New Broodstock System!!

[Reef Reaper]

I just build this broodstock system in an extra room in the basement. The first picture is nano tank 1 of 6 babies born on July 28. Picture two is nano tank 2 with 6 more babies born on the same day. Picture three is my whole system. The top shelf is (4) five gallon tank, second shelf is (3) ten gallon tank, third shelf is 18.5 gallon growout and the bottom is the sump. The 4th pic is my 30 gallon sump with about 40lbs of live rock, filter sock,two sponge filters,small uv, 300watt heater and quietone 3000 pump.The 5th pic is the growout tank and the 6th pic has the last baby born on Oct. 9. The 7th pic is the ocellaris parents and the 8th is the tomato pair. The 9th pic is the 30 larvae born on Halloween. The last two pics are the phytoplankton and rotifer buckets.
I know a lot of people have breed saltwater fishes. How can I improve my setup or change what I'm doing wrong? Thanks for looking and the help. Sorry I was so long winded!!

 

[bigdog1428]

I can't wait for more babies ,, congrats and the setup and good luck myfriend.

 

[FaviaFreak]

Nice work! looks awesome!!

 

[BYU]

thats amazing

 

[Mattl22]

Wow pretty sweet do u think u will ever make $ with this or is it just for hobby looks amazing !!! How long have u been breeding clowns??

 

[SIReefer]

Very nice setup Reaper...

 

[Widdy]

Wow that is impressive!

 

[Reef Reaper]

Hey, Mattl22. i just get a little bored with my regular tanks. All you do is feed and clean the tanks. I couldn't afford to go out and buy new corals all the time to keep me interested. So I guess the next and ultimate stage in saltwater tanks is raising fish. I know it is supposed to be very difficult, but I had a great teacher (Wesley). After doing a lot of reading and research, I start in January. It was very hard in the beginning with a lot of failure, but now it is second nature. Anyone interested in this aspect of the hobby, I will be honored to show you !!

 

[Long-Island-Mike]

WOW!! Now that is awesome!!!!

 

[Reef Reaper]

Thank you for all the kind words!!

 

[Josh]

Wow, nice setup.

You want to make things easier? Stop making your own phyto. It is a complete waste and costs you both time and money that are better spent caring for the fry. Get the Rotigrow from Reed and be done with it. You'll never get that sort of density or nutrition doing it yourself.

Also, you should think about a rotifer incubator to make the maintenance process on your cultures easier. Basically you just use a scraper to clean the inside of the acrylic to get all the detritus off the sides, then it falls to the bottom and you drain direct from the bottom. Throw out the first cup of dirt and use the second and third cups as your feed.

 

[Reef Reaper]

Not a bad idea ,Josh. I have rotigrow and the rotifers density really never got that high. Using the live phytoplankton seems to work better. My rotifers buckets are small! Maybe 1 gallon each. I empty about 2 small (12oz) coke soda bottles into the larvae tank, replenish with live phyto and then add live phyto to the larvae tank. I keep the larvae tank green and the rotis reproduce in there. I may try the rotifer incubator. Did you make your own or did you buy it from someone? Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[Josh]

No, I make my rotifers in a 5g bucket. I put about 3-10 inches of water in it at 1.020 with just an air bubbler on slow. I put in the rotifer culture and some rotigrow/phyto and replenish it whenever the water clears. I can get the rotifers incredibly dense, enough to feed my reef tank.

You need a larvae sieve to separate the rotis from the water and phyto.

 

[jerl77]

thats what i want to do !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[xxxAngeloxxx]

wow what an amazing clown breeding set up have there =)

 

[LongIslandAndy]

Phil
The set-up and babies look great, great job !!!!

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

Your babies are so fat and much healthier than others ones I seen lately from other members.

 

[Reef Reaper]

I appreciate the support! Yes wingo , the babies eat like pigs!! Josh, I will try rotigrow in one bucket again as a test sample. I still like the live phyto which I use in my larvae tank ('green water') to have a constant supply of rotifers for the babies. The 'green water' also helps them feed.

 

[Reef Reaper]

Here are some updated pictures of the babies that was born on Oct. 31.