Onyx clown eggs.... NOW what????

[oceancube]

just had my clowns spawn last week, eggs look darker now with little eyes, should i try to raise them????? any info is great,as i know nothing about it!!!

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c349/oceancube/umm-1.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c349/oceancube/umm.jpg

[so-smrt]

HECK YEA!! there have been several postings about it w/ some contact info all i know is you need a seperate tank.... oh yea sign me up for some when they get bigger.

[Ping]

This will be a lot of work. The difficulty lies in feeding the fry. It requires atrema - naupili, probably selco or Phytoplankton, seperate rearing tank etc. If you are very serious about this, my advise is to get a book on the subject. Then you can be prepared for the next hatch.

[oceancube]

This will be a lot of work. The difficulty lies in feeding the fry. It requires atrema - naupili, probably selco or Phytoplankton, seperate rearing tank etc. If you are very serious about this, my advise is to get a book on the subject. Then you can be prepared for the next hatch.Yeah going tommorrow to get a book, i really want to raise them and see what colors come out!!! it will be fun!!!!

[Ping]

good luck with this. Keep us posted.

[FireEater]

You should start HERE (http://www.marshreef.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=16592&pos tdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0) and then HERE (http://www.marshreef.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=7750)

These are must read threads on raising clowns and KarenB is the person to learn from.

I have been wanting to try it myself, but I just do not have the time. So for now my eggs are another food source for my SPS.

[GaryP]

We also have a local source of info.

Instar has been breeding GSM clowns for years and is not trying to get a few other species started.

[oceancube]

yeah, looks like the eggs now have turned grayish with little eyes everywhere, really cool.. how or where do i get food for them after i transfer them, i need rotifer or something like that!!!

[mathias]

if they eat live brine..... finaddict has tons...

[GaryP]

The newborn fry are not much larger then the live brine. You start them off on rotifers and then move them up to live baby brine. On top of that, you'll need green water to feed rotifers.

[oceancube]

The newborn fry are not much larger then the live brine. You start them off on rotifers and then move them up to live baby brine. On top of that, you'll need green water to feed rotifers.where do i get rotifers from gary, lmk i wanna raise these see what color they come out!!!thanks

[Instar]

First get the book Clownfishes A Guide to Their Captive Care, Breeding and Natural History by Joyce D. Wilkerson. This can be obtained from one of our sponsors or on-line sponsors.

You can get live rotifers and start up plates for green water from Florida Aqua Farm at https://3kserver7.com/~frank/secure/agora.cgi. You will have to learn how to keep rotifers and green water cultures alive also. Someone will probably post a link for ideas on building a culture rack for green water or you can see how GARF does green water and rotifers in a small culture rack. They have it on their web site too.

Live newly hatched brine napauli you have to hatch every day once they are old enough for that. A hatching vessel is made from a 1 gallon ice tea jug that has a drain at the bottom for a couple bucks, ones you can see through.. You need at least 2 of them and a set of small measuring spoons that start at 1/4 teaspoon size. These will come in handy later on for other things too. The brine shrimp eggs you either have to decapsulate (take the shell off) for yourself or maybe you can find some already done from an on-line vendor. If you need a bleach formula to do them yourself every day, I can give you that. You will need a graduated 1 liter measuring cup and can use the air line from the brine shrimp jug to circulate it while decapsulating the eggs. I like Florida Aqua Farms brine eggs. Their dispensing bottle is great and the hatch rate is excellent after decapsulating. They hatch best at approximate specific gravity of 1.020 and for that little tid bit of information you owe me a pair of the babies. ;) That is important and is not in any of the culture books that I have seen so far.

You will need a battery back up air pump that comes on when the power goes out to hook inline with your regular air pump. One for the fry and one for the baby brine hatchery. If you manange to keep them alive, they will all die if the power goes out otherwise.

If this is the first spawn, skip it and get prepared. Read the book while the parents are getting their act together. Don't mess with the parents or the first few spawns until the parents get them to hatch on command in about 6 to 9 days. This isn't usually until several spawns are under their belt of expertise. During this time they will successfully attach more eggs to the rock without them drifting away and the spawns should get larger. During this time you can buy tanks and set up your cultures and learn how to keep the cultures alive and practice hatching baby brine on command. You must have this down in order to raise the fry and get them through metamorphosis. They don't skip meals. The baby brine and extra rotifers you will have on hand before the first spawn you capture to try and raise can be used to feed your reef.

Let me know how your doing with them.