The broodstock are officially 2 months older than when I first got them. I’m guessing they are now between 6-8 months old. Some of the males might be capable of reproduction at this point so it’s time to start fattening the fish up. I’ve begun feeding mysis and brine shrimp daily in addition to their flake diet. The males are still a little too small for mysis but the females seem to have no trouble chowing down.
The alpha pair continues to spend 99% of their time apart. The female will occassionally take a trip out to visit the male, but he has no interest in joining her inside the flower pot. I’m guessing the problem is with the male. It’s too early to tell but I have a feeling I might need to replace him down the road if he doesn’t show improvement.
The beta female is getting fat. Real fat. The beta male is starting to look pretty scrawny but I’m realizing it’s just in comparison to her growth spurt. He has become pretty intimidated by her and no longer challenges her authority. They have decided that they are no longer willing to take photos so from here on out it’s going to be more tricky to photograph them.
The gamma pair is going to be the first to breed, I’d wager on it. They are still a few weeks behind the betas in terms of color and size but these two are acting on mating instincts already. I snapped a couple pics of them behaving as if they were tending an egg clutch. They routinely clean sections of their pot together. The male is beyond the point of just following her around and wants to have constant physical contact with her. He’ll swim up to her and nudge different parts of her body. I think they are at least 6-8 months away from their first spawn but these are very encouraging signs. The male continues to do his trick where he plays dead. I’m certain that he is healthy, he just likes to make me nervous.
For the first time I witnessed the alpha and beta pairs indicating that they were aware of their neighbors. All four fish congregated along their respective sides of the divider and swam together for a few minutes. It looked to be more of a family reunion then a territorial dispute and none of the fish were displaying any signs of aggression. This could become a problem down the road if either of the pairs feels that the other is encroaching on their territory. I’ll keep an eye on it.
The alpha female continues to seek out the male and is spending more time outside of the flower pot.
Nothing new to report on the beta pair.
The gamma female seems to be developing a very pointy chin and the male continues to play dead. But overall the couple looks good.
Awe!! I think they are older than 6-9 months. if the tank conditions are what they like. and who really knows what that is,. they could be spawing early this spring or summer. if the moons align. and the waves part.
I wish you luck. It will be cool to see what you get for offspring.
Have you tried singing “Melancholy Baby” to them at night before bed? that used to work for my house plants. I’m Sure!
Singing to plants actually “works” the release of CO2 in from your mouth actually supplies them with an increase in photosynthesis and thus more nutrients… or so i hear
[quote=“kaptken, post:63, topic:573”]
Awe!! I think they are older than 6-9 months. if the tank conditions are what they like. and who really knows what that is,. they could be spawing early this spring or summer. if the moons align. and the waves part.
I wish you luck. It will be cool to see what you get for offspring.
Have you tried singing “Melancholy Baby” to them at night before bed? that used to work for my house plants. I’m Sure! [/quote]
You know Ken, I think my macro shots might be a little misleading. These fish are really tiny still and it’s hard to get a true sense of their size without seeing them in person. Doni’s customers have an appreciation thread that shows the fish at different stages of development. I’ll see if I can dig up some good example pics.
Oh, and I’m musician so of course I play some guitar for my fish!
Any chance you can post some pics Ken? Or maybe we could set up a time where I could swing by and see them in person if that’s not an inconvenience!
Here are some pics of one of Doni’s offspring at 3 months and then 1 year. All the pics I’ve seen of her offspring around the 1 year mark have a ton of black coloration. I’m still guessing mine to be 6-8 months now.
The alpha female seems determined to win the affection of the alpha male. I’m starting to think that he has a hidden agenda. The more he ignores her, the more she seems to want to swim in his presence. Good for him.
Nothing new with the betas.
The gamma male’s sore has returned with a vengeance. He continues to rub against the surface of the pot and it’s so abrasive that it’s actually damaging his body. I took some photos that show what I’m talking about. But besides the minor injury, he appears to be in good spirits and is gaining a little weight. The couple was being pretty playful this evening so I took some photos of them goofing around.
She put 10 fish up for sale this week. First time she’s had fish available in over 2 months. They sold within minutes. She sells her fish from $50-$200 each depending on the coloration.
