View Full Version : Red Saddelback Clowns
My Red Saddleback Clowns (Amphiprion ephippium) spawned a couple of weeks ago and the babies hatched on Monday evening. I saved as many of the Larvae as I could but I was a bit overwhelmed by the sheer amount of them.
The Larvae are around 5 days old now and seem to be doing and feeding well. Is it true that they need much better water conditions to survive metamorphosis than Ocellaris or Percula Clowns?
Bob S.
I have never heard of this! Though it isnt a popular breeders choice so it may be true.
Is it your first attempt?
my advice would be not to disturb your adult pair, then they should keep laying for you.
This way just keep trying! Maintaining the water as best you can and each attempt will get a little further each time.
If you have the time extra water changes wont hurt, as long as you aint syphoning too many larvae out as you do them. And slowly drip the new water in via airline tubing to preventt any shock.
good luck and keep us posted.
Mark
Hi Mark,
Thanks for the advice. This is my first time with the Red Saddlebacks but I have raised some Ocellaris and Coral sea Percs. I don't know about you but I find it hard to get other species like Tomato and Clarkii Clowns to pair off and spawn. In my experience Tomato clowns just ignore each other without a common focal point in the tank like for example an anemone and with Clarkii clowns the female may just kill the male when they approach spawning condition.
I must admit the Red saddlebacks were a bit of an accident as I have had them for some time and they have never spawned but I have them in a system which had a disease outbreak which I managed to treat successfully but I did drop the S.G to 1.015 and the Saddlebacks spawned about a week later!
If they get through metamorphosis I will post some photographs. There are quite a few left so with any other species I would normally expect at least some to survive but I remember reading somewhere that with this type of fish the water conditions need to be near perfect for them to survive metamorphosis.
Cheers,
Bob.
Good luck with them Bob.
My Toms are quite good, though they are in a full 300g reef with a host nem. I have had them about 3yrs and they only recently started sapwning though not too much of a challenge to raise. Problem is i can only collect a small number.
This encouraged me though so i know have a pair of Occ's that have spawned before in there last home so just waiting for them to settle down and start. A pair of maroons that have started though i havent got a decent nest from them yet, and 2 pairs of saddlebacks. One black variety (though they are also in my reef with a carpet host) and a regular pair of saddles that should be a good age to start spawning, but i havent had them long. Never tried Clarkii's but have considered them. Though running out of room!
I am not so sure where the Red saddles come from, maybe the drop in salinity triggered the spawning.Have they shown any signs of continuing to spawn? I am presumming you have raised the salinity back to normal?
Good luck again and keep us posted
Mark
Hi Mark,
Not good news I'm afraid, the Red Saddleback larvae lasted about a week and then just dwindled away and the parents have not spawned again either!
I am fairly gutted as I think this was just a case really bad timing as I normally have a good supply of both greenwater fed and RAGO fed rotifers but when the larvae were born my LFS abruptly stopped selling live Phyto and I was also running short of homegrown phyto so I quickly ran out of greenwater fed rotifers. I had plenty of RAGO fed rotifers so I didn't think this would be a particular problem and I also enriched these with Selcon but they just didn't seem to be nutritious enough. I normally feed a mix of 50% of each I have never really had a problem before so I am a bit suprised the Rago fed rotifers didn't do the trick, assuming of course this was the problem!
I haven't restored the S.G to normal yet but I think I will do this over the next few days and try and increase the parents nutrition. As you say it must of been the drop in S.G that initially triggered the spawn.
On a more positive note my Coral Sea Percs continue to spawn and I have about 70 or so juveniles so far. I have posted a few photos.
How are the Tomato clowns doing?
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2006Q1/IMG_0131C.jpg
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2006Q1/IMG_0132C.jpg
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2006Q1/IMG_0369C.jpg
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2006Q1/IMG_0375C.jpg
Cheers,
Bob S.
Bob,
Hi there, sorry to jump in but I am curious, what are RAGO fed rotifers?
I am hoping that my Maroons and Percs will start the breeding campaign for me soon.
Thanks
Steve
Hi Steve.
RAGO stands for Rotifer and Artmeia growout. basically its a smelly green powder you mix with tapwater and the put in a blender for a couple of minutes and then store in the fridge for up to a week.
I find it quite good for bulk rotifer production but I don't know how nutititious they are compared to greenwater fed rotifers.
Cheers,
Bob S.
Hi, It looks like I will get a second chance with the Red Saddlebacks as they have now spawned again.
