Success - Allardi fry

[crjennin]

I wanted to post a few pictures of my Allardi fry. My pair has been spawning regularly since August. This was my third attempt with trying to raise the larvae. I was only able to keep the larvae to about 8 or 9 days on previous attempts. The fry are now 17 days old and seem to be doing well. There are about 90 fry in total with about 10 that are fully developed, the rest are still in various stages.

Here is a picture at 9 days


Here is a picture from today...

[tpdpercula]

Congratulations!!!!!!!

[Ron Popeil]

wow. very cool stuff. i love allardis!

what do you think you did differently on this last batch that helped with your success?

do you have any pictures of your rearing area? if you have time, would you care to detail your rearing proceedures?

[JHardman]

Nicely done! Please document your rearing efforts.

[cschweitzer]

Awesome...I've been battling parasites on my allardi pair. I hope I can get them healthy and breeding like yours...gives me something to aspire to.

[crjennin]

Thanks. I am pretty excited about my prospects with this batch.

First let me preface that I don't breed very much. I have a pair of spawning GSM that I tried to raise fry from early last year. My first batch made it to 23 days before I did something with a water change, not sure what, but the next morning they were dead... I haven't tried again, since my Allardis started to spawn in August. That being said I still have A LOT to learn about rearing clownfish.

I'll start with the parents:
They live in a 120g mixed reef with six other fish including their pal a beautiful A. melanopus and two RBTAs. They have a diet of mysis and marine cuisine along with nori when I remember as well as some CP. They spawn on a rock covered by their RBTA; you can see pictures of them spawning here http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...readid=1061408
They have been very regular, spawning every 12 days and the hatch on the 8th night.

Collection:
My first two attempts I used a larval snagger similar to the one in Wilkerson's book. I used the moonlight from my Tunze to attract the larvae. I only shut off half my tank (a Tunze and return pump) on the side of the nest in an attempt to minimize the disruption to the rest of the tank mates this yielded about 50 larvae on my first attempt. I shut the entire tank down the second time and my yield was about 100. I transferred the larvae the next morning. I had tremendous die off in the first two days and I figured it could be damage from the snagger. For this batch I shut the entire tank down and used a sample cup from my Salifert Nitrate test kit to collect the larvae and transfer them to Tupperware containers then into the rearing tank. I used a mini maglite to attract the larvae my wife and I collected for nearly an hour and yielded almost the entire nest of about 1500 larvae.

Rearing:
The tank is a 10g with two micro bubble air stones (white) with minimal flow on either end; the heater is on the back wall. I did not see any adverse effects with the micro bubble air stone, the larvae generally stayed away. I initially had only 4 gal in the tank and then raised it to 8 gal by day 4; previous attempts I only used 4 to 5 gallons. As I mentioned above I had tremendous die off of about 80-90% in the first two days with my first two attempts. Besides the snagger I thought some could be due to entrapment, so this time the air stones are suspended with suction cups and the air lines and heater cord are not touching the sides of the tank. Another potential was light, three sides were covered, however, this time I covered the front with construction paper during the day time. I am using a standard NO bulb, not sure the wattage. This time I used three pieces of screen mesh under the light until they were four days old and then removed one a day. My final thought was food, my previous attempts I used "L" Strain rotifers, this time I used "S" and added rotifer diet to the rearing tank to keep them full. One thing I did notice is the larvae seemed to become more active after the rotifer diet was added to the tank... Why all this seemed so strange to me is that I did everything the same on my first two attempts as I did with my GSM and I did not see nearly the percentage of die off. The only difference was the GSM hatched in the tank, which is why I started with the snagger as a main culprit. With all the precautions and changes, by day 4 I only had about 130 larvae, but they were much stronger then any of the larvae in the previous attempts.

Feeding:
I introduced BBS on day 8 and by day 10 or 11 I started to include some GP. I stopped the rotifers on day 14. Also on day 14 I started to add some frozen CP along with some pulverized spirulina. Day 16 they received no BBS. Currently they are on BBS and spirulina.

Water Change:
10-20% per day. I did not change any on day 9 and 10. Now I am doing 25% every other day. I used parent tank water until day 8 and from then on I used freshly mixed.

