My Maroon Clowns have laid eggs... now what?

[ddavis4um]

I noticed last night about 50 eggs nearby my maroon clowns. I do not have a clown book and any insights on getting the fry/larvae to survive would be helpfull.

They are in a 72 gallon bow-front tank, 150 pounds of rock, lots of zooplankton, phytoplankton, and I have DT's phyto in the fridge.

No sump, skimmer only, UV filter too (I guess I should turn that off).

I thank those with experience in advance of their posts.

Dave D.

 

[MandarinFish]

Wilkerson book I think would be your best bet.

You want to raise babies? VERY cool.

 

[Anemone]

They'll hatch in about 10-14 days, depending upon temperature. Unfortunately, consider the first batch a complete loss The good news is that your maroons will become pretty regular about laying eggs (mine have a new group every 2 weeks).

If you chose to try and raise them, the Joyce Wilkerson Clownfishes book is really your best bet for information. Like the fact that clown larvae are so small that you need to have a rotifer culture going to feed the fry. How do you grow rotifers? Well, first you need to establish a good phytoplankton culture, with bottle rotations and fertilizer and appropriate safeguards to keep the rotifers from contaminating (and consuming) your phyto culture.....Sounds like a pain (and initially it is), but with about 6 empty 2-liter clear soda bottles, airline tubing, an air pump, a starter culture of phyto (algae disc) and rotifers, some fertilizer and some standard NO fluorescent lighting, you'll get the cycle and timing down and everything will become easier.

Once you get the phyto and rotifer thing down pat, then you can consider harvesting the fry from your main tank and putting them in a dedicated 10 gallon tank (no powerheads or pumps, air bubble water movement only) and beginning to raise them.

In a couple of weeks, you'll need to begin feeding the fry baby brine shrimp, so you'll need to begin raising these too.

Sounds complicated, but Joyce Wilkerson's book really takes you through it step-by-step. so, take a deep breath, buy the book (about $30), read it, and in about a month or so (if you move quickly) you'll be ready to actually raise some of the fry.

Good luck!

Kevin

 

[ddavis4um]

Kevin:

Thanks,

It does sound complicated and I ordered the clownfishes book today.

Great to know that this is not a once in a great while opportunity!

I know that in time, I will try to rear them. After all, that's what this hobby seems to be about...
the challenges of it all.

Thanks for the details.

Dave D.