting with every post. Thanks for the pics.

[showjet98]

are you sure the male is the tomato? that would be really odd to have the female the smaller of the two. But, I guess this is an odd circumstance anyways.