|
|
|
|
#102
05/06/2006, 05:55 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
This has got to be the hottest thread I've seen in a while. Keep up the good work and interested people like me will keep learning. Good luck in your endevors and be fruitful and multiply. Peace and BLESSINGS.
Shakara  
|
|
#103
05/08/2006, 08:09 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
OK, I'm back, got home around 8:30 pm Sunday. RENEE did a PHENOMENAL JOB! We have at the very least 5 (FIVE) baby mandarins with eyes. At least one is doing EXTREMELY well with a big fat gut. I'm hesitant to pull any out to take pictures - So far the only larvae I've been able to locate are the ones in the kriesel! More soon!
Matt |
|
#105
05/08/2006, 08:51 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Well, it's 5-8-06 - 8:45 AM...I can now find only 3 babies in the kriesel. I'm sticking with the feeding regiment I laid out as it *kinda* seems to be working - one of the mandarins is just chompin' away at the sides of the kriesel!
HMM...I was pretty confident yesterday, but if we keep losing larvae this may all be over real soon. I guess we still need more luck??? MP |
|
#106
05/08/2006, 09:00 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Hang in there buddy! You are still accomlishing a lot despite losing fry. Superb effort in dedication. I cannot wait to see the success rate climb with each and every spawn!
__________________
Tim A reef just isn't for the ocean anymore. |
|
#107
05/08/2006, 11:49 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Yeah Matt, 5 days with developed eyes is a BIG step, way to go man!
I recall you said you were running your kreisel air only right? Once the fry start eating, you should really consider setting up water also. I had a HUGE hang on filter on the ten gallon, and about twice a day I would turn the water on and flush the fish bowl out with new water. Then the dirty water would get filtered in the 10g where the high flow didn't matter. I have to guess that the mortalities of fry with fat bellies has got to be a water quality thing, maybe they require incredibly pristine conditions? Are you enriching the rotifers? At any rate, this is awesome! Keep it up, you of all people know that it gets better with every spawn 
__________________
If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.... |
|
#108
05/08/2006, 12:20 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Nice thread,congrats on the success. Alot to read in one sitting, more pics please.
__________________
Clownfish lovers click on the little RED house. |
|
#109
05/08/2006, 02:00 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Not sure if this will help or not. I've been watching this thread and this forum very closely for a couple of weeks now. It seems to benefit larval clownfish if you lower the salinity slightly for the first couple weeks??? maybe that would help.
__________________
-Ben |
|
#112
05/09/2006, 12:46 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Well, as of 12:45 AM on 5-9-06, I can only count 2 larvae in the Kriesel. That's roughly 60% disappearing in 24 hours...not looking good, but hey, isn't this the close of 5 days? Technically 4 days since hatching...the longest I've made it with ANY larvae is 5...
MP |
|
#113
05/09/2006, 08:04 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
My psychadelic manderins spawned last night (second time I have ever seen eggs released) - I was not fast enough to catch any of the eggs before the clowns devoured them, but this thread has given me lots of good info, and hopefully next time (they tend to spawn or atleast do the dance every 3-4 days) I will be ready, and try out my seahorse kreisel for these guys.
Good luck with the remaining two, anything more than keeping the adults alive is a feet, so keeping fry alive only 5 days is an acheivement. Mark |
|
#114
05/09/2006, 08:56 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
2 at 5 days is still great Matt, I never would have thought my cheapo-simple kreisel setup would have an impact. Don't give up on them, their easier to take care of in smaller numbers....look at Nicole with Lad, most died within a week, but one made it all the way. My first clownfish success was the same way, all died by day 3 except one, I still have him.....
Those two are no doubt the strongest, best eating, most likely to survive of the whole batch, never forget that...and congrats again! Jason
__________________
If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.... |
|
#115
05/09/2006, 09:28 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
5-9-06 - Good words of wisdom Jason! It's 9:20 AM and we still have 2 Mandarin larvae in the kriesel. The water is starting to look like a ROTIFER CULTURE though...simply tons of rotifers swimming around in there. I can't say I've seen many copepods in there; either my rotifer/copepod co-cultures are giving out (on the copepod side) or the mandarins are indeed getting all the little copepods before they grow up!
