Baby Tomato clowns

[DanielMar]

Can anyone tell me how to possibly rear these puppies?
Daniel

[cyclgrl]

Check out Joyce Wilkerson's book <i>Clownfishes</i>. Also, the <A href="http://reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=86">fish breeding forum</A> that Jim recommended.

One thing of note, you will not be able to raise them unless you establish a separate tank to rear them in. My tomato clowns have laid about 8 clutches thus far, and not a single one of their babies has survived in my main display. The night they are born, I can see even the shrimp in my tank going after them. The first 72 hours are the hardest to keep them alive, I hear. You'll need specialized foods. Anyway, more info in those resources. Good luck!

[cyclgrl]

Oh, and good news is that if your clown couple remains happy, you can expect them to lay a new clutch regularly. For example, mine lay about every 2.5 weeks with a gestation of 10 days. So good news is that you will have plenty of chances to try if you really want to raise them. As for this first time, if you want to see them born, wait until the eggs turn really silverly...the babies will hatch that night after lights out.

[capescuba]

Joyce Wilkerson's is a great reference, however, it is a few years old now and it seems to make a big deal out of getting Rotifers to feed your fry.

At the BAR meeting this weekend, Rand Reed from Reed Mariculture spoke to us and this just one of the topics!
The good news is that you can easily get this stuff now from them and it's something I am also considering for my Maroon white bar clowns. Check out the rotifer starter kit (http://aquarium.reed-mariculture.com/starterkit.asp) which looks like a perfect way to start!

I already bought two plant pots to have my clowns use as a nest on Randy's adivce from the weekend :D

[DanielMar]

Thanks for the info!
Daniel

[bookfish]

Jimsar grows tomatoes. I'll point him to this thread.-Jim

[lukasnca]

Jim,

Jimsar already replied to Daniel in another thread about this topic -- he basically told him to do some research :)

See http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=542719

Luke.

[jimsar]

My point is, this probably is not the right forum to go into the "blow by blow" details of raising tomatoes. The Wilkerson book is a great resource, but you'll also find lots of clown breeding information in the fish breeder's forum, not necessarily limited to tomatoes.

From my own experience, here are some basic tips anyway:
- place a small tile or broken piece of clay pot near the last clutch; it's much easier to move the eggs to a separate tank than to scoop larvae.
- if you must move larvae, be very, very gentle in scooping and pouring.
- feed larvae gut filled rotifers, and feed often. I've had them take Golden Pearls (5-50 micron size) but it tends to foul up the tank.
- change water often.
- after metamorphosis, they'll start to take newly hatched brine shrimp and finely ground commercial fish food.
- then they turn into pigs and will learn to beg for food whenever you get close to the tank.

As I said, these are just basic tips ... the tip of the iceberg as far as information you'll need.

Good luck, Daniel, it's a fun "science experiment", but very labor intensive. That's why this time of the year I'm into growing the other kind - - - heirloom tomatoes!

Jim

[sfsuphysics]

Tastier too Jim :)

Out of curiosity what exactly is a "gut filled" rotifer.. and how does it differ to I guess a regular rotifer? I've notice the other Jim use this terminology too.

[lukasnca]

Its a rotifer that has been fed something like phyto. Rotifers in themselves don't have much nutritional value -- its what you put in them that counts :)

[jimsar]

Right on, Luke! Rotis are fondly referred to as "living capsules" since they carry nutrients from their guts into the organism that eats them. They've even been used to "inject" antibiotics onto larvae.

There's really a big difference between a "hungry" rotifer and a "gut filled" one when you study it under the microscope. Reed's phyto and diluted Golden Pearls are my favorite fillers. Learned something from Randy's talk last weekend ... gotta use something to control nitrates, because I eventually crash my roti culture.

Jim

[lukasnca]

Jimsar, do you mean ammonia?

[jimsar]

Originally posted by lukasnca
Jimsar, do you mean ammonia?

Yes, thanks for pointing this out. I'll buy one of those "patches" that change color when ammonia level goes up.

[DanielMar]

Thanks Jim!
Daniel