Pickle's N-R Breeders Lounge

[baileybum1234]

ohhhhh well. They did two days. Clown fry reaper strikes again. Positive side perents cleaning their rock and airstones on order.

 

I panic'ed on day 2 because it looked like they slowed down on the striking rotifers. I added more rottifers and a little too mutch phyto. Last I saw of them

 

[Pickle010]

You'll figure it out...

 

I swear it took me forever to get going and now I wonder how I ever killed them before.

 

Take good notes and mix things up a bit - you are going to have to find that right combination for yourself. And remember to feed your pair really well - the better they are fed the stronger your fry are going to be at the start and the easier they will be to raise.

[baileybum1234]

You'll figure it out...

 

I swear it took me forever to get going and now I wonder how I ever killed them before.

 

Take good notes and mix things up a bit - you are going to have to find that right combination for yourself. And remember to feed your pair really well - the better they are fed the stronger your fry are going to be at the start and the easier they will be to raise.

 

Its a fine line from feeding my clowns in m main reef and keping levels down. Any tips on feeding the parents? and how often?

 

I left the fry lighting on 24 hours and syphoned the fry tank earlier and loads of rottifers that I rinsed and added to the main tank for the corals.

 

Just trying to look back and work out what I can improve on, thanks for support, it sucks glad i read ur trials first pickle,

 

Edited August 7, 2012 by baileybum1234

[Pickle010]

I mix a variety of foods for my broodstock and typically feed 3 - 4 times per day. My lighting on the brood stock is 16 hours so I feed before work - the Mrs feeds durring the day and I feed again in the evening.

 

I use mix a of the name brand pellets / flakes (regular and veggie) as well as my own mix of seafoods that I blend and freeze flat in large freezer bags. I also like to feed cyclopeeze - I buy the dry and mix it with fresh ro and freeze it in small ice cube trays. I like doing it that way becuase if I add the dry directly to the tank I don't know how much they actually get but if I add the ice cube of cyclopeeze I can see them picking at the block and eating the chunks as it melts.

[hooligan_78]

I pretty much feed high end pellets too. 3 times a day at least. Before I go to work, right when I get home and then a couple of hours later.

 

Hang in there though! I kept losing all but a few fry on day 3...each time. Once you figure it out, like Pickle said, you'll wonder how you had the problem. I think I did a write-up in my thread here: MOFIB about the problems I had and how I fixed it.

 

I'm getting my RO/DI installed today! No more water trips, and now I can finally start working on finishing the brooder setup!

Edited August 9, 2012 by hooligan_78

[Pickle010]

I'm getting my RO/DI installed today! No more water trips, and now I can finally start working on finishing the brooder setup!

 

 

Right on... I want to see pics when it's done!

[hooligan_78]

Nothing too fancy. 3 tiers. Top tier: 3 brooder tanks, 10g and 1 QT tank 10g. The second for growout, was going to do 2 20Hs, but since I'm only going to have ocellaris in that one, I think I'll do 1 55g. Both growout and brooders will be on seperate sumps. I have built all my sumps with the 3/8" acrylic for baffles from Lowes with no problems, but might call a glass shop, see what would cost for glass baffles. I also build my sumps a little weird; I make a chamber dedicated to the skimmer to keep the water level, that way I have less skimmer problems.

Edited August 9, 2012 by hooligan_78

[Pickle010]

That's the way to go... I built my last sump for my brood system around my skimmer - the baffles ensure the compartment with the skimmer stays constant - last thing I wanted to do was chase water levels. It's enough of a pia managing the rest of the system.

[Xanthi]

I am getting into thinking of starting a breeder set-up but I am just not too sure about the financial part of it. Have you turned any profit/broken even at all from doing this? I have seen many a people start and not succeed.

[hooligan_78]

I am getting into thinking of starting a breeder set-up but I am just not too sure about the financial part of it. Have you turned any profit/broken even at all from doing this? I have seen many a people start and not succeed.

 

 

Depends on your definition of success. Do you mean success as a breeder, or making money? IMO, if you're in it for the money, you're destined to fail. If you're in it for the advancement of the hobby, etc, you're more likely to succeed. I'm a SMALL operation right now and am a couple grand in, I'm sure Pickle and others are much more than than, but I don't speak for them.

[Pickle010]

You need to put out a lot of fish to be profitable and put out something that demands a premium as well as standard clowns. With my smaller / in the house grow out I was able to turn a profit - but nothing that would make my car payments consistently. It essentially covered my expenses and a little extra.

 

I have clients that would of taken many more fish more often - I just never had the capacity to raise the volume to fill that need before.

 

If you stick with designer fish only - you are narrowing yourself to a smaller more niche market. I've found that it's important to breed clowns true to the standard to fill voids and meet the needs of what most buyers are looking for. That being said you need a buyer or several buyers for those standard clowns and a way to move your premium clowns that makes sense. Shipping costs will eat a lot of profits if you do decide to ship as overnight rates for a small (not as frequent) shipper are almost double of what a larger volume shipper pays which makes it more difficult to be competitive.

[hooligan_78]

Yep. My plan is to pair my current ocellaris female with a fancy male, hopefully turning out some fancies and regulars, same for my current ocellaris male, going to turn him female and pair with a snowflake male, with same results in mind. Trying to decide what to pair my onyx female with. Another onyx or picasso?

[Pickle010]

I'd go with an Onyx / Dark picasso and get both.

