A. polymnus larvae

Today marks 3 days post hatch (DPH) of the A. polymnus (Saddleback clownfish).  As of today, I have approximately 50 - 60 larvae remaining. 

They suffered a large die off the morning after hatch.  My guess, this could be one of two reasons:

1. The tile was left in too long (overnight).  I left the tile in the hatching tank after most of the larvae had hatched hoping the remaining few would have hatched by morning.  Leaving the tile in there for that length of time could have created "dead" spots where the aeration didn't make it through to the rest of the tank.  ??  I did notice that once I removed the tile, the larvae became more active in the water column.
2. I added too much RotiGreen Omega all at once.  When I added the Roti Green, I remember squeezing the pipette a bit to hard and put too much in the tank.  I had planned on adding as much as I usually do when adding it to my other larvae tanks however, this was a new pipette that seemed to be thicker than the others.  So, I applied too much pressure.

 Whereas I have heard the A. polymnus larvae are sensitive to water quality, I decided to start small water changes 2 DPH.  I siphoned out 50% of their water without the use of a rotifer sieve and started a slow drip of a mixture of 50% parent water and 50% 24 hour old fresh mix of saltwater.  The rotifers that were allowed to be removed with siphoning out the tank water, was replaced with enriched rotifers.  RotiGreen Omega is added twice daily to keep the tank a slight green.  This helps keep the rotifers nutritious, helps the larvae find the rotifers, and also keeps the larvae in the water column off the sides of the tank.

When looking at the larvae through my jewelers loop (poor man's microscope), the gut of larvae is full and silver.  The silver coloring of the gut indicates they are capturing the rotifers nicely.  At this age (3 DPH) their head and body are mainly silver with their tails black. 

A. polymnus larvae 2 DPH

That is all I have to report at this time.

Since I am new to blogging, I hope the information I provide becomes better with time.  If you have any questions, please ask.