Little Nemo Diary

[-Nemo-]

ooook. So took a lot of deads out again this morning, didn't count, but I think I only have about 40 or 50 left in the tank and there's more deads in there now i'll have to siphon out later Not sure what else more I can be doing better.

Only one little guy hatched last night, scooped him out and acclimated him. The rest of the eggs were there this morning but when I came home from work, they were gone Guess Daddy was sick of waiting for them to hatch and decided to have a snack. Ah well.. She should be laying again tomorrow or the next day.


As long as I can make it past tomorrow, I think the rest will survive. Once I get them past this point, I rarely to never lose any.

I'm crossing my fingers with you, Haych!

 

[seffieuk]

Think we all have everything crossed for the little guys

Seffie x

 

[-Nemo-]

So for Clutch 8, I'm going to count days by when the majority of them hatched, making them 3 Days old now. If some of the ones who hatched a day or two earlier make themselves present (will be noticeable when they go through meta), I'll make note that they were probably born earlier.

On Day 3, I think I only have no more than 20 left Siphoned off a bunch of dead again this morning. Checked ammonia, it was 0 and it has been 0. I've still been using amquel (not ammo-lock of whatever I said before) just in case. I've been slowly lowering their salinity as well, getting it down to my goal of 1.020 today. Otherwise their environment seems fine and they have more food then they will ever be able to eat and besides that, deaths from starvation usually don't occur until Day 3 or Day 4 when their yolk sacs run out.

My theory now, as to why all the early deaths is that the larvae simply aren't very strong to begin with which I was suspicious of when looking at them in larval catcher. Many just laid on bottom and were not very active at all. Instead of making changes with them, I'll be making changes with mommy and daddy. I've never really liked the color of the eggs (except that one beautiful clutch) they just never seemed orange enough. And apparently, the more orange the eggs, the better. Last night I ordered a product called NatuRose, which I had read about previously. It is basically a powder made from the carotenoid pigment, astaxanthin. Astaxanthin makes orange colored fish, realllly orange and it should also cause their egg pigmentation to become really orange. I'll be adding this to some flake food for them and then use fish oil to bind it all together. Krill is also a source of astaxanthin, so I may pick up some frozen krill and feed them that as well. I think I will also be using Naturose for the babies to enhance their beautiful colors.

It won't help the clutch they should be laying soon, and maybe not even the one after that (depending on when it gets here), but hopefully clutch 11 will be going strong




And now to end my post, a picture of the big boys sleeping. Please excuse the quality as I was using a flashlight to take the picture It only looks like a few of them, but really they're all snuggled up together at the anemone base in two balls.

Clutch 2 is 79 Days old and Clutch 4 is now 53 Days old

 

[seffieuk]

I know this might sound a silly question but: do the two clutches (the ones in the photo) stay together in their clutches or do they mix it up ?

Seffie x

 

[-Nemo-]

They're silly fish, so no such thing as a silly question.

They mix it up, as far as I can tell, there's no order in which they follow pertaining to size. I read about the balls they make when they sleep and apparently it's never been observed in the wild, because it doesn't happen in the wild. It's only a captive behavior (or perhaps there's not enough in the wild in one place to do so...).

 

[Haych]

i have a question, that colour enhancer food youre going to try, will it help the eggs though? as surely it may colour the eggs up but not stregthen the babies in the eggs? as its a false colouring?

not meaning to be rude mind

 

[-Nemo-]

The astaxanthin has many other benefits to both fish and eggs than just enhancing their colors. I can't remember it's exact benefits (I'd have to look it up in one of my books), but it helps to improve their overall health as well. The color is just an indication of their health and that it's working

 

[Haych]

ahhh i see said the blind man!

i wasnt trying to be funny i promise!

 

[aly_starh]

@Nemo, I think im going to try and read this thread from the beginning some time...

I want Clown Fish! and maybe if a bigger tank is on its way, i might try breeding them!

Good Luck with these fry and i hope the next batch do well too!

 

[onebto]

As I mentioned a couple of times before Nemo this is a fantastic thread I applaud your dedication and eye to detail.

So enough of that here comes the stupid question

I have read this Diary and have wondered why do you remove the eggs from the parents?

Will they not look after the eggs till they hatch and then do they eat there own young?

Also how long will your Clown lay eggs before taking a break ?

Regards onebto

 

[-Nemo-]

Argh.
Frustration.
Very few babies left.

Very frustrated.

Waiting for that magic fish colorer pigment thingy to come in
They still haven't laid, so hopefully that stuff makes it here for clutch 10. Supposed to be here at the end of the week.

Very disappointing when I can't figure out what's going wrong.



Anyways. On a happier note. The big boys got a new friend today.
They weren't thrilled.
Actually, they're terrified of him.

Here's how it basically happened:


New friend added to opposite side of the tank

New friend goes to meet the neighbors

Big Boys look at me in horror as new friend approaches

Everyone evacuates the anemone as new friend invades

What strange little babies... They'll get used to him.

As I mentioned a couple of times before Nemo this is a fantastic thread I applaud your dedication and eye to detail.

So enough of that here comes the stupid question

I have read this Diary and have wondered why do you remove the eggs from the parents?

Will they not look after the eggs till they hatch and then do they eat there own young?

Also how long will your Clown lay eggs before taking a break ?

Regards onebto

I removed the eggs because I had no other way to catch the fry as they hatched and I did not want to sit up all night with a flashlight waiting for them to decide it was time to be born (especially since i've discovered my clowns seem to not like to hatch until around 4am ).

My most recent clutch I left in and had that nice little larval snagger catch them as they hatched, and it worked wonderfully. They do not eat their young immediately, but given time they would. If left with them until the next morning, I suspect there'd be casualties...

It seems that sometimes Clown pairs will take short breaks, but it's not too common. Most will lay constantly for about 5 years. Remember that these fish can live for decades. I remember reading once the oldest living clownfish was a pair which was about 25 years old (born in the 80s ).

 

[llamalord305]

I read that you buy two, and wait for one to become the female. That must be pretty awkward.

I can't stop thinking of Finding Nemo when I see this thread.

 

[-Nemo-]

Well the big boys are still absolutely terrified of their new friend. Unfortunately for them, he seems to like to go in their anemone.

Also, the two little ones from clutch 7 (now 19 Days old) seem to have finally gotten on to flake food, I guess not getting any BBS for 3 days helped . Clutch 4 got added to the big boy tank when they were 23 days old, so I'm going to wait a little bit longer just to make sure they're completely on the flake food before I add them in.

I read that you buy two, and wait for one to become the female. That must be pretty awkward.

I can't stop thinking of Finding Nemo when I see this thread.

Yep, they're all born male, so if you get two males and put them together one will turn female.

 

[Haych]

I read that you buy two, and wait for one to become the female. That must be pretty awkward.

I can't stop thinking of Finding Nemo when I see this thread.

Yep, they're all born male, so if you get two males and put them together one will turn female.

i have heard that before too, but its just freaky!

who gets to choose

 

[Jenste]

Haych - you really just made me laugh! thanks for that!