How to Breed Marine Fish

Marine fish are considered by aquarists to be difficult to breed. The larvae of marine fish are smaller than the day-old fry of freshwater fish and require living food in the form of microscopic rotifers. These rotifers need to be nourished with green plankton, and if either the rotifer or plankton culture crashes, the marine fish larvae will starve. Larvae of marine fish require water of a high quality, but are easily stressed by strong currents in the aquarium and powerful filters. The anemonefish was one of the first marine fish to be successfully bred in captivity.

Things You'll Need

  • Disk of nanochloropus green plankton
  • Synthetic seawater with a specific gravity of 1.019
  • Plastic bottle, 4-pint
  • Three vibrator air pumps
  • 4-foot air tubing
  • Two air stones
  • Micro Algae Grow
  • Living rotifer culture
  • 10-gallon plastic bucket
  • 5 gallons of synthetic seawater with a specific gravity of 0.017
  • 30-gallon aquarium, complete with lighting, filtration and heater
  • Mated pair of anemonefish or other marine fish
  • Flat stone or shell
  • 5-gallon aquarium
  • Aquarium heater
  • Torch
  • Pipette
  • Coffee filter paper
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Instructions

    • 1

      Remove the lid from a disk of nanochloropus green plankton and add a small volume of synthetic seawater with a specific gravity of 1.019 to the disk.

    • 2

      Gently swirl the dish every 30 minutes for two hours, then pour the culture into a clean 4-pint plastic bottle.

    • 3

      Connect an airstone to a vibrator pump via tubing and place the airstone into the bottle.

    • 4

      Add 20 drops of Micro Algae Grow to the plastic bottle.

    • 5

      Half fill a 10-gallon bucket with synthetic seawater with a specific gravity of 1.017 and place the live rotifer culture into the bucket.

    • 6

      Connect an airstone to a vibrator pump via tubing and place the airstone into the 10-gallon bucket.

    • 7

      Use a pint jug to add green plankton to the rotifer culture. Add sufficient green water to turn the water in the bucket a light green color.

    • 8

      Feed the rotifers daily by adding green plankton to the rotifer bucket.

    • 9

      Place an adult mated pair of anemonefish or other marine fish in a separate 30-gallon aquarium and offer the pair a flat stone or shell on which to lay their eggs.

    • 10

      Monitor the condition of the eggs, but do not interfere with them. The male will mouth the eggs to remove bacteria and fungus and will fan them with his fins to oxygenate them.

    • 11

      Set up a 5-gallon aquarium, using water from the main tank. Place a heater in the tank and set the thermostat to 76 degrees F.

    • 12

      Connect an airstone to a vibrator pump via tubing and place the airstone into the 5-gallon aquarium.

    • 13

      Turn off room and aquarium lights on the evening of the seventh day after the eggs were laid.

    • 14

      Shine a torch into the aquarium, from above.

    • 15

      Use a pipette to draw up water and fish larvae that congregate in the pool of light made by the torch.

    • 16

      Gently release the larvae into the 5-gallon aquarium.

    • 17

      Scoop up a cup full of water from the rotifer culture and pour the water back into the rotifer bucket through coffee filter paper.

    • 18

      Rinse the filter paper in the 5-gallon aquarium to release the rotifers, on which the larvae will feed.

    • 19

      Feed the larvae twice daily.

    • 20

      Change 5 percent of the water in the larvae aquarium every second day.