Pickle's N-R Breeders Lounge

[Pickle010]

I was thinking I could transfer them to a larger grow out tank at that point. I mean - hopefully at some point I hope to have clutches that will outgrow a 20h. Not this time around. I can only spot one determined swimmer at the moment.

[Pickle010]

Just a quick kudo for Reed Mariculture... Randy Reed answered a ton of my questions over on MOFIB today. I gave him a hard time and told him to hurry up and get my order out as they only ship rotifers on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and I checked my email tonight and got confirmation that my order has already shipped.

 

OK.. I'm impressed!

[lex0219]

My system is actually still being built. Currently my clowns are housed in seperate 20g talls. A few people I've talked to say that the 20g is overkill and they would of been fine in something smaller.

 

Once complete I will have 4 - 20g highs on my top shelf, a 40g breeder on my second shelf and a 55 gallon plex sump.

 

The fry are being raised in standard 10's with 3 sides painted black and the bottom of the tank painted white.

 

Also a quick tip about the fry / hatching tanks that I just learned. You'll want to place your air stone near the heater to keep the flow moving away from it and to also keep the fry away. I've read about breeders placing the stone in the center of the tank and the fry being attracted to the heater and cooking. Luckily my airstone landed there on it's own.

 

As for the bucket - I had to go to a small hardware store to find a plain white bucket. Go figure - couldn't buy one at lowes or hd. The lowes and hd ones are either grey or orange with the company logo's on them. Cheap though at about $2.50 a piece - but hard to judge the tint in the rots. I've done much better since buying the ones even though they are twice as much.

 

Thanks for the info I will definitely keep that in mind. I have a lot to learn though so time to read read and then read some more!

 

Alex

[FishEyeAquaculture]

Just a quick kudo for Reed Mariculture... Randy Reed answered a ton of my questions over on MOFIB today. I gave him a hard time and told him to hurry up and get my order out as they only ship rotifers on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and I checked my email tonight and got confirmation that my order has already shipped.

 

OK.. I'm impressed!

MOFIB is full of some of the greatest aquaculturist in the world. Best of luck, if you have any questions just shoot me a PM.

[Pickle010]

Thanks for the info I will definitely keep that in mind. I have a lot to learn though so time to read read and then read some more!

 

Alex

 

 

Just be careful with all the reading - some of the information will spin your head and leave you more confused than you were going in.

 

MOFIB is full of some of the greatest aquaculturist in the world. Best of luck, if you have any questions just shoot me a PM.

 

 

Right on... Appreciate any help I can get.

[Pickle010]

Day 4 update - looks like I lost them all. I'm convinced I messed up with the Rots from day one. I'm currently trying to revive the culture I have but I'm also not taking any chances with this next clutch and a new order from Reeds is on the way.

 

Hopefully I can get more out of this clutch this time as well. I waited about an hour after lights out last time to start pulling the fry - I'm going to try and be a little more patient this time as I'm sure I lost a lot of fry on the last clutch to power heads and parents.

[Weetabix7]

I'm sorry.

[Pickle010]

I'm sorry.

 

 

You know, I prepared myself and my kids for the first few clutches, I knew there is learning curve and I know I'm deep in the turn at this point. My kids especially took it hard - Killed me to hear my 4 year old say "maybe they are still sleeping daddy" I've read about a lot of guys that get 100+ out of the first clutch they harvest and are lucky to get any so I knew with less then 20 that the odds where dramatically against me. Still though, there is always that sense or hope that you'll get it right the first time. I have to admit though that it's fun to be a newb again and the learning is an incredible part of the experience.

 

BUT... tomorrow is a new day - the rots I tried to revive is actually coming back. The bucket is acting as it should with the tint being drastically lighter when i get home from work. I also have the new shipment that will go another set up I have waiting for them tomorrow night. Should be perfect timing as the hatch is due to hit Friday or most likely Saturday night which is perfect timing for the first harvest of the new culture as well.

 

I'm also going to make another change. I layed my heater along the floor in the back of the tank and set my air stone in front of it. Problem is that the air only blows up around a small portion of the heater and that leaves a lot of heater exposed for the young fry to get near and over heat. heater is going to be suction cupped in upright with the air stone blowing up the entire length of it this time and I will be able to sure that none of the fry are getting too close.

[Pickle010]

So today was pretty cool...

 

GT shared some really valuable info with me and for this next hatch I'm going to go ahead and make some changes to the process that i've been doing.

 

Couple of quick changes will be:

 

Removing the airstone and using a rigid air line. (1 - 2 bubbles per second)

I'm going to black out all 4 sides of the tank. I'll use construction paper to cover the non painted side.

I'm going to remove all the stuff in the water - pvc - clay pots - only thing in the tank will be heater and air line.

 

I'm also going to make some changes in how I keep my rotifers culture - Luckily my culture that I restarted seems to be doing well now and the second culture came in from Reed Mariculture today. That alone should give me at 2 or 3 days of solid growth before I harvest, so food should be plentiful!

 

The eggs are doing well and my male is hard at work taking care of them hope to get significantly more out of this hatch to start out with.

[RP Beesh]

going to be lurking on this thread. thanks for the dairy

[GT AQUATICS]

let me know if there is any complications

[Pickle010]

let me know if there is any complications

 

 

Will do bro...

 

In other news I've scored a very nice mature pair of true percs today! I'll be picking them up after work.

[Pickle010]

Got the percs and man are they nice. I think the female is bigger then either of my O females. I'll get some pictures up tomorrow as tonight they are getting settled into the quarentine tank.

Edited May 7, 2010 by Pickle010

[Pickle010]

Here are the pics of the True Percs I picked up today...

 

The Female - LARGE - she is over 3 inches.

 

 

The Male - Handsome fellow if I say so myself:

 

[Pickle010]

So the eggs are looking really good - should be a Sunday night hatch. In the mean time the new pair is doing very well in quarentine. The best news of all is that my Rots are deffinately doing good this time around. When I look in the bucket I can see the swarm of rotifers swimming. I deffinately did not see them like that or in those numbers last time. Bring on the babies!!!

Edited May 7, 2010 by Pickle010

[cheryl jordan]

Really nice looking pair of clowns.

 

Good luck with the next hatch.

 

[GT AQUATICS]

nice steal bro

[lex0219]

Very nice score!

[Pickle010]

Thanks guys... hopefully we will some eggs from the pair soon - However I may hold off and match them up with some picasso's - I just got word that there are some in at a LFS in town that owes me.

 

I've got few PM's about how to get a pair to start spawning. I layed it out in this thread but not sure if I got it all in one place. Anyhow this is how it was explained to me:

 

My clowns are in individual tanks - 20g highs - but I've been told I could of gone smaller. Currently running individually until I can get them all plumbed together. Have everything I need to do it - building a stand this weekend.

 

Christo turned me on to the best advise - The pair I have spawning every 9 days have been with me over 3 years. They did not start to spawn until I made the adjustments he recommended.

 

Everything he gave me was to simulate the natural spawning sequence as they would in the wild.

 

First off - Lighting - LONG light cycle - my lights come on at 7 and stay on for 16 hours a day. This gives the clowns a spring - summer feeling. Long days.

 

Second Temps - Keep the tank warm - I run my temps at around 84 - again warmer waters - summer time.

 

Third - Salinity - My tanks sit at 1.021 - Christo suggested 1.020 but mine started spawning before I got there. Once again - in the spring more rain water comes in from the rivers and dilutes the areas the fish naturally live to a lower salinity.

 

Fourth - Feeding - I feed 4 times a day at minimum. My fish get everything - cyclopeeze - mysis - three different kinds of pellets - flake food and even a home made mix of store purchased seafood that has been blended and frozen in sheets. I feed until they won't eat anymore. I am careful to avoid too much shrimp as I've been told it can make the eggs harder and more difficult for the fry to break out.

 

Fifth - Don't worry about algae and cyano - it's going to happen in fact you want it to happen - the tank should have lots of algae. The fish will associate the algae with the availability of food for the fry. You can still maintain excellent water quality for the mating pair and fry even if the walls are green.

 

Sixth - the bare minimum in the tank. Currently my tanks do have LR and Nems in them - however once my set up is complete there will only be clay pots in the tank. I do not have any sand in the tanks at all. My pair now refuses to lay on a tile or in a pot because they still have the rock as an option. I have to scoop the fry out on hatch night after they hatch to a separate tank. If they would lay in the pot I could pull them the day of the hatch and make the process much easier. I've also lost clutches to the pair eating the eggs after an anemone has walked over them. the clowns will instinctively eat the eggs if they believe the eggs may have been harmed or damaged in any way. The tanks are also blacked out on 3 sides - they can not see the pair in the next tank.

 

That's it - Once I started this regiment the pair I had for 3 years with 0 spawns started spawning every 9 days like clock work. Right now everything seems to be on track for a hatch tomorrow night and new spawn on Tuesday.

[Pickle010]

Took over an hour and half but I managed to pull 140 fry tonight. I could spot a dozen or so more that just refused to come to the light.

 

Now I'm straining rotifers - tinting water and going to bed.

[nick1912]

Great work. I am enjoying your detailed step by step. Thank you for sharing what you learned.

 

Can't wait for your young to mature and say ' I did it!"

 

Good luck with this clutch!

[Chicagoclowns]

This is very exciting news. good luck with the roti culture and keep us posted with pics of the little ones

[Meengineer0128]

Def. following this thread!!!! Congrats on the spawn

[Pickle010]

Thanks guys...

 

The little ones are doing well today - I can see them swimming along, pause and then dart after something. I can only assume they are eating. On closer inspection their bellies are a bright silver color but still way too soon to really tell if they are going to make it. Last time we went 4 days - I guess I'll start getting really optimistic once we make it a week then meta.

Edited May 10, 2010 by Pickle010

[Pickle010]

Got a little peace of mind today. Borrowed a microscope and put some of rotifers water on a slide. HOLY #### that is amazing - Rotifers do Barrel Roles and Loops!!!

 

Forget clown fish these little bastards are cool!