[quote=“fishguy9, post:70, topic:573”]
im curious what they r going for? all i have seen on ora’s list is semi picassos and platinums…[/quote]
Prices vary tremendously for these fish and it all depends on the coloration (keep in mind that the naming of these fish is completely subjective.) A single pair of my fish will produce Grade C, Grade B, Grade A, Snowcassos, True Percs, Semi-Picassos, Picassos, Platinum Perculas, Extreme Misbar Percs or whatever other name you’d like to throw into the mix. It simply depends on how much white develops on the fish during meta.
The more white, the more money. Your typical TR perc sells for maybe $15? When you get into the Grade B or Semi-Picasso range the price jumps to $50-$75. When you’re talking Snowcasso or Platinum Perc the fish sell for $200 each. I’ve seen pairs go for $599 on Foster and Smith. Inland Aquatics sells adult pairs from the C-quest line for $799 (and those aren’t even proven pairs).
i talked to mike yesterday and he said that olny about 1/100 come out a picasso. he talked to vince from ORA and this is where he got info from. i really like these fish and might have to get one. hope all goes well.
[quote=“bz350, post:73, topic:573”]
i talked to mike yesterday and he said that olny about 1/100 come out a picasso. he talked to vince from ORA and this is where he got info from. i really like these fish and might have to get one. hope all goes well.[/quote]
I think there may have been a small breakdown in communication along the way.
If you remember back to high school biology we learned about genes through a chart called a Punnet Square. When you’re dealing with two parents who both have a common recessive gene, like green eyes or picasso coloration, you have a 25% chance of having offspring with the same genes. Now I might be wrong in terming the picasso gene recessive or that it’s even just one gene… but every picasso breeder I’ve talked to gets about 25% of their babies with the coloration.
There also seems to be a mutation or combination of several recessive genes that causes the fish to come out almost completely white. That’s where snowcassos, platinum perculas and wyoming whites come in. Those are very rare and closer to 1%.
Here’s a pic of one of Doni’s batches. We’re obviously looking at more than 1% with the gene and probably right at the 25% mark. I’m guessing if Vince from ORA is telling people that only 1% of his fish have the coloration it has a little something to do with economics and keeping his prices astronomical ($400 for clownfish).
You have some very nicely marked fish. I hope the off spring come out the same. that would be fantastic.
meanwhile, i thought my regular occellaris had stopped spawning. they had been at it every 2 weeks for the past 18 months. they took a break, i thought they were done. but i see another batch of eggs ready to hatch again. i havent collected them for a year. I got tired cleaning the little ones tanks. Im down to just two tanks for the rest of the 10-14 month olds now. Had i planned better and had the room, i would have set up a rearing system that was easier to maintain. Do you have a big fuge in your systems. i think that will help a lot.
[quote=“bz350, post:76, topic:573”]
i could have gotten something mixed up (staring at fish for hours may have something to do with it,lol).
did you read his whole thread? looking at it now.[/quote]
which thread are you refering to?
Ken, time to dust off the old siphon and get ready for some new babies! My broodstock system does have a sump/refugium in it. But I’m back and forth on incorporating a refugium into the grow out system. My primary concern is that it will take up space where I could be growing out clownfish. A secondary concern is that it could be a breeding ground for a fungus or anther biological nasty. I’ll be relying on 300 gallons of water and large weekly water changes. I’m not even sure how much a refugium would keep a massive bioload in check anyway.
My grow out tanks, a 29, 15 tall, and some 10’s a 5 and a 2, rapidly built up high nitrate levels when loaded with small fish. they eat a lot. I feed mine 4-6 times a day. since they are all stand alone tanks with sponge filters and biowheels, and no fuge i end up doing 80-90% water changes weekly. with smaller daily changes when i syphon out crud. I have 3 reef and frag systems of 70-90 gallons each that each have fuges and run at zero nitrate levels. so i take aged tank water from these to refill the clown grow out tanks. double use. it seems to be gentler on the fry. rarely lose a one after the first month of die off while they are morphing. My new saltwater goes to the reef tanks. double duty on tank water.
If i had room for a rack grow out system like yours, a large fuge of prolifera would have certainly kept the nitrate levels growing slower. i dont think it would keep them down. just slow the build up down. otherwise, it takes a whole lot of water changes for a year to keep them going.
also, fuge macro algae is suposed to be therapeutic for fish. it puts out some compounds that aid their health and immunities. Im a big fan of fuges. they cut down the water changes and keep things healthy.
