Amphiprion percula "Onxy" (Onyx Percula Clown) Breeding Log! - Page 2

Noof · #26 10/10/2006, 07:56 PM

Hey Matt,
What are you feeding them at the moment? BBS Still Rots? or (d) Other?
Cheers
Nathan

mwp · #27 10/11/2006, 02:07 PM

Nathan, up until their move last night, there was BBS, L-Strain and SS-Strain Rotifers along with Tiggerpods and another unidentified harp. cope. in the larval tank, so in theory they had a lot to chose from. As of this afternoon, the smaller ones is stil focusing on rots, but the larger ones appear to be pretty keyed in on BBS.

I have a lot of notes to post now that we're back online...more to come.

Matt

mwp · #28 10/11/2006, 02:23 PM

So here's the updates, starting on 10-10-06

10:40 - removed 8 Percula larvae from larval tank..headstripes just starting to form (only noticeable when viewed from above)! 1 larvae freaked out, most likely will die. Lights have gone out on next brood...turned off all pumps.

10:45 - shut off all the lights in the room and BAM, larvae started to hatch - nope, they're actually some sort of worm that swims to the surface, spawns eggs and sperm and then decends. Turned pump back on to skim off eggs and sperm...certainly don't want them in the larval tank...at least I think I don't! Room lights back on as well...trying to delay the hatch now for a bit....might have to stimulate it later as I did on the first one.

11:00 pm - thought I saw a clownfish larvae take off, so I turned off the pumps again.

11:10 - no hatch, turned pump back on for a bit.

11:25 - older larvae are in breeder net. The one that looked bad turned around - we have 8 viable larvae at this point.

11:40 - tried squirting with the turkey baster a few times...no hatch. Maybe not going to happen until tomorrow night?

11:55 - turned pumps back on.

10-11-06

12:10 AM - still no hatching observed in clownfish, so probably tomorrow night!

9:40 AM - at least 50% of the clownfish nest is gone

11:00 AM - drained out 2 gallons from the larval tank, seived rotifers and BBS for enrichment (to feed clownfish in breeder net)

12:15 - Enriched rots and bbs fed to clownfish - they're eating with gusto! Able to find 5 larvae.

-----

So that's where we stand. I'll be ready and waiting for the remaining eggs to hatch tonight!

Matt

mwp · #29 10/11/2006, 07:57 PM

7:45 PM this evening I pipetted in some newly hatched BBS nauplii...no enrichment 'cause well there's nothing to really enrich yet..not until after that first shedding. The clowns went after them like hawgs! FWIW, turns out all 8 juvies are still in the breeder net! Most have headstripes..it appears that the most developed stripes are halfway down the head.

Curiously, I read somewhere that IODIDE can influence proper stripe formation - anyone else hear of this?

Matt

Kathy55g · #30 10/11/2006, 09:01 PM

Temperature is the only thing that I've found to speed up metamorphosis. I doubt that iodine does anything. But I could be wrong.

mwp · #31 10/11/2006, 10:41 PM

Not so much for speeding up metamorphosis, but rather to help prevent misbars.

They got another feeding of BBS just a few minutes ago. Tried cyclopeze, no luck. The 8 mini moes are quite happy. Life is good.

Matt

mwp · #32 10/11/2006, 11:58 PM

10-11-06, 11:30 PM, we have a hatch! - it was about an hour after the tank lights went out...in the time early on I tried the turkey baster squirting to coax a hatch but the larvae weren't budging. I turned out EVERY light in the room except my small LED flashlight which sat over the fan venting of the hood, giving just enough light for the larvae to congregate around. I sucked them out with the trusty turkey baster, and now, despite having lost 50% of the batch to a "premature" hatch sometime the night before, we are still sitting pretty with something in the neighborhood of 200 new Percula Larvae...they take up a 1 gallon fishbowl!

Now I have to figure out exactly how I'm going to acclimate them to the larval tank and get them into their new home. Hope the cardinalfish juvies don't mind!

Matt

mwp · #33 10/12/2006, 01:25 AM

LOOKS LIKE I BOTCHED IT - bad news indeed. I thought I had sufficiently dripped the larvae, but shortly after introduction the majority of the clownfish larvae are either disoriented and swirling about or appear dead. HMM. I had two deaths in this tank just a while ago in the 28 day old cardinalfish. Not sure if this was just a bad acclimation or there's something more wrong.

HMMMMMMM. We'll see, we'll see.

