I added some new potential broodstock to my operation today. The female is a SA Fancy Snowflake Ocellaris and the male is an ORA Black Misbar Ocellaris. Both came from my LFS.
I had my eye on the Snowflake for about a month now. The Black Misbar came in on a recent shipment and I immediatley knew they would make an interesting pair. It looks like the fish knew it as well. They took to each other almost instantly and the little Black Misbar is following the Snowflake around the quarantine tank like a lost puppy.
They will eventually be housed in a new bare bottom 15 gallon tank that is currently cycling. The tank will have a clay flower pot and host multiple BTA’s under T5 HO lighting.
I’d guess their age to be 8-9 months although it’s hard for me to tell because I’m so used to working with Perculas. With any luck I could have a spawn before the end of next year.
[quote=“kaptken, post:3, topic:5913”]
OHHH! You are getting fancy now! More designer fish!
They should make some nice off spring.
Best of Luck ![/quote]
Thanks, Ken!
If the offspring are muddy colored they’re called “S’mores”. If the offspring look more like Snowflakes with thick black bars they are “Black Ice Snowflakes” and if they solid black with Snowflake markings they are called “Black Snowflakes”. I have no idea what I’m going to get with the misbar male in the mix. Could be something brand new and we’d get to name it!
I have two clown fish left from all the ones i raised and sold. a couple runts. one is about 2 inches long and the other is less than 3/4 inch long. they are both 4 yeasrs old. i wonder if they will ever spawn? if the tiny one is a genetic change, it might make a whole new series of PICO fish! it looks like a regular clown just never grew after 6-8 weeks age size…
Yeah, I get a few of those every batch. Fish are close to 1 year old and are less than 1". I didn’t think they’d ever grow and now you’ve confirmed it!
Great. out of a few hundred, i only had the one survive that small. you could keep all of yours together in a small tank. then sell them for people with extreme PICO reef tanks. need the little fish to go with the 2 liter tank. a new niche market.
no, they are just in a plain 5G tank, by the window. no light. i have one of those Aqueon Evolve 4G nano tanks with built in pump, filter and LED light from DPA to set up. i want to make them a mini reef. i need to get a mini digital heat and then im ready to go.
[quote=“kaptken, post:11, topic:5913”]
no, they are just in a plain 5G tank, by the window. no light. i have one of those Aqueon Evolve 4G nano tanks with built in pump, filter and LED light from DPA to set up. i want to make them a mini reef. i need to get a mini digital heat and then im ready to go.[/quote]
That sounds cool Ken, look forward to seeing it. Glad the little clowns are finally getting an extreme home makeover ::
Several weeks ago the clowns were transferred out of their quarantine tank and into their new broodstock system. It is a 15 gallon tank with four t5’s, a HOB biowheel filter, a HOB protein skimmer, a heater and a small power head.
After a little debate I decided to go with black live sand instead of a bare bottom tank (in my experience the sand keeps the BTA’s from wandering around too much.) A small cleanup crew consisting of four blue-legged hermits, two astrea snails and a green BTA are the only additional livestock.
I’m pleased with what appears to have been a very quick and easy bonding process. Early on the male would show some minor fin damage but all signs point to a successful pairing. The female Snowflake can still get a little aggressive around feedings but the male Black and White can immediately diffuse the situation with subtle twist.
As you can see in the video, I need to address the micro bubbles from the HOB skimmer. I had to modify the skimmer a bit to get it performing where I wanted. Now that it’s working properly I’m hoping a simple media bag with some carbon or a sponge in the return section should solve the problem.
I managed to catch our future Black Ice Snowflake Broodstock doing a little Spring-Cleaning. With any luck, we’re only a few months away from their first spawn!
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