Finally clown fish fry...

[foxfishfan]

After watching countless eggs being layed every 2 weeks by my mating percula clowns and then watching them aerate the eggs by blowing and moving their fins, I finally have seen small clown fry in my 120g under some live rock. For some reason,these guys survived instead of being sucked into the skimmer or powerhead or eaten by my fairly sizable fish population. I'm tempted to suck them up with a syringe into a smaller tank but am afraid the ordeal would kill them. Is there anyone else who has seen clown fry in their reef tank and managed to raise them to a survivable size. I crushed some flakes with distilled water and syringed it into their area in hopes that they could get some food,but am unsure whether it'll work. Any feedback would be appreciated, keep them in the big tank or transfer them to my new small 30g which is completely empty.:question:

[sharuq1]

As far as I know clownfish fry have to be started off on rotifers, but perhaps someone who knows more about this will chime in.

Grats on your first fry!!

[foxfishfan]

I'm just wondering what they've been surviving on as they're darting around quite a bit underneath the rock. As far as I can see, there's about 20ish of them and they seem to know enough to stay down there without getting eaten. I'm surprised that my mandarin hasn't had lunch as he frequents their area regularly.

[sick lid]

sorry, it doesn't work that way. If they are clownfish larvae they will not survive. Clownfish larvae are attracted to light, so after hatching they swim upwards toward the surface where they will spend the first few weeks of their life. They do this to feed in the plankton rich surface water on the reef. Only after metamorphasis will they return to the reef and seek out any shelter among the rocks. By this time they look just like their parents only tiny. From my experience, clownfish larvae will not eat crushed flake no matter how small until around day 7 or 8. They just don't recognize it as food. If you want to raise any, you have to do it in their own tank.

[foxfishfan]

Thanks for the information. I don't see who else could have produced the fry as there isn't any other pairs of anything. As I've said, this is the 1st time ever that I've seen them survive after being layed on rock by the parents. Is it possible that they did skim the surface for 1 week then retreated to the rock as it is possible that they are over 1 week old. I just coincidentally saw them as I was seeing how my coral beauty was doing in an adjacent area. I can't see them that well as it is kinda dark but they're tiny but pretty energetic.

[Midknight]

Can you get some pics so we can see. :biggrin:

[sick lid]

Do you feed baby brine shrimp? Juvenile brine shrimp are energetic and look alot like fish fry and like to hide in the rocks. Clownfish larvae are not energetic. they are very lethargic, especially after a week when they are approaching metamorphasis

[foxfishfan]

No I feed frozen mysis shrimp. I have tons of little white starfish in the tank. Does anyone know if they start off life as little minnows? Sounds like you know quite a bit about breeding clown fish, have you bred clowns?

[foxfishfan]

Will try but it is like a dark cavern, I can see little pair of eyes on each but that's about it.

[Phanman]

if your going to move them to another tank, i heard shining a flashlight at the top of the water will attract them during lights out. Then you can just scoop them out.

[sick lid]

yes, I have bred and raised many hundred clownfish. I'm currently breeding 6 species of clowns as well as cardinals and dottybacks

[foxfishfan]

I'm really curious to what they are, there are dozens of these minnows underneath and between the live rock. I have tons of those little white starfish in the tank, but they don't metamorphisize from minnows, right? Anyone else, ever see tiny little fish/minnows on the bottom of their tank under rock with crevices? I'm pretty well agree with sick lid that they aren't clown fry, but what are they? There's really tiny ones buzzing around the bottom but there are larger ones, so they are surviving. I'm starting to think that they were always there but I never noticed.

[TJSlayer]

I have some in my HOB refugium that swim around really quick but I'm pretty sure they are a pod of some sort.....

Look very similar to fry from my cichlid days but I know they are not....

So that would be my guess (they always hang near the rocks cover, etc.)

[foxfishfan]

They range in size, I was thinking perhaps the cleaner shrimp that I thought had died never comes out and has somehow reproduced. If they are pods, my mandarin has enough food until 2012.