View Full Version : How long do baby clowns survive without food
just wondering as my last batch hatched about a week ago and are still surviving, can see them in the morning with the help of a small torch. the current betch are due to hatch in the next day or so.
shouldn't the first lot have starved to death by now? i keep peeking in expecting not to see them, and yet there they still are darting about hiding in the holes in the rock.
fishywishy
15-02-07, 20:21
Sorry, i don't know the answer to your question but i hope you don't mind me asking cos you probably know the answer,
I think my clowny is pregnant (with eggs) because her stomach is bulbous. Is this the way it goes? Or do they show no visual signs of pregancy because the eggs are so small, in which case mine is obviously just fat?
Thanks in advance. I'm wondering how log i have to wait for my first batch of eggs to be laid...!
if she is fat with eggs you should be able to see her oviproducter poking out near her anus. looks like a little floppy tube about half a cm long. both male and female should be cleaning a rock by mouthing at it, plus there'll be lost of jiggling when they meet, and the female might be slightly aggressive towards the male.
HTH
logic31121982
16-02-07, 01:58
I must say baby fish do well without food as they can foradge amoung the rocks but a they get to a size that you can see them maybe best to hatch some baby brine and give the brine a feed on something like liqufry before giving to baby clowns as they do not hold any valuable fats or proteins untill they get fed.
cheers logic, may well give that a go in a few weeks........
Mandarin Dragonet
17-02-07, 17:27
is you have a few baby fish just plonk them in a fuge right? Is that a correct way to do it or will mum protect?
update, clowns stopped breeding aound 3 weeks ago, don't know why. still have baby clowns in the rockwork, rough estimate at least a hundred. around 3 or 4 mm long. don't know if the clowns have stopped breeding because of the juvi's. will keep you's posted.
clown you have any pics mate :thumbsup:
dollydip, i'm hardly conscious when they're about. plus they're so fast. hoping they'll get a bit bigger then pics.........
ok mate look forward to that
maybe best to hatch some baby brine and give the brine a feed on something like liqufry before giving to baby clowns as they do not hold any valuable fats or proteins untill they get fed.
Erm...not quite...newly hatched brine is very nutritious as it is rich with yolk until it develops its mouth and begins to feed.
Jim
dolldip, pics are gonna be virtually impossible m8. i only ever see them when the room is dark, they're small and unbelievably fast. sorry m8 did try. :(
Clowns are born with a yolk sac, and when they hatch (say, if they are delayed by light in the room etc) will effect the amount left to live from.
Generally however, the yolk sac is gone within 3 days, and they will then start to starve. I'd say you would start seeing deaths at around day 5.
It's very strange that you are seeing any at all, especially in the main tank, as the food density should not be high enough for them to survive.
Although I can't argue against what you're saying, is it possible that these are mysids or some other larvae as opposed to clownfish? A picture would help loads, but I appreciate that it's difficult to capture them.
At this stage in their life however, (they were born February right?) they should have metamorphed, and have some form of barring. At about 3 weeks old they should be around 12mm or so (give or take) so should be large enough to see by now.
Maybe that last bunch of info will determine if they are/aren't clowns, and hope to have helped.
deffo baby clowns mikey, maybe a week or so out with the timing but little red clowns just like mummy and daddy. i'm pretty sure the clowns haven't moved their breeding location, but i'll check this evening when the lights are on and i've been to bed. ;)
100% sure they're baby clowns tho'. slightly bigger than when they hatch and redder, can tell by their eyes!!!
Pics then!! (Nocturnal habituation is still strange - especially at this age) Can't wait to see them - I love baby clowns!! :)
What barring do they have?
mikey, will keep trying on the pics, no barring as of yet but will be very interested to see which the parents they take after (heterospecific pair). have had the hands in the tank today moving the nem around and the surrounding rockwork but can't find any alternative nest site so they haven't been breeding since they stopped. the nem went on a bit of a wander and the parents gave up breeding. i'm hoping they start up again. will be sarting on BBS hatchery soon.
All juvenile clowns have barring at this stage, and although it's possible that "mis-barring" (or lack of) can occur on dietary basis, if you have around 100, and there's sufficient quality food to get that many through the larval stage, then this is not an explanation IMO.
Typically, your species (frenatus and melanopus) would have 3 bars as juveniles, which grow out to a single head bar.
I'm still thinking mysids or the like, as it's still not adding up in my mind, but I'd love to be wrong :)
Just a pic to illustrate what kind of development you would see in clowns, here's a link to a great thread documenting clownfish larvae development, showing pics of 39 days old larvae:
http://www.reefpark.net/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=22005&view=findpost&p=186145
mikey they most resemble the pics of day 13 - 14.
clowns have started cleaning the rock again, reckon they'll start doing rude thing again in the next few days. must have just been knackered?
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