"Umm fish?"
Premium Member
Thanks! I haven't been keeping up. The MOFIB thing is taking a lot of time. I just started some Isocrysis cultures tonight though. Hopefully those'll take off. That's the first step to keeping the good copepods.
430gal., L-shaped display
- Thread starter JohnL
- Start date
"Umm fish?"
Premium Member
Hey! We're back. I had some fun over the weekend, but didn't post it here because of the upgrade. So, here's what I've been up to:
From 9/25:
The sixline female is giving me consistent batches of about 200 eggs these days. I'm now getting more of them to the prolarvae stage. I pulled 198 yesterday, dipped the eggs in a hydrogen peroxide solution, and placed them into recently dechlorinated broodstock water. I can only see 20-30, well maybe 40 undeveloped eggs on the bottom, and lots in late embryonic to early prolarval stages. Some more photos:
9/26 early:
Some video from this morning:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe6DWwsCdmc
9/26 later:
Quite the day over here today. Sixline wrass prolarvae at 41 hours:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_H2KexlFTe8
And we also discovered that the yellowhead jawfish male is holding:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6M-sViHrA8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbxaHC2qS4w
From 9/25:
The sixline female is giving me consistent batches of about 200 eggs these days. I'm now getting more of them to the prolarvae stage. I pulled 198 yesterday, dipped the eggs in a hydrogen peroxide solution, and placed them into recently dechlorinated broodstock water. I can only see 20-30, well maybe 40 undeveloped eggs on the bottom, and lots in late embryonic to early prolarval stages. Some more photos:
9/26 early:
Some video from this morning:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe6DWwsCdmc
9/26 later:
Quite the day over here today. Sixline wrass prolarvae at 41 hours:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_H2KexlFTe8
And we also discovered that the yellowhead jawfish male is holding:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6M-sViHrA8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbxaHC2qS4w
"Umm fish?"
Premium Member
Thank, Jim. Well, most everything seems to be doing ok, except that it looks like I'm losing a torch coral. 
I just added in a trio of lyretail anthias to the display and they really seem to get the other fish out and into the water column.
The files still seem to be doing well. I had let their glass get pretty gross for a while so I haven't been able to keep up with their dance as well, but I just cleared that up over the weekend. One of the banggais in their tank has a mouthful of eggs, though.
I just added in a trio of lyretail anthias to the display and they really seem to get the other fish out and into the water column. The files still seem to be doing well. I had let their glass get pretty gross for a while so I haven't been able to keep up with their dance as well, but I just cleared that up over the weekend. One of the banggais in their tank has a mouthful of eggs, though.
"Umm fish?"
Premium Member
I took a couple of fun photos today and thought I'd share.
I hope you enjoy.
I hope you enjoy.
Western_reefer
Reef keeper
Beautiful fish!!
"Umm fish?"
Premium Member
Thanks, Moses!
Western_reefer
Reef keeper
How did you get sooo many critters to spawn/breed in your tank? Whats your secret? 
lol
lol
"Umm fish?"
Premium Member
It's no secret, Moses. Spawning is very energy-intensive. So, animals only spawn when they get a lot of food on a regular basis. They need to be fairly comfortable in their home and they need a willing partner of the same species. That's the whole story.
Western_reefer
Reef keeper
I feed LOTS... I need to pair up all my fish! lol Most of them are single.... lol
"Umm fish?"
Premium Member
Well, they're never gonna spawn if they don't have a partner. 
Unless it's something that I don't really want to know about....
Unless it's something that I don't really want to know about....
Thanks for sharing your experiences with the fish spawning. I have several varieties af fish in my tank that go through the spawning rituals but have only seen fry once and I'm sure they were eaten pretty quickly. I have really enjoyed seeing the success you're having.:thumbsup::thumbsup:
"Umm fish?"
Premium Member
Greg--Cool! What kinds of fish do you have courting/spawning?
Lightsluvr--Where do you think humans got it from?
They aren't like us, we're like them....
Lightsluvr--Where do you think humans got it from?
They aren't like us, we're like them....
Western_reefer
Reef keeper
Well, they're never gonna spawn if they don't have a partner.
lol Yeah.
"Umm fish?"
Premium Member
A couple of new videos for you tonight.
The yellowhead jawfish male incubating eggs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuy0T8vwD4I
And the starry blennies doing their dance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRY3mmnyTp8
The yellowhead jawfish male incubating eggs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuy0T8vwD4I
And the starry blennies doing their dance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRY3mmnyTp8
Western_reefer
Reef keeper
VERY cool/nice videos!!
