Clownfish Eggs

[seabass]

Just a quick update. The female seems to have recovered and I'm no longer worried about her. She looks, eats, and acts normal.

 

The male is busy preparing the rock. However, I'm not sure that the female is ready to start breeding again. She doesn't look pregnant to me.

[Astinus]

That's good to hear Seabass...TY for the update

[Christopher Marks]

That's great news! This is a cool journey.

[LbulletM]

Wow, just sat here and read for over a half hour. Coming along for the ride!

[seabass]

I appreciate all the support! This community is so cool.

 

I hope they start to breed again, but it's possible that she won't. I'll let you guys know if anything changes. In the meantime, I'm continuing to maintain the phyto and rotifer cultures.

[LbulletM]

I appreciate all the support! This community is so cool.

 

I hope they start to breed again, but it's possible that she won't. I'll let you guys know if anything changes. In the meantime, I'm continuing to maintain the phyto and rotifer cultures.

 

Hope she does! I really want to raise at least one brood someday!

[kolei]

Glad your female made it through Seabass. Don't give up. It's hard work but very rewarding. I've gone through a successful raising of my babies clowns last year. My pair decided to take a 3 months break from breeding so don't worry if they do stop. Just keep feeding as usual and they will start again when they are ready.

 

Clownfish don't like changes when they are breeding so try to keep it as stable as you can, including environment and aquascaping.

 

Always love hearing about other people's journey. Good luck!

[seabass]

She's full of energy and seems more interested in her nesting site. I can't tell for sure, but to me, it almost looks like she's developing a baby bump. Beyoncé might not be alone; we'll see.

[Astinus]

She's full of energy and seems more interested in her nesting site. I can't tell for sure, but to me, it almost looks like she's developing a baby bump. Beyoncé might not be alone; we'll see.

That was too Funny!!!

[Christopher Marks]

How's that Beybe bump looking today?

[seabass]

She's looking good. I'd like to think she's getting ready to lay eggs, but I'm not sure. However, the male has his rock all prepared.

[gone_PHiSHin]

I kept seeing this thread on the front page but for some reason I never read it

 

awesome, awesome thread. good luck!

[seabass]

I kept seeing this thread on the front page but for some reason I never read it

awesome, awesome thread. good luck!

Haha, I've done that before too. Then they almost get too long to want to read through. Sometimes reading those threads is worth it, and sometimes the topics just wonder off track. Anyways thanks for following. I wish I had more to report. Here's a little filler 'til I have more to write about. I feel this thread has been lacking substantial content lately.

 

 

Remember the video where I massaged her belly? Well, I didn't mention that when I picked her up, she put a pretty hefty bite on my nitrile glove. I'm glad I was wearing them. I figured I'd be a little less squeamish handling her with them on. I kind of wondered how she'd react to me after that incident, but she treats me pretty much the same (begging for food when she sees me, and avoiding me during tank maintenance). Although I haven't tried to go near their eggs without heavy gloves, as I suspect that they might be a little more protective of a clutch of eggs. I shouldn't, but I still get spooked when I get nipped.

 

Two days ago I changed out all the rotifer water (straining out the rotifers, with a plankton sieve, and putting them in fresh greenwater). Without an immediate need for rotifers, I've kind of neglected them lately. Their water had very little tint to it, but luckily the population was still pretty decent. My typical maintenance tends to be pouring (all but the last little bit of) the rotifer cultures into a five gallon bucket with a gallon of greenwater. I typically keep about 4 gallons of rotifer cultures at any one time. I discard about a gallon rotifer water by doing this. Then I wipe out the containers with paper towels and pour the new mixture back into the containers. I'm not sure if this is the best method, but (besides the unexplained, one-time culture crash) it has been working for me.

 

The gallon of greenwater is replaced with a fresh gallon of saltwater, plus 4 ml of KENT Marine Essential Elements and 4 ml of Miracle-Gro Liquid All Purpose Plant Food. I don't measure specific gravity ever since I've worked out that a level scoop (from a used up jar of my protein powder) of salt mix makes a gallon of diluted saltwater, which is perfect for greenwater and rotifers. I always work with the greenwater first, so I don't contaminate it with rotifers. Again, I just pour the remaining phyto cultures (2 gallons) into a 5 gallon bucket with the newly mixed (but fully dissolved) saltwater mixture. Then I pour the 3 gallon mixture back in the culture bottles to grow.

 

Finally, last week I bought some muriatic acid, from Home Depot, to clean the phyto culture bottles. I could just replace them; but I don't drink soda or juice, so I'd just end up pouring the contents down the drain. To clean them, I made a pretty weak acid solution (always pouring acid in water, not water in acid). And always use safety precautions when working with strong acids. I assume vinegar would work too, but it's more expensive.

[Christopher Marks]

However, the male has his rock all prepared.

 

Typical men...

[Pjanssen]

 

Typical men...

 

RRRRRRRRRIGHT

[xAyanex]

Just caught up on your thread again. Glad the female made it! Hope she lays eggs again soon. Love this thread, such a great learning experience for us all.

[seabass]

I thought I'd further complicate things by adding a 4" female Watanabei Angelfish.  Here's the female clownfish preparing her nest while the angelfish swims around.

This video was shot with the room lights on, but the tank lights were still off.

 

[Christopher Marks]

This is a great update! Glad to see she's doing well.

 

That Watanabei Angelfish is gorgeous!

[RIP Sebastian]

Bebbies.

[seabass]

14 hours ago, xAyanex said:

Just caught up on your thread again. Glad the female made it! Hope she lays eggs again soon. Love this thread, such a great learning experience for us all.

Thank you xAyanex.  I'm glad she made it too.  I'd feel terrible if she had died.  I listened to Booyah and Ray and added some more veggies to her diet once she started eating again.

 

1 minute ago, Christopher Marks said:

This is a great update! Glad to see she's doing well.

 

That Watanabei Angelfish is gorgeous!

Thanks Chris, it's hard not to love those angelfish.

 

1 minute ago, RIP Sebastian said:

Bebbies.

Someday, I hope.  She seems more interested in her nest site as of late.  I take that as a good sign.

[RayWhisperer]

To be as forthright as possible, I only relayed the message. I deserve no credit.

[seabass]

1 hour ago, RayWhisperer said:

To be as forthright as possible, I only relayed the message. I deserve no credit.

Maybe so, but I appreciate the help.

[seabass]

They are preparing their nest.  I usually see this activity on the day they spawn.

I will try to get video of them spawning (camera battery is charging).

 

[seabass]

Her ovipositor (egg duct) is visible.  This is not a drill.

 

Camera battery is charged.

[seabass]

So I have lots of video of them leading up to it... but they still haven't started yet.  And now the battery is running low.

 

Oh well, that's the way it seems to go with these two.  So I've shut down the camera to save power, but I'll continue to check on them and still try to get some footage.