Calvin

[JHardman]

A couple of thoughts...

1) Introduce L strain after a couple of days.

2) Keep algae in the tank both from a "keep the rots full", but it also helps the larva in terms of lighting and hunting.

A couple of questions...

1) What is the photo period of the pair's tank? Any variations?

2) What is the temp of the pair's tank? Any variations?

[crjennin]

Photoperiod is Actnics on 13 hours, MH on 10 hours. No variation

Temp is between 80 and 82, 80 in the winter 82 in the summer. No variation.

Calvin

[Heterodonut]

Awesome! Good work. Say, where did you get your fish, lfs, online etc.? Were they a pair when you got them, or did you pair them up? Keep us posted.

[saltydude]

Nice job! Keep up the caring work.

[crjennin]

I purchased them from a fellow reefer with the hopes that they would be a pair. The A. melanopus and the Allardis all basically hung out together in a large zoa colony for a good 8 months. Then one of my RBTAs took a swim in the overflow in my RBTA tank, so I decided to move it to my display tank with the Allardis. All three took to the RBTA instantly and hung out there.... What was funny was that the female Allardi would kick the cinnamon out of the RBTA at night....
Here's a picture shortly after the RBTA was put in the tank...

After the RBTA was put in the tank the Allardis definitely grew as a pair and 8 months later they had thier first spawn....

[crjennin]

Update:

Day 19 and I now have 14 or 15 with their "stripes". What I find interesting (maybe it's common) is so many are in an in between stage it's like they haven't really gone through meta yet. Then there are some that don't look like they have grown since hatching, even though I see them eat. I have been loosing the little ones more now. I had 4 die last night and one of the small 'tweeners. I usually have 1 or 2 of the liitle guys die each night.... Current count is about 80 or 90. There is less then 10 left that I would consider questionable.

I'll try to get better pictures soon....

Calvin

[crjennin]

Here are some pictures I took this morning. They are now three weeks old and looking good. Most of the larvae that were really small have died off. Some the 'tweeners have also died. I have about 25 full juvy's and about 15-20 'tweeners.











Calvin

[GSMguy]

looking great congrats good job

[tpdpercula]

They little guys sure are getting big!

[crjennin]

The juvys are now 1 month old. Last count there were 48 with two still "stuck", not sure if they'll make it or not. They are eating, so I'm hopeful... The bigger one's are nearly 3/4" head to tail

Here are some pictures from today... As you can see from some the the pictures, arguments have all ready begun...












Calvin

[Slakker]

Lookin great! Congrats!

[Ron Popeil]

so spectacular to see. well done.

[Zestay]

will those host in a s.haddoni ? if so.. wanna ship me 2 when they are of age to ship ... =)

[crjennin]

Zestay, not naturally...

I am surprised how fast they are growing. The early meta fish are now nearly 1" head to tail and they are just 5 weeks today.

All have now gone through meta or have died... Two 'tweeners were killed about 6 days ago by an agressive tankmate. I think I still have about 45. I have noticed a few that only have a partial second stripe or not a complete second stripe.

Next weekend I think it's time for the growout tank.... I am planning on a 20g.

Calvin

[tpdpercula]

Very nice looking babies!

[Elmo18]

Oooh, I do like those Very nice photos!

Best,
Ilham

[55semireef]

Very nice. How long have your Allardi been a pair before their first spawn?

[crjennin]

I had the pair about 1.5 years prior to the first spawn. They were both large (3") juvys when I received them. They didn't really pair up until I put their RBTA in the tank... After that it took about 8 months for the first spawn.

Update on the babies - They are all growing really fast. There appears to be two or three "bosses". The good thing is that they are not killing any of the smaller ones, just minor harassing at feeding time.

There are 4 distinct sleeping groups. Three that rest in different areas on the bottom of the tank and one that hangs on the side near the top. Once they wake they mostly all hang together with just a few loners.....

Calvin

[cschweitzer]

So great to hear good success with these guys...Unfortunately for me, 15 days into QT my male died and 24 days the female gave up. Man what a heartbrake!! I love these updates and the pictures are just great. Probably a little easier to take them when they can't swim as well as an adult.