Just about every kind of fish you have are in pairs. lol Very nice! Can you post a stock list please?
Also, I have a question, a lot of my fish are single and have been for quite some time, I'm afraid if I add another of their own kind they will fight/kill each other, how should I go about adding another of their kind so they can pair up? Does the new fish of their kind have to be much, much smaller than the one that's already in the tank?
"Umm fish?"
Premium Member
Thanks!
Your fish first: Pairing really depends on the fish species you have. Let's hear your stock list and which fish you want to pair first. I actually wrote a little general article about fish pairing for my local club:
http://www.marinecolorado.org/forums/showthread.php?t=2198
The best way to "test the waters" with a new fish is to put them into the display (after QT, of course) in some sort of in-tank cage. For bigger fish, you can make an egg crate box or something. Be sure to give the fish something to use as shelter inside the egg crate. This lets all the fish see each other and smell each other but keeps them from being able to hurt each other.
Stock list (display tank):
Tangs:
1 Dussimieri
2 Purple
3 Yellow
Clowns:
2 B&W Os
Mandarins:
2 green (splendidus)
Gobies:
2 citron
Blennies:
2 starry
Jawfish:
I think I'm down to 3 yellowheads (one was living in one of the cement blocks for a while and I haven't seen it lately)
2 bluespot
Dottybacks:
2 orchid
Grammas:
5 royal
Wrasses:
3 solarensis
2 cleaner
Chromis:
4 blue-green (1 of them is also living in the concrete block, but I saw it's head yesterday)
Anthias:
1 male, 2 female lyretail
Shrimp:
3 cleaner
2 fire
Urchins:
1 longspine
1 short, purple spine
Snails:
Ceriths (lots, they breed prolifically)
Collumbellids (lots, they breed prolifically)
Stomatellas (no idea, but they breed, too)
Nassarius
A couple of conchs
I think that's it for the display tank. Lots more downstairs, of course.
Your fish first: Pairing really depends on the fish species you have. Let's hear your stock list and which fish you want to pair first.
I actually wrote a little general article about fish pairing for my local club:http://www.marinecolorado.org/forums/showthread.php?t=2198
The best way to "test the waters" with a new fish is to put them into the display (after QT, of course) in some sort of in-tank cage. For bigger fish, you can make an egg crate box or something. Be sure to give the fish something to use as shelter inside the egg crate. This lets all the fish see each other and smell each other but keeps them from being able to hurt each other.
Stock list (display tank):
Tangs:
1 Dussimieri
2 Purple
3 Yellow
Clowns:
2 B&W Os
Mandarins:
2 green (splendidus)
Gobies:
2 citron
Blennies:
2 starry
Jawfish:
I think I'm down to 3 yellowheads (one was living in one of the cement blocks for a while and I haven't seen it lately)
2 bluespot
Dottybacks:
2 orchid
Grammas:
5 royal
Wrasses:
3 solarensis
2 cleaner
Chromis:
4 blue-green (1 of them is also living in the concrete block, but I saw it's head yesterday)
Anthias:
1 male, 2 female lyretail
Shrimp:
3 cleaner
2 fire
Urchins:
1 longspine
1 short, purple spine
Snails:
Ceriths (lots, they breed prolifically)
Collumbellids (lots, they breed prolifically)
Stomatellas (no idea, but they breed, too)
Nassarius
A couple of conchs
I think that's it for the display tank. Lots more downstairs, of course.
Western_reefer
Reef keeper
Oh, ok. Thanks for the link!
Very nice stock list!!
Here is a list of fish that I want to pair up.
1 Maroon Clownfish (I read my best bet is to get a tiny maroon that's 1 inch or smaller? The maroon I already have is a good 4.5-5 inches.)
1 Yellow Coris Wrasse
1 Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasse
1 Neon Goby (Gobiosoma oceanops)
1 Yellow Watchman Goby
1 Diamond Goby
1 Flame Cardinal (I read my best bet is to get a tiny Flame Cardinal that's 1 inch or smaller? The Flame Cardinal I already have is a good 3 inches.)
1 Female Spotted Mandarin fish (I read my best bet is to get a Male Spotted Mandarin fish that's much larger than the existing female?)
1 Fridmani Pseudochromis
1 Forktail Blenny
1 Engineer Goby
1 Talbot Damsel
MAYBE these guys if all goes well with pairing the fish above and if there's more room for more fish. lol
1 Niger Trigger
1 Bicolor Angelfish
1 Yellow Candy Hogfish
Very nice stock list!!