I'm leaning towards ceassation of adding in strained foods at this point considering there is so much in there, and only adding my "mandarin phyto mix" going forward for a week or so. What do you guys think? MP |
|
#116
05/09/2006, 09:29 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Mark - GOOD LUCK! Go for it, definitely go for it! My advice would be to turn off all the pumps when the lights go out and then wait...shouldn't take too long. If they're spawning with the lights on, turn them out 30 minutes earlier maybe. While I still have the two larvae, I'm eagerly awaiting the next spawn which should be soon!
MP |
|
#117
05/09/2006, 09:33 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
A couple more questions that some more experienced breeders might have input on:
1. What do you guys think about dosing with reef plus in the larval tank? 2. With the mandarin larvae still in the kriesel for now, I'm contemplating adding in the larval Apogon leptacanthus I'm expecting in a few days. Eventually the mandarins will have to come out of the kriesel, probably around settlement (if they make it) but would there be any big downside to adding in more fish larvae in the rest of the 10 gallon tank? MP |
|
#118
05/09/2006, 11:24 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Matt - I'd almost think about trying to remove some of the rotifers, if you get them too dense, they will foul the water pretty quickly.
My sorta-educated guesses on the questions: 1) Reef Plus probably wouldn't help the larvae much, and might cause a pH spike...use very sparingly if you do. 2) Other than stepping up the required water changes, I think it would be OK, but I'd like to hear from Dman, RSman, Edgar or the likes too.
__________________
If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.... |
|
#119
05/09/2006, 12:46 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Well, it's 12:45 PM - one of the larvae seems to have escaped the kriesel and is swimming around the main tank. They got a 3 gallon water change and 5 "basters" of the mandarin phyto mix, but no new rotifers/copepods this morning. I'm going to try to gauge things again this afternoon/evening and see where we're at.
MP |
|
#120
05/09/2006, 01:18 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Mandarin "Fry" at 133 hours (5.5 days) post spawn
So, with only 2 mandarin larvae left (at least that I can find) the on in the kriesel is just kinda floating around...I thought he was dead so I sucked him out to examine at 10X and nope...it's definitely alive still. Talk about a HUGE mouth relative to body size, all bucket shaped, ready for eating!
Here's a picture as of 1:00 PM today, the adult rotifer next to him gives you some idea of scale:  I think, after seeing what the rotifer looks like next to the larvae, I'm going to continue seiving my cultures a bit longer to make sure these guys get enough tiny food...this larvae didn't look very "fat" to me. MP |
|
#121
05/09/2006, 01:19 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Name the escape artist Houdini
 Man, those guys are tiny! Great pic too BTW. Jason
__________________
If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.... Last edited by jnowell; 05/09/2006 at 01:44 PM. |
|
#122
05/09/2006, 10:29 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Well, it's almost been 6 days now...about 5 days 11 hours since the eggs were laid. I was only able to find the one remaining larvae in the kriesel, and only after turning up the air to get things really moving in there - I suspect this batch is coming to an end. I don't know, take a look at this shot from 9:55 PM - he looks kinda skinny but ALSO the body shape has really changed. HMMMMMMMMM.
 What do you guys think? MP |
|
#123
05/09/2006, 11:35 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
11:30 - can't find any of the larvae now
 Houdini has "disappeared" but he also looked like the ONE that was really getting fat and healthy. Hopefully he's finding what he needs out there in the vast expanse of a 10 gallon aquarium!MP |
|
#124
05/10/2006, 12:31 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
5-10-06 - 12:30 AM - so get this...things were looking pretty uneventful this evening until I turned the lights out 5 minutes ago. INSTANTLY the male's fins were flaired...after a minute the female raised her's up too. The male is dancing around the surface of the tank, pushing his face out of the water (I suspect that in a larger, deeper tank this would be even cooler to watch). Haven't seen this part of courtship before...curious to see how it goes...on the last 2 spawns I observed there was a lot of rising well prior to lights going out...haven't seen an actual rise yet, just the male doing a lot of dancing and the female showing some interest.
MP |
|
#125
05/10/2006, 12:41 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
12:38, the male's crazy ZOOMING around the water column has subsided. It sure looks to me like this male was rising up to see if there were any willing females in the "area"...not sure how this compares to actual courtship in the wild. The female has already assumed her nocturnal coloration, so no spawn tonight. It has to happen soon though
MP |
| Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
| Display Modes | |
|
|
Linear Mode
