Trial Run Hatchery

[Scottt]

Aug 23rd.
Really blurry picture:

A bangai and ocellaris from a tank teardown north of me.
Taken in their acclimation erlenmeyer.

[SpringFever]

I wonder what their babies will look like.

[littlebitoocean]

Good luck in your endeavor. I have around 50 tanks for broodstock that are 29 gals and a growup system of 300 gallons. I did not use my space adequately and am revamping the system here in the next month. i have 4 racks and am doing it one rack at a time. Increasing my tanks to 8 per rack verses 6. Going to throw all the fish off for breeding so will have to try Colbys method of induced breeding. Maybe... Also moving the seahorses to their own chilled tank. 150 gallon. Clownfish and seahorses have different requirments.
Teresa

[Scottt]

September 7th, 2009

Greg finished up the temperature control moduel. The Hardware is tested and operational. Now it is time to write its software.

Greg doing a little PVC bending for a second sump installation.

Gluing in the bent section.


I'll take some more pics today to explain why we needed a second sump

[Scottt]

Plumbed in the new shelve of 20 gallon tanks (3 plumbed, 15 to go). They should go in quick now with the new head tank. It's supplied by an iwaki md-40. A extra sump deals with the extra working water of the new tanks. Its a nice place to put the live rock too, where it wont grow algae from the algae scrubber lights.

[gman]

you are doing good, pics are good but i'd like more descriptive information as to what's going on, more words, just some constructive criticism, i know i can be a jerk,

[Scottt]

Its really tough to see here, but we finally got our first algal scrubber in. Its a 1' x 2' piece of plexy bent into a shallow trough. Then end bends up and hooks around the supply line. I'll Let you know how it works out. We used the same bending technique as with PVC, a map-gas torch.


Heres a close up of the top left tank. It holds about 30 larvae John (a friend through a local aquarium society) gave me a while back. About 30 are alive. I'm amazed any made it with all my mistakes. It gets a slow flow of main system water, so water quality should never be an issue. Air stones properly placed produce a great current in all the tanks. I syphon the bottoms tri-weekly. The larvae are currently eating artemea replacement diet from brine-direct, flake through a wire mesh, and occasionally s-selco soaked mysis or squid.
The pvc fittings and clam shells are for the larvae to hide in. At a stocking density of only 1.5 per gallon, territorial aggression is setting in. I'll add more substrate asap.

[Scottt]

The live rock in the second sump. Most is from local tank breakdowns. 90% pacific, 5-10% atlantic (I think, its denser).

[Scottt]

The trio of P. Fridmani turned into a duo when I was on vacation. It seems they have paired up. I'd heard of harems (if I'm using the right term) working; I guess not here. I added pvc substrate at the surface and middle of the water column for the less dominant P. fridmani (I think the female in this species, but I could be wrong).

The pair of benggai cardinals are getting along well. The wild-caught, younger one is very social, and a really good eater.

I feed 3-6 times a day: a decent quality flake, frozen mysis/brine, and grated squid. A home made gelatin food is in the works.

The 30 Juvenile clowns get fed as many times as we can (~10 times daily).

[Scottt]

A friend donated a pair of Ocellaris which had been laying eggs at his house (in a 12gallon tank) for at least a few months. We moved the pair to my tank with a clutch of eggs to expedite their return to egg laying. They ate the eggs about 2 days after they were in their new 20gallon tank. I think it was just the stress of the move. Anyone have input?

[Scottt]

It may be that they hatched, they were very silver.

Both Banggai Cardinals are eating well! Its wonderful to see, as initially, the large one wasn't seen eating.

I'm in the process of insulating the walls of the garage, winter is coming. I'll post some pics asap.

[Scottt]

Maybe one day I'll get some new pictures up. The hatchery is really transforming.

It was easy to keep at 78f in the summer, its a different story these days. So, we're in the middle of R&D on a waste oil heater. It shoots 2' flames , that should heat the place up. We've got a bunch of oil around from car oil changes and such; so we're going to burn it for heat. The furnace is pretty fancy, and should be above 90% efficient. It has an exhaust gas recirculation port, getting the unit so hot that combustion is complete and super clean (I'm a green freak).

I've now only got 1 wall left to insulate!!! Temps are averaging in the high 60's during the day, 40's and 50's at night. There are 3 ebo-jager (spelling) heaters in the sump that keep the tank at 80f. We decided to change the temp from 78 to 80, as recommended by a fellow breeder. It won't be long before the highs are in the 30's Yikes! We did r-19 on the ceilings, r-13 on the walls, plastic all over. Fiberglass is itchy!!

We're hopeful for a spawn soon, but its not good to rush anything. Most of the broodstock are going to move from the 180 gallon tank to new 20 gallon tanks. It might set them back a little, but we'll give them back the same LR (live rock), PVC trinkets, and flower pots they were used to. I've got 17 of the 20 gallon tanks up on the wall. A little plumbing and a new sump, we'll have it up and running.

The 180 is going to be removed. Its too hard to clean. The tight spaces and 2' depth make it a real hassle to get in there to siphon detritus from the bottom.

Algal scrubbers all the way, nitrates are still at 0!! No water changes, just RO-DI top off.

[Scottt]

First spawn in the hatchery was October 8th in the evening. A pair of proven breeding Ocellaris layed a large clutch in a flower pot.

[Jeff]

Congratulations!!

[Kmiec123]

Nice!!! Now the real fun begins!

[Scottt]

Thanks guys. The eggs are in a tough to see spot, I'll get some pictures as soon as possible. These two clowns move their LR and flower pots around. I guess they like to do their own redecorating?

[jadeguppy]

SOunds like things are going well. I sometimes wish I had the problem of low temps. It seems much easier to heat than to cool tanks, but that is probably just because of my experiences living in a hot climate. I use diy food and am seriously thinking about not using geletin next time. IME it binds the food too much. I have to thaw it and then take a fork to mush it up over and over to get the chunk to break up. The thick chunk is good for my puffer, but I like the food to be in many pieces when I feed the tank so all my inhabitants can get some. However, a breeding tank is a bit different. Good luck. My ocel. just laid their first clutch and I am looking forward to getting some fry soon.

[bluescape]

[LethargicCoder]

[bluescape]

Thanks Eric!

[Scottt]

My favorite addition to the garage (a couch):


Also, how not to heat water:
Its a stainless steal coil. It worked great for warming up some top off water.


Melted the heater though


And, my second larval rearing tank:
Hoff shows data that larvae do significantly better when their tank is painted black or has cardboard around it.
So, scrape all the nice blue paint off the tank..

And then wrap it in cardboard:

[Kmiec123]

Nice couch,,,,What the Cat's name? I also love the Half-barrel in the back.

[Scottt]

The cat is Florence, quite observant!

she volunteered to help with culling (did I spell that right?)

[Scottt]

Almost as good as the couch, is, Algae on Tap!
I know it looks like salt on tap, but its full of grown out Nano I swear,
DIY-drill a hole a little smaller than the threads of the valve. Heat up the bucket in that area with a torch. Thread the valve in 3/4 of the way. Let it cool. Add teflon tape to the threads. Screw it in all the way. Ta Da! algae when you want it, without contamination from those pesky rotifers.


This is the best way I can figure out to dose it to the larval tanks. A nice slow siphon as to not scare/hurt the larvae


Heres some A. ocellaris larvae. I know, I need a real camera :-/
Theres some of the ground pellets I'm feeding them floating on top(along with BBS).


The start of a little plumbing project.


And, the site of a greenhouse we are going to start this fall. For algal scrubbing and coral propagation.

[Scottt]

the last picture, I meant to include.