Here is a list of fish that I want to pair up.
1 Maroon Clownfish (I read my best bet is to get a tiny maroon that's 1 inch or smaller? The maroon I already have is a good 4.5-5 inches.)
1 Yellow Coris Wrasse
1 Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasse
1 Neon Goby (Gobiosoma oceanops)
1 Yellow Watchman Goby
1 Diamond Goby
1 Flame Cardinal (I read my best bet is to get a tiny Flame Cardinal that's 1 inch or smaller? The Flame Cardinal I already have is a good 3 inches.)
1 Female Spotted Mandarin fish (I read my best bet is to get a Male Spotted Mandarin fish that's much larger than the existing female?)
1 Fridmani Pseudochromis
1 Forktail Blenny
1 Engineer Goby
1 Talbot Damsel
MAYBE these guys if all goes well with pairing the fish above and if there's more room for more fish. lol
1 Niger Trigger
1 Bicolor Angelfish
1 Yellow Candy Hogfish
"Umm fish?"
Premium Member
Thanks! I like 'em....
Let's take a look at your list one at a time:
Historically, notorious for females killing small fish while trying to establish pairs. I would certainly put the small fish into a mesh basket and keep a close eye. I wouldn't let the male out until the female is thoroughly used to him.
Wrasses are protogynous hermaphrodites. I would try getting the smallest fish possible to put with them. That's the way I paired my sixlines. The way I paired the cleaner wrasses, though, was to watch two at the LFS and they were hanging out as near each other as possible (despite the holed acrylic divider).
From what I know (and that's not much with the gobies) their sexual modes are all over the place. The gobiosoma can develop into males or females at any time. All the times I've tried to pair neons, however, have ended in failure. They are really territorial (in the 12 gal. tank they were in), have fixed sexes, and show no sexual differences that I can tell. If they are in a bigger tank, I would probably just start a colony with 5-7 fish. I haven't done the research on your other two gobies.
All the cardinals that I know of have fixed sexes and don't have any good ways to tell the sexes apart other than seeing a male with eggs. Sorry. Cardinals get pretty frustrating.
Correct.
Find a small one. Most dottys are really evil to their partners, but orchids are pretty mellow. You might try to find a captive-bred fish, as you are really likely to get a juvenile buying captive-bred.
I haven't heard any stories of blenny hermaphrodism, so it's best to just get a fish and be very, very cautious.
Feed this one very well (so it gets really big) and then get a small one. I'm still looking for a small Starkii to go with my big male.
Good luck!
Should be just a matter of getting a smaller fish. They are pretty aggressive, though, right? I'd just be careful.
Man, I have no clue. Those are cool-looking fish, though. I think Clownfish75 over at MOFIB has a pair of some type of hogfish. You might ask him.
Good luck!
Let's take a look at your list one at a time:
Historically, notorious for females killing small fish while trying to establish pairs. I would certainly put the small fish into a mesh basket and keep a close eye. I wouldn't let the male out until the female is thoroughly used to him.
Wrasses are protogynous hermaphrodites. I would try getting the smallest fish possible to put with them. That's the way I paired my sixlines. The way I paired the cleaner wrasses, though, was to watch two at the LFS and they were hanging out as near each other as possible (despite the holed acrylic divider).
From what I know (and that's not much with the gobies) their sexual modes are all over the place. The gobiosoma can develop into males or females at any time. All the times I've tried to pair neons, however, have ended in failure. They are really territorial (in the 12 gal. tank they were in), have fixed sexes, and show no sexual differences that I can tell. If they are in a bigger tank, I would probably just start a colony with 5-7 fish. I haven't done the research on your other two gobies.
All the cardinals that I know of have fixed sexes and don't have any good ways to tell the sexes apart other than seeing a male with eggs. Sorry. Cardinals get pretty frustrating.
Correct.
Find a small one. Most dottys are really evil to their partners, but orchids are pretty mellow. You might try to find a captive-bred fish, as you are really likely to get a juvenile buying captive-bred.
I haven't heard any stories of blenny hermaphrodism, so it's best to just get a fish and be very, very cautious.
Feed this one very well (so it gets really big) and then get a small one. I'm still looking for a small Starkii to go with my big male.
Good luck!
Should be just a matter of getting a smaller fish. They are pretty aggressive, though, right? I'd just be careful.
Man, I have no clue. Those are cool-looking fish, though. I think Clownfish75 over at MOFIB has a pair of some type of hogfish. You might ask him.
Good luck!
