Flynns Breeding System

[FlynnFish]

Ok. I guess I'll let the cat out of the bag. I wanted to wait untill I had one full success of a pair before I shared my breeder system. Why? Because so many people have told me that it won't work. but how can we move forward with out taking chances? why am I sharing now? because i'm haveing a hard time filling out my paperwork for the 60DPS report with the MBI.
I took a fish system like you find at stores and tweeked it a bit to fit my needs.

this is my system
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/IMG_3211.jpg

the brood stock are in the bottom row and in a section of the sump.The larval section is in the middle and the grow out is the top rack.

total dimensions- grow out 48 x 12 x 8 ( six sections total each is 8 x 12 x 8 )
larval 48 x 12 x 8 (six sections total each is 8 x 12 x 8 )
Broodstock- 48 x 16 x 11 (three sections total each is 16 x 16 x 11)
Sump total- 36 x 24 x 12
total volume of water 120 gallons
Filtration goes as follows; filter sock, deep sand bed with rubble rock and macro algae, live rock, ASM G2 skimmer with ozone, bio-pellet media reactor.
water changes are done at30% once every other week.

Current stock is 1 mated pair of true perculas, 1 WC bonded pair of Onyx Perculas, 1 bonded pair of Picasso Perculas, 1 previously breeding pair of Black and White Ocellaris, 16 Ocellaris juveniles ready for market, 8 Ocellaris juveniles with no future( deformities), 2 juvenile Banggai cardinals, 5 55 day old juvenile True Perculas, 6 15 day old Larval True Perculas that just reached meta.
my picassos
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/IMG_3216.jpg

My Black and White Darwin Ocellaris
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/IMG_3218.jpg

The Larval Perculas
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/IMG_3221.jpg

The juvenile Perculas with the Juvenile Banggai cardinals
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/IMG_3228.jpg

This is the juvenile Ocellaris
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/IMG_3127.jpg

This is True Pecula pair that I have.
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/IMG_3038.jpg
they have laid eggs 3 times since being put in there in the end of June.
1st batch
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/IMG_3054.jpg

second batch
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/IMG_3151.jpg

Third batch
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/IMG_3217.jpg

this is a picture of the last batch on hatch night with air stone.
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/2011-08-30150813.jpg

this is the larval True Perulas morning after hatching. http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/2011-08-20225647.jpg
there is a homemade divider put in so that the greenwater and the rotifers stay in the two sections with the larval fish. the first spout with the water coming from the sump has a valve on it to slow the water to a mild drip, the second one is just plugged.

[Reef keeper]

very cool! do u sell the clowns?

[The Rugger]

very cool! do u sell the clowns?
Most interesting. This will be fun to follow.

[Manoj's Reef]

very cool!!!...would like to see more pics...

[larryandlaura]

Sweet setup!

[MizTanks]

Made to perfection :) Goooo FlynnFish!!

[FlynnFish]

very cool! do u sell the clowns?

Yes I sell the clowns.I sell to retail stores and to hobbyists. I currently have some up in Flint at Reef Paradise, and tomorrow I will be taking the some with me up to work at Reef Solutions in Warren. :)

[MizTanks]

Flynn what kind of clown is this?

http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j338/NanaReefer/IMG_0952.jpg

[FlynnFish]

Looks like an Ocellaris.

[MizTanks]

Looks like an Ocellaris.

Ok thanks :) notice the half bar on the tail? Will it grow completely around or no?

[jimsflies]

Play some mood music for those picassos...they are still on my wish list.

[FlynnFish]

Miz- If that is a bit of black outlining that white stripe then that stripe will not grow anymore. I'll keep you in mind Jim when i get them breeding finally.

[MizTanks]

Miz- If that is a bit of black outlining that white stripe then that stripe will not grow anymore. I'll keep you in mind Jim when i get them breeding finally.

Ok I see what you mean. So I have a Miz Bar Occy :jester:

[FlynnFish]

Well my first success with the system is complete. I have two percula that hit 60 days post settlement yesterday. You can have an all in one system to raise fish. is it very sucessfull? not yet, i'm still tweeking things around messing with this ,messing with that. My only issue with the whole thing is getting a stable temperature with the larval area. I have lost a few batches of eggs because the temperature got too high or dropped too low. I know after I save up some cash and get my system linked up to my reefs apex controller things are going to get easier. i can controll the lights and temperature and have things more stable.

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/2011-10-26101259.jpg
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/2011-10-26101308.jpg

[rcombs]

how much do you sell the darwins for flynn, i have been looking forever for the solid black, not the ones that are black with the orange nose. those look legit for sure. ;)

[bigbill]

congratzs :-] and they said it would not work pshhhhh :-]:fishbones:

[MizTanks]

Way to go FlynnFish!