:)
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2006Q1/IMG_0417T.jpg
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2006Q1/IMG_0418T.jpg
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2006Q1/IMG_0421T.jpg
Hope I don't run out of rotifers again.
Cheers
Bob S.
Nice pics Bob,
Hope it works out better this run, but stick with it. Personally i prefer greenwater fed than RAGO. Though the more variety you can get into them can only be a good thing i think. I am quite surprised that the RAGO wasnt enough to sustain them though! Interested to see how it goes with the greenwater on hand.
The Toms are good, keep performing for me but i am collecting very poor numbers from my reef. The clowns in my breeding setup are all 'proven' breeders and are starting to settle down a little now. Im hoping it wont be long till the first of those starts back up again. Should be able to have a 'proper' crack at it then!!
good luck!
Mark
Thanks Mark.
They spawned on Wednesday so I think the hatch will be on Thursday evening. That is assuming that they will hatch on the 8th day like Occellaris or Percs, is this your experience with your Toms?
I think I may still struggle for rotifers as I have another spawn of Coral Sea Percs due to hatch tonight and I don't think I will have enough to sustain both concurrently.
How many Toms are you managing to raise?
Cheers,
Bob.
The 8th day is the same for my toms.
Still new at this only getting a handfull through. 22 my best, but only getting like 50-60 collected.
Why not give the percs a miss if they are so regulr?
Keep us informed on your progress.
Good luck
Mark
What a lovely thread, good luck with the breeding and I hope to learn from your experience!
I'd love to see some pictures of how you grow the rots and feed for the larvea.
Kev
Quick update on the baby Red Saddleback Clowns. The result was 100% better than last time as one has actually survived!
Most of the larvae died after 48 hours but one did well and it was still alive after two weeks. Then it dissapeared but I continued to feed the tank just in case it was going through metamorposis and hiding but when it didn't appear after a week I finally gave up and stopped feeding the tank.
That was about 1 week to 10 days ago and I just happened to glance in the tank yesterday and there was a small but perfectly formed baby saddleback clownfish happily swimming around. God knows what he has been feeding on for the last week but it didn't seem to do him any harm.
The really stange thing is he has two stripes so it looks more like a baby maroon clownfish. The parents don't have these so I guess they will fade away in the next few months. I hope they spawn again as I would really like to try again with these fish.
Cheers,
Bob S.
Well done Bob,
bet your well chuffed with that little fella! Shows they are do-able. Good luck with the next batch!
Pic would be nice.
Mark
urban_hippie
08-07-06, 14:22
Fantastic thread, love reading about the breeding stories!!
One question though if you geta succesful batch what do most of you do with them?
Hope my two percs spawn one day.
Cheers and keep it up and keep posting results, love to hear about them!
cheers
Excellent work. Good luck with future clutches
Any pictures of the little fella?
Hi,
I have managed to sell some young Coral Sea Percs to my lfs last week. They are quite good really as they will take them from around 3 months old and help to grow them out. The babies don't normally tend to do that well in systems but theirs seems to be OK.
I am on holiday in the Czech republic at the moment but I will post some photos when I get back on Wednesday.
Cheers all,
Bob S.
Dear All,
A pic of the little Red Saddleback as promised..
He is still doing very well and is probably around 8-10mm long now.
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2006Q1/IMG_0443T.jpg
Cheers,
Bob S.
Very nice Bob, well done.
Doesnt look anything like what i expected though..Ver y strange colouration compared to the adult.
Thanks for the pic, and keep us informed of the little guys progress.
Mark
Thanks Mark.
I think he looks more like a baby Maroon clown at the moment.
Cheers,
Bob.
I was thinking more like a flame cardinal with tipex over it!! LOL.
Drat.
And I would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for you pesky kids....:eek:
great thread and lovely pics sabae, keep up the good work!!
Are you producing your own rotifers Bob??
Hi Mike,
I am just having a break at the moment because I have been away on holiday but I do normally produce my own rotifers.
I generally tend to keep 1 greenwater fed culture for each day of the week and two larger bulk RAGO fed cultures.
I want to re-start my cultures in the next couple of weeks so I will need live rotifers and greenwater again. I think we should maybe all set up a list of people who would be prepared to swap cultures to help each other out.
Cheers,
bob.
I used to do my own in the US, but had a little disaster, got some equipment mixed up and cross cultured Rotifers and Phyto, boy can they eat :D :D :D
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