Matt

mwp · #34 10/12/2006, 02:12 AM

Well, I counted up the bodies...looks like we're already 30 in the hole. I broke out the flashlight and put it over the tank...I'd say 30+ larvae showed up almost immediately. That's still better than my first shot around (16 collected, 8 through meta)...we'll see how things go. Thankfully, the "swirling" seems to have subsided, at least in those that came over to the flashlight. This is one of those times when I REALLY, REALLY wish I had that 2nd 10 gallon..I wouldn't have had to deal with trying to "acclimate" newly hatched clownfish. Still haven't figured out how to get the OK from Renee yet...I've tried and I was SURE that 200 Onyx Percs from HER fish (and the amount of potential cash $$$ that represents) would've convinced her...it didn't....

FWIW,

Matt

mwp · #35 10/12/2006, 10:08 AM

So I've spent a little time this morning siphoning off the bottom of the larval tank again...104 DOA this morning, at least what I could find that were still intact. There's maybe a dozen larvae swimming around. Yup, I botched the acclimation I think. Just kicking up the water changes again - as with before, follow the leptacanthus thread for my maintenance notes.

Matt

mwp · #36 10/12/2006, 11:45 PM

Well, there's probably 20-25 percula larvae that have survived...no new deaths today. Those that are around are already s-curving and chowing down on rotifers. It'll be another nice little batch I guess

The largest ones have already turned "nasty"...it seems like there's a pair that's constantly going at it. They've been getting several small feedings of BBS (enriched with selcon while in the fridge) throughout the day. Headstripes are fully developed on some, although it appears that our runt has yet to get his.

FWIW,

Matt

mwp · #37 10/13/2006, 01:41 AM

So I wanted to readdress an earlier question - is my pair an "Onyx" variety (actually came from the Flame Angel thread which has the same pics in it).

Being the African Cichlid guy I am, of course I always prefer to have fish with collecting locations. Of course, these fish were simply purchased as "Perculas", nothing more was available.

From what I've been able to determine, it would appear that my pair most fits the "Onyx" type that's imported from Paupa New Guinea vs. the other "Onyx" variety that so many folks have purchased from Rod's Reef, which has the black dorsal fin (my pair does not). If I'm following through on all the info, it would appear that the black dorsal is indicative of the Solomon Islands form?

Anyone want to jump in and help me learn a bit more about my percs?

Matt

mwp · #38 10/13/2006, 03:04 PM

Still have 8 clownfish from the first batch including the runt which still has no head stripe and is now starting to get skinny. They ALL are fighting! Tried giving them cyclopeze...no luck there yet.

Also, I didn't mention this, but last night, our more recent hatch that are in the larval tank with the cardinalfish, well I watched at least 2 larvae already taking down BBS, tackling them with enthusiasm. Looks like rotifers were a short-lived step up the food chain?

FWIW,

Matt

mwp · #39 10/17/2006, 03:07 AM

We still have the 8 juvies from the first hatch, and about 15-20 from the 2nd hatch. Things are going well...I'm wondering when stripe #2 will show up on our older batch, and the runt STILL does not have a headstripe. I've tried feeding cyclopeze a couple times with no real interest...going to try in the morning when they're really HUNGRY

The larvae in the 2nd batch already take enriched BBS with gusto...meta shouldn't be too far off for them.

Monday evening I observed more nest cleaning behavior by both the male and female. I won't be surprised if there is a spawn Tuesday evening. It's worth mentioning that the tank temperature has dropped significantly with the colder weather we'd been having - it had been up as high as 83F in the summer; last friday it was 76F.

FWIW,

Matt

mwp · #40 10/17/2006, 11:32 AM

Tried Cyclopeze this morning...there was "interest" but it didn't look like any takers....going to have to go another few days on enriched brine I guess!

Matt

mwp · #41 10/17/2006, 04:48 PM

10-17-06, 4:45 PM, The Female has just started laying clutch #3. Looks like it's going to be another big one.

Matt

Kathy55g · #42 10/17/2006, 05:43 PM

Congrats on the clownfish.

Do your tanks have a heater? Your babies will get thru meta faster with a warmer temp. I do mine at 84! 6 days to metamorphosis all other things being =.

mwp · #43 10/17/2006, 05:47 PM

I keep the larval tank at 82F currently...

Granted I have no clue what I'm going to do with this next batch...group 1 is in a net breder, group 2 is sharing the larval tnak with 33 day old Apogon leptacanthus. If I'm going to try to rear up this third spawn, I'm gonna really have to reshuffle some things (break out at least 2 more breeder nets!)