[FlynnFish]

how much do you sell the darwins for flynn, i have been looking forever for the solid black, not the ones that are black with the orange nose. those look legit for sure. ;)
sorry Rcombs- my darwins aren't breeding for me yet. hopefully soon.
Bill- Were've you been!!!

[larryandlaura]

Thanks for the updates I've been watching this closely!

[FlynnFish]

no problem, i'm trying to take some better pictures with my husbands camera. I will hopefully get some tonight or saturday.

[FlynnFish]

Made some changes to my fishroom since last post. I moved some fish around and aquired some more.
Here is a picture of the fish room. it is a corner of the laundry/office room downstairs.
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/fish%20breeding/IMG_3425.jpg
the main Breeding tank has 4 pairs of fish, and 1 pair of coral banded shrimp.
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/fish%20breeding/IMG_3432.jpg
Darwin Ocellaris
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/fish%20breeding/IMG_3435.jpg
Wild Caught Onyx Percula
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/fish%20breeding/IMG_3434.jpg
True Percla with new Picasso mate
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/fish%20breeding/IMG_3433.jpg
Doni's Reef Picasso pair
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/fish%20breeding/IMG_3431.jpg
I also have some 13 day old Clarkii fry
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/fish%20breeding/IMG_3428.jpg
ocellaris born on April 8th
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/fish%20breeding/IMG_3427.jpg
Percula born July 6th
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/fish%20breeding/IMG_3426.jpg
Percula born august 8th
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/fish%20breeding/IMG_3430.jpg
and Percula born on September 19th
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/fish%20breeding/IMG_3429.jpg

To the left of the breeder system are two rotifer buckets,
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/fish%20breeding/IMG_3448.jpg
and two more fish tanks, with more fish in them. One tank is a 30gallon with a pair of saddleback clowns and a maroon/percula hybrid paired with an ORA picasso clown.
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/fish%20breeding/IMG_3446.jpg
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/fish%20breeding/IMG_3445.jpg

the other tank is a 20gallon tall with a pair of Blue stripe clowns and 5 banggai cardinals.
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/fish%20breeding/IMG_3437.jpg
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/fish%20breeding/IMG_3436.jpg
above the 30gallon and the 20gallon on the counter are my O.Marina cultures and my Brine shrimp culture with my brine shrimp hatchery.
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/fish%20breeding/IMG_3447.jpg

[MizTanks]

Wow! That's a whole lotta work! Sure have some beautiful clowns there Shanny. I love your dedication :)

[FlynnFish]

Tank parameters-
alkalinity- 6.1 :jaw_drop:
ammonia- 0
nitrates- 0
phosphates- 1.6

[FlynnFish]

Yesterday my husband and I worked until 2 am this morning on fixing up my breeder system. The larval tanks really weren't working that well. with the dividers in it it was not letting the water circulate enough for the heater to evenly heat up the water. I was always having heating issues with that part. The grow out portion of the system wasn't working out either, the tanks were too small to let the fish grow.

Here are some construction pictures.
Went to Home depot and found some nice 20 gallon Blue Round Tubs for just under $8 a piece. Perfect for hatching and rearing the fry.
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/2012-01-01122033.jpg

then we had to empty the top two rows of tanks and put all the fish in buckets.
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/2012-01-01225348.jpg

One new set of tanks for Breeders up.
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/2012-01-01225314.jpg

And the finished product. Two new Shelves for the breeding pairs and some babies. Some are going to work with me soon.
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/2012-01-02130024.jpg

Where the two tanks were on the floor now houses the Blue Round Tub and my rotifer bucket and my brine shrimp bucket.
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/2012-01-02222142.jpg

[Sir Patrick]

Awsome set up!

[MizTanks]

What kind of clown is that in the first pic? Lol! Your truly hooking things up-looks great!

[CalmSeasQuest]

Great setup!

I've been researching the use of a MARS Bar as a breeding setup - Thanks much for sharing your progress.

