When to move eggs from clownfish parents?

[jjencek]

I trying to raising my clowns. I have everything ready. They have laid eggs and the male is guarding them in the flower pot. I plan to move them to my breeding tank before they hatch.

I don't know how to judge which night they will hatch. I don't know when I can move them. Can they be in the breeding tank without daddy a few days? Do I need to move the dad?

[Anemone]

Yes, they can be in a tank without a parent fish, but they will need some gentle water movement across the eggs to keep them oxygenated and free of algal/bacterial growth.

They will generally hatch between 10-14 days from the time they were laid. They will turn from orange to a silvery color, and when that happens, it might be a good time to move them.

Good luck.

Kevin

[jjencek]

Thank you. I plan to use the air stone to generate the flow, but avoid the bubbles hitting them.

The pair laid over 500 eggs ... so I need to get back to finishing their new home.

[ThRoewer]

I usually did it the evening before they hatch. You can do it earlier but without the parents care you may have higher losses. Particular important is the removal of dead eggs as those may infect their neighbors. Just for that reason I would move the eggs as late as possible.

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[Anemone]

Originally Posted by jjencek

Thank you. I plan to use the air stone to generate the flow, but avoid the bubbles hitting them.

The pair laid over 500 eggs ... so I need to get back to finishing their new home.

You can also "time" this hatch (just let it happen without trying to raise any fry). That way, you'll know when the next batch will hatch and can take them out as late as possible. Once a pair starts laying, they're pretty going to keep doing it regularly, barring any major changes in your system.

Kevin

[jjencek]

Originally Posted by Anemone

You can also "time" this hatch (just let it happen without trying to raise any fry).

Kevin

Of course that is a great idea and would work well.

But do you think that after I worked for months on getting these to lay eggs, I would have the patience to wait for another two weeks? I will try to compromise and move them but keep track of the timing for the next time. I expect to come back and write "I know, you told me so."

[heritage]

How long have your clowns been paired ?
My clowns have been together for close to 7 years and just started spawning.

[jjencek]

I don't know. I bought them as paired up clowns from my local store. They are pretty large black clowns.

I had them in QT for 2.5 months. I built a new RS 170 tank just for them. I put them in 4 weeks ago from the QT. They immediately moved into their clay pot and in 4 weeks I had my first eggs.

I guess I did a few things right.

[outssider]

they will breed constantly for months then stop for a while then continue again. This can go on for years....

[rhdoug]

I agree - they may spawn more or less consistently once they start. My ocellaris pair have been spawning regularly since 2007 or 2008, with a short break or two in that time. Good luck with raising the babies, it is a lot of work but very rewarding.

[jjencek]

Ok, here is an update ...

I moved the unhatched eggs out too early. After a day even with aeration they started to have algae on them.

I returned them back to the male. He cleaned them and kept taking care of them. I lost all but about 10 of them.

Several days later (11th day) I used the Vossen trap to catch the newly hatched larvae and moved them to their new home.

[Four drachma]

Funny timing of your post..I just had my first clown eggs hatch last night, was up till 3:30 collecting them from the display to their temporary tank for the next 10 days. I’ve been growing Rotifers for the last 3 days, and have started feeding the this morning.

What color are yours? Mine are black and white Ocellaris..

I’m guessing I collected over 400 fry, I had a homemade Vossen trap set up, but it didn’t work, so I ended up dangling a blue led above the surface of the water, and siphoned them out as they swam up to it.


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[jjencek]

Congratulations!

I have the same black and white clowns, but have not done as well as you have. I started with about 500 eggs, but had several problems that more or less wiped out most of them. I save 10 of them and I am using them to test my setup before having the next batch.

[Four drachma]

Good luck on the next batch. Did the Vossen trap work??


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[jjencek]

Originally Posted by Four drachma

Good luck on the next batch. Did the Vossen trap work??


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The trap was not cheap specially with shipping to Prague, but it worked like a charm.