Matt

Fishboy42 · #44 10/17/2006, 06:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by mwp
This is one of those times when I REALLY, REALLY wish I had that 2nd 10 gallon..

I think you said it best...reguardless of temp, it's going to be hard to raise them without the space! Now that the pair (and you) have had a few "practice" nests, I'm sure you could get a great yield if you started with a fresh 10g.

I've had problems when larval heaters went to 88F, I don't know how Kathy gets away with 84 factorial

Kathy55g · #45 10/17/2006, 07:12 PM

I am using a 100 watt Visitherm Stealth heater in 5 gallons water in a 20 gallon tank. It is black plastic on the outside, so no light whatsoever. Keeps it at a steady 84, 24/7.

This brand of heater has a terrible reputation, but I've had nothing but luck with them. They are slow to heat, but they keep it steady!

Kathy55g · #46 10/17/2006, 07:23 PM

This is one of those times that the temperature trick is very close to biting me in the butt. I haven't had a hatch to raise in a couple of months, and now that I do, I grossly underestimated the number of rotifers I would need to get them thru. Actually this is the biggest hatch I haven't botched. My camera captured 550 in an image, but did not record them all. It is Day 3 and the larvae are eating rots faster than I can grow them. I'll start some brine shrimp to hatch tomorrow . I hope the larvae will be big enough. I put a tiny sprinkle of Oto A into the tank and watched as a couple of dozen made strikes at it. They are so small, I cannot tell if they are eating. Luis, I need to speak with you. I'll pm you. Thanks,
Kathy

Kathy55g · #47 10/17/2006, 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by mwp
We still have the 8 juvies from the first hatch, and about 15-20 from the 2nd hatch. Things are going well...I'm wondering when stripe #2 will show up on our older batch, and the runt STILL does not have a headstripe. I've tried feeding cyclopeze a couple times with no real interest...going to try in the morning when they're really HUNGRY The larvae in the 2nd batch already take enriched BBS with gusto...meta shouldn't be too far off for them.

Monday evening I observed more nest cleaning behavior by both the male and female. I won't be surprised if there is a spawn Tuesday evening. It's worth mentioning that the tank temperature has dropped significantly with the colder weather we'd been having - it had been up as high as 83F in the summer; last friday it was 76F.

FWIW,

Matt

It may be a while before the second stripe. Perculas take months to get them. With the lower temperature, the nest will likely take longer to hatch.
K

Fishboy42 · #48 10/17/2006, 08:52 PM

I love the stealth heaters too, always spot-on and never a failure. I usually don't go for the high temps because I can't "keep up" with their increased metabolisms. A nice cool 80F doesn't grow them quite as fast, but yields remain high and allows me to keep their bellies full

I've several times run out of rots and given NHBBS at the end of day two. I did it two weeks ago without any losses. Something to think about Kathy; they just might be big enough for bbs or oto A if they've eaten well for a day or two.

Matt, keep trying that cyclo; they may not take it right away, but if it is constantly introduced in small quantities, they seem to learn to eat it, and feeding early-on is good for color IME. For percs and second stripes, I find it depends upon the parents. I have a pair that puts out larvae that stripe-up in a couple of weeks, others take a month or more...onyx...well, IME it could take several months. Do you have any recent pictures?

Matt

Kathy55g · #49 10/17/2006, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Fishboy42
I love the stealth heaters too, always spot-on and never a failure. I usually don't go for the high temps because I can't "keep up" with their increased metabolisms. A nice cool 80F doesn't grow them quite as fast, but yields remain high and allows me to keep their bellies full

I've several times run out of rots and given NHBBS at the end of day two. I did it two weeks ago without any losses. Something to think about Kathy; they just might be big enough for bbs or oto A if they've eaten well for a day or two.

Matt, keep trying that cyclo; they may not take it right away, but if it is constantly introduced in small quantities, they seem to learn to eat it, and feeding early-on is good for color IME. For percs and second stripes, I find it depends upon the parents. I have a pair that puts out larvae that stripe-up in a couple of weeks, others take a month or more...onyx...well, IME it could take several months. Do you have any recent pictures?

Matt

So maybe I should turn the temp down...duh.

mwp · #50 10/17/2006, 09:11 PM

Sure, here's a pic of batch #1 at 17+ days, happily living in the breeder net. Our runt (not visible in the picture) is just starting to get his headstripe today.

Matt