[FlynnFish]

You're welcome Thomas. The new system is doing well. I have Onyx fry in one blue tub and regular perc fry in the other blue tub and my banggai just spawned again yesterday. :)

[FlynnFish]

Well the breeding has kicked off the new year with a bang.
My original pair of Ocellaris had laid eggs again. I didn't notice them until Saturday while doing a routine check and feeding. They are already a bit clear, most likely hatching tomorrow night.
My picasso are finally getting along great after being moved to a new tank. the male picks at the tile now fairly often. The second pair of Ocellaris laid eggs in december and ate them after a couple of days, no new eggs yet.
I just got a pair of Bicinctus clowns on Friday, still small- maybe around 6 months old.
My maroon/percula hybrid picasso pair are doing great. they get along without issues. I have pictures of the maroon hybrid with a buch of percula if her tank. she just left them alone. didn't care that they were there which is highly unusual for a maroon.
My saddle back pair are the same. they always got along and still do. no eggs yet from them. the female still has a bit of pop eye from my son banging things against the old tank and scaring her.
My onyx clowns are laying eggs now. got two nests from them so far. the first nest was great and I have lots of babies that are 3 weeks old with their head stripes and eating TDO B1. the second batch of eggs got fungus and all died off. this past week the onyx have been in QT. after getting the Bicinctus on Friday she started to breath fast and not eat. on saturday the male started to show the same syptoms. I called up Dan and Tina from Wet thums and directed me on what to do. The Bicinctus must have had gill flukes or Brook and I did not Qt them because they came in from a wholesaler and were captive bred, i didn't think they would need it. The onyx are on their last day of treatment today and go back in their normal tank tomorrow.
My true perculas went through a lot. My male ended up jumping out and dying in November. The same day i brought home a new 10 month old percula that is the offspring of Tals picassos, but has mostly normal stripe patterns on him. it took a week for them to get along and they had a nest of eggs 4 weeks after meeting. the eggs didn't make it as they didn't get fertilized by the inexpierenced male. they laid again the ay after Christmas and they hatched on January 4th. I have 3 survivng from that clutch as i added too much rotigreen to the BRT. they laid again and i got a good hatch of them on the 11th. 3 days later they laid more eggs! they are set to hatch on the 29th.
The blue stripe are getting along better but still fighting with eachother.
The black ocellaris or doing fine, still no eggs.

[MizTanks]

Wow! Your making my head spin-lol. Amazing how your keeping up with them all :) congratulations on your successes Shanny :)

[FlynnFish]

Wow, it's been a long time since I posted updates.
A lot of things have changed over the last year. I put up new led stunner strips that I picked up from Kee's when they moved their freshwater section.
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/fish%20breeding/IMG_9123_zpsf481adac.jpg

i have moved the rotifer buckets over to 3 gallon water jugs that i purchased from Florida aqua farms. I have two rotifer buckets, one for brine shrimp, and one for copepods.http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/fish%20breeding/IMG_9140_zpsaf25b7b1.jpg

below the rotifer buckets i have my growout tanks which are simple tote boxes from meijers.
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/fish%20breeding/IMG_9141_zps4548b786.jpg
the ocellaris clownfish that i have in there are still rather small and are 4 months old. i am thinking of going back to the 20gallon blue round tubs to get the selling size larger in a faster time frame.


as far as species go some things have changed.
the saddleback pair is now in the first chamber of the sump. http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/fish%20breeding/IMG_3446.jpg
i still have not seen any eggs from this pair but then again they are in the sump and not easily seen 100% of the time.

my solomon island onyx pair. the female jumped into the overflow and got caught on the filter floss and died. i replaced her with a small snowflake ocellaris. the pair has been bickering ever since but get along enough to not kill eachother. they took care of a nest of ocellaris eggs and the once male onyx percula is the more aggressive of the two and took care of the eggs more than the snowflake.

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/fish%20breeding/20130102_092328_zpsd0f63fe8.mp4

my second (obtained)pair of banggai cardinals are housed with the snowflake onyx pair. they had eggs a few weeks ago but the male ate the eggs on the third day, which is the problem i'm having with both my pairs of banggai cardinals
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/fish%20breeding/IMG_9339_zpsc93c86ee.jpg


My pair of perculas are still doing great. they have taken a recent break the last month and not have laid any eggs, but the female is finally starting to look bigger and the male is cleaning the tile as of yesterday.
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/fish%20breeding/IMG_9334_zps4c21d86b.jpg

my original pair of banggai cardinals are taking a break from family rearing. i haven't gotten a set of eggs from them in several months
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/fish%20breeding/IMG_9335_zpsaf666b84.jpg


my blue stripe clowns which i thought were A. Chrysopterus are actually A. chryogastar, well according to the paperwork from A&M. they are getting along better but still no eggs from this pair.http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/fish%20breeding/IMG_9268_zps20148efc.jpg
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/fish%20breeding/IMG_9267_zps340642b2.jpg

