Clownfish Eggs

[seabass]

Check the salinity of the culture, temp too.

Seeing that I'm not using heaters and the weather has changed, I suspect the room temps have changed a little. I might have to re-read the chapter about cultures to see if I'm making any glaring mistakes.

[debbeach13]

Thanks for the reply. I guess the last time I did that ride was 5 years ago when my grandson was 2. Slipped my mind. I am going to the flower show in March. I will check out

[coralsalive]

will be following

[teenyreef]

I saw a show on National Geographic last night about the wildlife of Papua (Indonesia), and they had a beautiful segment on clownfish with some really nice closeups of the eggs developing. You could see their hearts beating in the eggs

[seabass]

That's awesome. I'd love to have a camera with better macro capabilities. I keep eyeing them, but I just can't justify the cost.

[seabass]

Looks like they might be ready:

 

Rotifers are back:

 

The rotifer population isn't especially good or bad, so still deciding on whether or not to try to save this batch.

[seabass]

I just took a look at the day 1 post, and another look at the eggs with a flashlight. It's only been like 7 days, and the eyes don't look all that reflective yet. Plus, the temperature in this tank is closer to 78 than 80. With all that I'm guessing it's going to be tomorrow night (and not tonight). I'm leaning toward trying to save a dozen or so.

[debbeach13]

I know it is more work than I would try but my vote is Yes Please try to raise some. Love this thread.

[Pjanssen]

So sorry everyone.

 

I was looking all over for Finley this morning and couldn't find him anywhere. Finally I found him; last night he must have wedged himself in a silicone seam (right at the water level) and couldn't free himself. In the book, they mention fixing any defects in the silicone, but I had already had the tank full by the time I read that.

 

I had slowly been lowing the water level in the tank, and I must have hit a sweet spot where Finley was more prone to find it. I'll drain the tank and fix the seams prior to the next attempt (or maybe I'll just resurrect my Mr Aqua 17.1 gallon, which has impeccable seams). Bummer.

 

[seabass]

inorite? Funny you can get attached to a little larva.

 

 

Hopefully I'll have better luck this time. Here they are today:

Looks like some reflective eyes. I'm guessing tonight is hatch night.

[seabass]

Tank is ready:

[risk1994]

Love those little silver eyed guys...good luck!

[Christopher Marks]

Looks like some reflective eyes. I'm guessing tonight is hatch night.

Good luck tonight!

[Clown79]

Good luck!

[seabass]

Thanks! So this night has been par for the course. It appears that the majority of the eggs are still unhatched. There might have been a stray or two (like Finley was). But TBH, I haven't spent all night staring at the tank, so I could have missed a "Rouge One."

 

There are a couple of things different than last time. I'm using a preset heater set to 78 degrees. This temperature difference could be affecting the the hatch date (or, IDK, even time). Also, there is more direct flow to the eggs from the pump, making the male's job of fanning the eggs much easier. As a result, I believe he has been less attentive than previous clutches. You can see that I've been able to take some pics without is mug in the frame.

 

However, what worries me, is that when I shut down the pump, he doesn't really fan the eggs like he had previously done. This makes me nervous to leave the pump off for extended periods of time. So I've been turning the pump on from time to time to help clean and aerate the eggs.

 

Right now I have the pump off and I'm waiting about 45 minutes to see if any eggs hatch. Then I'll probably turn it back on. Just like it has been in the past, I'm questioning whether or not this will be the night. For some reason, they don't really seem to follow the norm for hatching. I've even tried absolute darkness (which they don't typically get, as I have moon lights and there is typically a glow from the rotifer and phyto cultures).

[seabass]

So it's been 14 hours after lights out and the eggs are still there. Apparently the lower temperature has delayed the hatching by a night. I just turned on the room lights to delay it further (if by some chance they would have hatched before the tank lights came on). Anyway, I got a few hours of sleep. Hoping for better luck tonight. I'll post new pics after the tank lights come on.

[seabass]

12/28/16:

[lkoechle]

12/28/16:

Looks like some have hatched while you weren't looking

[seabass]

Yeah, I think you're right lkoechle. That or they became nonviable and were removed by the parents. However, I'm leaning towards they hatched last night. I'm hoping the remaining eggs will hatch soon after lights out tonight. I'd really like to try and raise about a dozen. I figure that even with losses, I'd still have a few that make it. Any more than a dozen and I expect that cleaning, water quality, and rotifer population would become bigger factors. I might try and raise a larger clutch at a later date. I'm sure I'll have more opportunities, and I'm still learning about this.

[seabass]

OK sports fans... lights are out. I hope that I don't disappoint.

[Newstead]

Fingers crossed!

[seabass]

Whaa whaa whaaaa.

 

You'd think that transferring newly hatched larvae would be the easiest part of this, but it's the step that I'm struggling with the most. The problem being that they do not hatch soon after lights out, and not knowing when they will hatch.

 

I stayed up past 3 a.m. and the eggs still hadn't hatched yet. Having little sleep from the night before, I took a nap. I suspected that if they hatched while I was asleep that some of them would be eaten, but expected to be able to find a few.

 

So I was asleep longer than I planned, and woke up at 6 a.m. All of the eggs were gone (I assume they hatched). Knowing how hard it was to find Finley, I frantically searched every square millimeter of the tank. However, nothing.

 

I have to say that I was better prepared for this attempt than the previous ones, but it wasn't in the cards. Sorry guys, no babies this time.

[lkoechle]

Whaa whaa whaaaa.

 

You'd think that transferring newly hatched larvae would be the easiest part of this, but it's the step that I'm struggling with the most. The problem being that they do not hatch soon after lights out, and not knowing when they will hatch.

 

I stayed up past 3 a.m. and the eggs still hadn't hatched yet. Having little sleep from the night before, I took a nap. I suspected that if they hatched while I was asleep that some of them would be eaten, but expected to be able to find a few.

 

So I was asleep longer than I planned, and woke up at 6 a.m. All of the eggs were gone (I assume they hatched). Knowing how hard it was to find Finley, I frantically searched every square millimeter of the tank. However, nothing.

 

I have to say that I was better prepared for this attempt than the previous ones, but it wasn't in the cards. Sorry guys, no babies this time.

 

You know what they say, "Watched eggs never hatch." That's the saying, right?

[RayWhisperer]

I know you don't want to do it. However, most breeders use a clay tile and broodstock/hatching tanks for a reason. They also get a full nights sleep on hatch night.

[debbeach13]

Thanks for the update. Sneak in a nap today