Checklist for raising lightning maroon clowns

[andrewkw]

I am very happy to say my clowns have started laying. It was extremely hard to pair them - went through a previous male and had to separate them many times but they have been a happy couple for close to a year and got my first eggs yesterday. This is the labor intensive project I have been looking for! I think I can handle this. While I have no experience raising fish, I have raised cuttlefish from eggs and while they did not require rotifers, keeping mysid shrimp alive was challenging and I had to hatch bbs for the mysid so having all these extra tanks (buckets) of food will not be an issue.

First of all do I want S or L strain rotifers or should I get both? I have a 53 micron screen - I don't even remember why I have this. I've never cultured rotifers but will this work?

I have cultured phytoplankton but not for over 10 years. Obviously I need phyto, I need fertilizer, airline valves and lots of tubing. Should I be using an LED for them? the cheapest amazon black boxes are borderline affordable for this - I think when I was culturing them I was using compact florescent lighting. What kind of fertilizer do I need?

Baby brine eggs - I think I have some in my fridge but they are pretty old. I will try hatching them but obviously will need more. I think I've lost my brine net.

Sponge filters - I have a few but I will get some more and put them in sumps right away. I have a 33 gallon tank and 3 or 4 10 gallon tanks laying around so I should be able to house quite a few babies - I realize maroons have a higher mortality rate then other clowns.

Ammonia alert badges. I'll pick up a bunch since they are always good to keep on hand. I'll also double check I have enough heaters for all these tanks and maybe get another inkbird too. I know ammonia can be an issue with constant feeding and overcrowding of the fry. What about marine pure / brightwell bricks ect? Should I consider that in addition to sponge filters? Obviously when they get big enough I could use HOB filters / Skimmers.

Anything else I need?

 

[Surfzone]

I think you're hitting the nail on the head so far. I would go with L rotifers for this project. The mesh on your screen should be enough for the rotifers. Also use RG Complete to feed your rotifers there is a good thread on culturing them in this forum. Also keep a log of everything you do. That way if this run doesn't turn out Well you can go back and look at what you did and see what did and didn't work for you. I had Bicinctus clowns that I raised and only got two to Meta. I learned that a larva trap is set way too high for the larvae and most of them Where damaged from the get go. It's better to move a rock or tile than try and trap them. Hope this helps

 

[andrewkw]

So how important is a dark bucket for the rotifers? I'll make sure I get L but finding a dark food grade bucket may prove somewhat challenging. I know home depot sell those orange ones cheaper then the white ones but I don't think they are food grade.

I'm looking at the kit reed mariculture sell but I don't think that is available in Canada, and it comes with a white bucket.