I picked up a pair of Sustainable Aquatics Snow Onyx last year. snow onyx is a mix of the snowflake ocellaris and onyx percula. i had the pair for 3 months and they started laying eggs on a regular basis for me but they eat most of the clutch before they are due to hatch. the last clutch was still fairly large by hatching but i forgot about them and they hatched with out me.
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/fish%20breeding/IMG_9248_zps516e90cd.jpg
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/fish%20breeding/IMG_9245_zpsd3afe271.jpg

my maroon percula pair. the picasso percula ended up getting sick and dispite two weeks of treatments he didn't make it. i picked up a young gold stripe maroon from work and he gets along with bertha perfectly. still no sign of eggs from her. she is reported to be a maroon percula hybrid. she looks like a maroon, has stripe patterns like a percula and she is so timid like a percula. she is not agressive at all. i was thinking about taking the female, bertha, out and putting her into my husbands reef tank and getting a gold flake maroon from ORA.
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/fish%20breeding/IMG_9254_zps21a887fc.jpg
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/fish%20breeding/IMG_9330_zpsd51be070.jpg

My black ocellaris pair. my male black ocellaris disappeared sometime last year, and i replaced him with a black ice snowflake ocellaris. the pair has gotten along great but still no signs of eggs with this pair.
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/fish%20breeding/IMG_9262_zps05a56010.jpg

my pair of coral banded shrimp are doing great. i lost the male a few months back and rececntly purchased a new one and they were together for three days and the female already has eggs.
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/fish%20breeding/20130305_141944_zps28e735fc.jpg

my pair of arrow crabs is doing great. the female always seems to be carrying eggs.
female
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/fish%20breeding/IMG_9328_zps10d9fe48.jpg
male
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/fish%20breeding/IMG_9329_zpsa05e25ca.jpg


the Ocellaris pair is still laying eggs on a regular basis and currently has a clutch due to hatch in two days
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/fish%20breeding/IMG_8156.jpg

the second pair of ocellaris i had i sold to proaquatix.com down in florida for their breeding program.

the pair of blue assessors is still doing great. i only had them breed once for me. i need to keep up on water quality with these guys.
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/fish%20breeding/blueassessorpairwithholdingmale.jpg

my pair of donis reef picasso clowns are doing wonderful. still laying eggs on a regular schedule and currently have eggs in the larval tank hatching tonight.
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/fish%20breeding/IMG_8152.jpg
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/fish%20breeding/IMG_8155.jpg

The bicinctus clowns are growing fast. i'm expecting them to have eggs in the next few months. they are getting very nice streamers on their tails.
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/fish%20breeding/IMG_9342_zps23e45278.jpg

my last pair of fish is the Pajama cardinals. they too are on a rest from producing eggs. the tank they are in is getting a bit crowded now that the bicinctus are getting bigger.
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn201/shannyfly/fish%20breeding/IMG_9341_zpsba903adb.jpg

thats it for updates.
upcoming changes would be to get the one goldflake maroon from ORA and a pair of spotcinctus clowns, and changing back to the BRTs for the growout tanks.

[woods4542000]

Where did you get the top 2 tanks on the rack ? Or did you modify the old ones?

[FlynnFish]

The top two racks I got off a friend of mine, the small cubes were just too small in my opinion for housing a pair of large clowns.

[dknuckles]

Awesome set up Shannon!!

[woods4542000]

Yeah they are a little small, I got the same rack lol.

[fishtal]

Looking great!

[tdb320reef]

Awesome set-up. Love the live food system. That might be next on my list. Are you selling rotiers or brine?

Thanks.

[FlynnFish]

Thanks Dave. your sump is just about finished, so jealous of it.
Woods- yes I had same top and center racks as you did but for larval and growout and it was too small, I had one breeding pair in the small cubicles once and they kept eating their eggs, but they did this even after being moved to the larger tanks.
Tom- yes I sell rotifers, my brine culture is starting to thin out and I need to start some more up but I can sell that too if you're looking for some.

[woods4542000]

Only spawning pair I have is in one of the little cubes lol. Do you ever have offspring from your Doni's Picasso pair available?

[MizTanks]

Just WOW! All this and a job and a child and a husband and and life....just WOW!! LOL Who says wonder woman isn't real?! Way to go Shanny!!

Ever thought of breeding Mandarins? :)

[dknuckles]

Thanks Dave. your sump is just about finished, so jealous of it.
Woods- yes I had same top and center racks as you did but for larval and growout and it was too small, I had one breeding pair in the small cubicles once and they kept eating their eggs, but they did this even after being moved to the larger tanks.
Tom- yes I sell rotifers, my brine culture is starting to thin out and I need to start some more up but I can sell that too if you're looking for some.


Hehehe I am getting excited.
Don't forget some of your babies will be in the system too

Tom, I use her rotifers to feed my coral every now and then, the corals especialy LPS love them!!