What are the top 3 general questions about captive breeding that you would like answered? If you choose Other, please post that question in the thread.
Why is captive breeding important?
How difficult is captive breeding?
How do I set up a breeding system?
What species should I work with?
Is captive breeding expensive?
Can I make a living breeding fish?
Why are captive bred fish more expensive?
What's the difference between captive bred fish and wild caught?
Does captive breeding interfere with fish that are locally caught/collected?
Can I breed fish in my reef tank?
Other - Write In
What are the top 3 general questions about captive breeding that you would like answered? If you choose Other, please post that question in the thread.
Save a fish, Breed your own!
www.fishtalpropagations.com
Hey Tal, My questions are centered on feeding the fry that have resulted from captive breeding.
How many options are there for feeding different types of fry? (And how do you grow it, or can you grow it?)
How do you know when it's time to move up to the next type of food?
My personal interest is from a clown fish and banggai perspective, however I know there are many other types of breeders out there, or people considering getting into this side of the hobby, so feel free to expand or (un-expand) on this topic.
Hey Becky,
The topic of larval feeding is huge and very important.
From a clown and Banggai perspective it's fairly easy... I start my clowns on rotifers and move them to Otohime A around day 5. As they get bigger I move up to finely crushed flake foods and frozen Cyclopeeze.
I start my Banggai on newly hatched brine shrimp for a couple of weeks and wean them onto the dry and frozen foods mentioned above. (No Otohime A though)
When to change foods is determined by the size of the larvae, or fry. Keep in mind the size of the food and the size of the fish's mouth.
It gets complicated with fish that have smaller larvae and longer larval phases. Copepods are a natural food source for larval fishes. Obtaining and culturing them is a bit more difficult.
Save a fish, Breed your own!
www.fishtalpropagations.com
Chris,
With Banggai it is possible to do that, depending on your set up, but the best thing to do would be to pull the male around 21-23 days before he releases the juveniles. Juvenile Banggai are pretty fragile and it's best to move them while the male is still holding them. Mine usually spits them out as soon as I net him and put him in the rearing tank. After that I just put him back and start feeding the juveniles.
As far as angels go, there has been some success with the dwarfs such as flame angels. Larval feeding is the key here as with so many species.
Save a fish, Breed your own!
www.fishtalpropagations.com
i would like to know more about the foods available to feed the fry of different species and at the different times. i have a pair of firefish, a mated pair of coral banded shrimp, pair velvet damsels, and lots of different pairs of clowns but i know different things eat different foods. i've raised clarkii clowns but would like to move on to other things.
shannon
reef solutions
Banggai are always good to work with. Captive bred Banggai are much healthier and will live longer than wild caught ones. There is always a market for them too.
There isn't a lot of angel breeding info out there but there is a bit of info here: MBI Species Classification List
There is also an article in the most recent Reef Hobbyist magazine written by a friend of mine: Reef Hobbyist Magazine Quarter 1 2011
Save a fish, Breed your own!
www.fishtalpropagations.com
Shannon,
You can find more info on different foods here: Culturing and Feeding
Save a fish, Breed your own!
www.fishtalpropagations.com
Anyone else care to chime in?
Save a fish, Breed your own!
www.fishtalpropagations.com
Tal,
I am wondering when it comes to doing this what are some things that are often overlooked that may increase the survival rate of larval fish? I have read several things regarding everything from food to PH where the larval and early stages are concerned.
1. So what Foods are the most nutrient dense and what do you recommend for enriching foods to attain maximum benefit?
2. What is the Ideal PH range for larval fish? Should we be overly concerned with this?
3. Are there any "Little" things that are overlooked that you think make a difference???
anacroporamademepoora
--Lifetime member of the "No Mud Club".:
I'll see what I can do here...
1. I'm assuming you're talking about foods for larval fish? The simple answer here is copepods. Rotifers aren't really a good source of nutrition on their own. They work fine for clowns though.
2. Honestly, I never test pH. pH is important but is usually kept in check with proper husbandry of the larval fish.
3.(a) Broodstock diet- variety of foods and multiple feedings every day go a long way to producing viable eggs and larvae.
3.(b) A reliable heater and thermometer will make things a lot more successful.
Save a fish, Breed your own!
www.fishtalpropagations.com