[baileybum1234]

 

Ok,

 

I have also tried to think outside the box but im sure the idea still has drawbacks.

 

I am dripping tank water through the fry tank and its over flowning back into the tank at the moment and the fry are not here for another few days. At least I know my set up will be ready.

 

When the fry turn up I will leave the water dripping through for the 2 nights so the sater is the same as the perent tank for both halves of the hatch.

 

I would like to put a 53 micron fitter on the return to the tank to keep the rottifers in the fry tank but the phyto will be flushed out and thats just rubbish. Told you this plan was floored.

 

Also the return is quite high so I would have to add loads of rottifers to maintain the correct amount. The more I think about this idea im putting myself off.

 

Pickle is my air flow better?

 

 

 

Edited August 11, 2012 by baileybum1234

[oceancube]

You need to put out a lot of fish to be profitable and put out something that demands a premium as well as standard clowns. With my smaller / in the house grow out I was able to turn a profit - but nothing that would make my car payments consistently. It essentially covered my expenses and a little extra.

 

I have clients that would of taken many more fish more often - I just never had the capacity to raise the volume to fill that need before.

 

If you stick with designer fish only - you are narrowing yourself to a smaller more niche market. I've found that it's important to breed clowns true to the standard to fill voids and meet the needs of what most buyers are looking for. That being said you need a buyer or several buyers for those standard clowns and a way to move your premium clowns that makes sense. Shipping costs will eat a lot of profits if you do decide to ship as overnight rates for a small (not as frequent) shipper are almost double of what a larger volume shipper pays which makes it more difficult to be competitive.

this was very well said.. i do the same, i do it for fun but when i have a couple nice fish to sell ill do it, my selling is random , theres others on here that do it more consistant cause they have large amounts of fish, but like pickle said it takes time and lots of space to house 2500+ babies... so basically it pays for the food ,salt and all the hours you put in are not covered by selling a couple fish even at $150.00 $200.00 each... donisreef is a great example, she started to do this for the fun of it and has turned into a reliable buisness that everone knows, she has a name and quality fish but it took years for her to get to where shes at, and alot of us are trying to do the same.... the time and money you put in it will pay off but it takes time and the right kinds of fish...good luck

[Pickle010]

OK Bailey dude... your flow looks a tad high - I'd cut it back a bit.

 

I honestly think you will be happier if you master the plain old 10g hatch without trying to over complicate it with overflows and trying to balance the rotifers and phyto - finding food for the fry is critical and having those rots well fed is just as important - you start adding overflows and what not to it is going to make finding that balance even harder.

 

You really need to get to place to where you can hatch in that 10g. The transition is easier on the fry and they get a better start. That's where I would focus my energy right now.

[baileybum1234]

OK Bailey dude... your flow looks a tad high - I'd cut it back a bit.

 

I honestly think you will be happier if you master the plain old 10g hatch without trying to over complicate it with overflows and trying to balance the rotifers and phyto - finding food for the fry is critical and having those rots well fed is just as important - you start adding overflows and what not to it is going to make finding that balance even harder.

 

You really need to get to place to where you can hatch in that 10g. The transition is easier on the fry and they get a better start. That's where I would focus my energy right now.

 

Cheers mate advice taken on board, know your right. Bit of a tile cutting session later then. Do you use the smooth side or the rough side?

 

Cheers Jarrett

[Pickle010]

I only use clay pots - so hopefully someone else will chime in on that one soon.

[youngdog]

Can you tell me how you grow the young so fast?I have a clown for over a year and it hasnt grown as much as your young ones.Im feeding ocean nutrition formula one flakes

[Pickle010]

Can you tell me how you grow the young so fast?I have a clown for over a year and it hasnt grown as much as your young ones.Im feeding ocean nutrition formula one flakes

 

 

I feed 3 - 4 times a day with a variety of foods... not just my broodstock but my fry as well. Keep in mind my tank is not a reef and does not support corals. I also do not have a sand bed to trap detrious and vacuum out excessive foods when I can.

[youngdog]

what do you feed the fry that they grow so fast 3-4 times a day.

[baileybum1234]

SO the air stone under the heater is ok? or heather under airstone? Im sure half my problem is the air flow been to high.

 

Hatch tomorrow night! and im in!

 

Jarrett

[Pickle010]

what do you feed the fry that they grow so fast 3-4 times a day.

 

 

Variety of foods - pellets / flake / veggies / mysis / cyclopeeze / frozen blend of fresh (not precooked) seafoods purchased at my local grocery store.

 

 

SO the air stone under the heater is ok? or heather under airstone? Im sure half my problem is the air flow been to high.

 

Hatch tomorrow night! and im in!

 

Jarrett

 

 

I place mine over my heater or at least on the same side as the heater. I don't clamp it down under it or to the heater - I just toss it in on the same side. No issues.

 

After the hatch you might want to have a tile or pot ready to put next to thier favorite spot. I tried a tile initially and the female kept knocking it away from her spot on the rocks and insisted on spawning on the rocks. Then I just placed a pot near it a few spawns later they moved from the rocks to the pot on their own.

[Pickle010]

I should mention that I don't let the airstone touch the heater or the bottom of the tank - I suspend it on the same side of the heater. And I only use the small 2" round stones AFTER the hatch. Since I think you are starting out by pulling fry from the parent tank you should be fine with just using that stone.

 

I use a cheap plastic 4" airstone when hatching to get better spread over the eggs but that comes out of the tank on hatch night / morning.

[hooligan_78]

Fish room updates?!