Welcome

Hello Everybody! 

My name is Camryn, and I have a 60 gallon saltwater tank. 

I have had this tank for nearly 3 years now, and have raised my Ocellaris Clownfish from the time they were 1 inch to where they are at today. Here is a pic of my tank:

 My goal here is to provide an example for everyone trying to raise clownfish! There are plenty of resources out there, so add this one to the list! I am going to walk you through my very first clownfish clutch that I tried to raise. Enjoy!

Day 0: The Transfer

Day 0: Before Hatching
Here are the eggs on the night they hatched! I will consider this day 0. All I did was transfer the terra-cotta pot into a small 5 gallon tank with mature tank water, add an aerator, and turn on the heater. I added some rotifers and turned off the lights! 

Day 1: The Hatching

Day 1: The Hatching
The eggs hatched that night after about 2 hours of darkness. I did not check on them until the morning, and that is when I found all of these guys swimming around in the tank! 

The water is green because I added some phytoplankton to feed the rotifers, and to help the clownfish larvae see better. You can see all the tiny fry along the left pane of glass!

Days 1-5: The Rotifer Age

Days 1-5: Rotifers
For nearly the first week of their lives, the clownfish can ONLY eat live rotifers. Therefore, I had to raise them and establish cultures several weeks in advance. All that work pays off when you see the babies though! Here are some shots of the clowns during their first week of life!

Here are some close ups:

The bodies are clear, the stomaches are silver, and the eyes are black.

Days 5-8: The Brine Shrimp Age

Days 5-8: Brine Shrimp
After the first week or so, the clownfish can handle newly hatched baby brine shrimp. I fed about 15 shrimp per clown twice a day. At this point, the clownfish are starting to turn a darker color instead of clear. Here is a close up of a larvae at this age:

Days 8-15: Metamorphosis

Days 8-15: Metamorphosis
This can be the most stressful, and most fun-to-watch, part of the fish-growing process. This is the time when the silver, black-eyed larvae turn orange and look like a clown. At first, the clowns will turn a clear-orange and have pink stomachs. Here is a picture at the beginning of this stage (11 days old):

Next, the clownfish will become a more solid orange and develop a stripe. Here is a picture of a clown at this stage (16 days old):

Days 15-23: Post-Metamorphosis

Days 15-23: Post-Metamorphosis
This is the time that the clownfish truly turn into clownfish. All of the clownfish at this time will develop an opaque orange color, and will also develop 2 full stripes. There eyes are black and large, and the stomachs are clearly are a darker color then the rest of the lighter orange color.

The clownfish also start to nip at each other and form a social hierarchy. It's pretty cool to watch them explore the tank and find out where they stand in their little fish 'society.'

Also, most of the clowns began to sink to the bottom. At first, I thought that these guys were dead. But then they would come back to life after a day or two and form little groups. Here is a group:

Days 24-30: The Flake Age

Days 24-30: The Flake Age
Now the clownfish turn a darker orange, and develop a complete social hierarchy. The fish are constantly swimming around and exploring. They also all are starting to eat flake food: I offer it before brine shrimp every day during feedings and they are starting to eat the flakes off the surface! Here is an example of their coloring as of day 26:

Here is a picture of their size. The finger in the picture is my pinkie: they are about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch!

The clownfish are also starting to develop black highlights on their bottom fins. Here is a great picture of one of the fish! I have nearly 30 left!

Days 30-90: The Growth Age

Days 30-90: The Growth Age
After the first month, the clownfish become true clownfish. They continue to pick at each other and establish a social order, but now become more scheduled and intelligent. For example, when I walk past them they all swarm the top of the tank as they correlate my shape with food. Pretty cool! This is also the time when they produce noticeable waste for the first time; you can see all their fecal matter beginning to pile up. Therefore, daily water changes are a necessity. Here are a few pictures: 

Here are a few pictures of the clowns against a tape measure. They are about two months old at this time and a little over half an inch: