Apogon leptacanthus - Breeding Log
- Thread starter mwp
- Start date
mwp
In Memoriam
Thanks for the congrats guys. Sorry, no book deal yet 
I kinda don't feel like I've "made it" just yet. Sure, we have a few that have a "cardinalfish" looking body shape now, but a black tipped dorsal fin, a streamlined look, and no irridescent markings, not to mention BLUE eyes? Maybe we've made it through "metamorphasis", but have we reached a "settlement" stage yet? They still have to really DEEPEN their bodies and at least get the blue eyes before I'll chear "mission accomplished"!
Yeah, I know it's wierd, but I swear they're still taking rotifers! Maybe it's not rotifers, but rather copepod nauplii or something...
Matt
I kinda don't feel like I've "made it" just yet. Sure, we have a few that have a "cardinalfish" looking body shape now, but a black tipped dorsal fin, a streamlined look, and no irridescent markings, not to mention BLUE eyes? Maybe we've made it through "metamorphasis", but have we reached a "settlement" stage yet? They still have to really DEEPEN their bodies and at least get the blue eyes before I'll chear "mission accomplished"!Yeah, I know it's wierd, but I swear they're still taking rotifers! Maybe it's not rotifers, but rather copepod nauplii or something...
Matt
mwp
In Memoriam
Well Luis, your mentioning of the change in behavior suggests that meta may have occured much earlier on...i.e. when I started noting that they were schooling together. Food for thought perhaps.
In any case, I'm still throwing the gamut in there for them. If I can just get the one BIG one to color up, I'll be thrilled and call it "mission accomplished" and put a breeding rev. trio of A. leptacanthus on the market - back to mandarins, GBG's and clownfish to pay for it all
Matt
In any case, I'm still throwing the gamut in there for them. If I can just get the one BIG one to color up, I'll be thrilled and call it "mission accomplished" and put a breeding rev. trio of A. leptacanthus on the market - back to mandarins, GBG's and clownfish to pay for it all
Matt
mwp
In Memoriam
I gotta come back just to say that next time, if there is a next time, the one thing I'll do differently is work harder on getting tiggerpods into the mix, and sooner and at higher levels. I say this because once again, for the most part they've been extripated from the system Looks like I'll be harvesting some more tomorrow morning!
One of our DOA's was one of the "good looking" larger cardinals. MOST are now "gaping"...maybe only 2 look good, one being the largest one in the tank who's now double the size of most of the rest, and the other is a smaller one, possibly a runt. I'd say it looks like a turn for the worse with most of the larvae...not sure WHY though. I may move the Big One (and any others that look "OK") over to a net breeder next week to fend for himself in a more stable environment.
Considering I started with probably 500 larvae, to get this far and have so few left means there's definitely room for improvement. Not sure what/how that should be accomplished, but I'd like to encourage everyone else to give the pelagic cardinals a shot - if ORA can do it we should be able to too...I think 34 days and at least one larva at probably 1.2 CM means it CAN be done! What I wouldn't give to have a candid conversation with the person responsible for rearing Apogon compressus at ORA!
So at this point, I'd welcome you all to look through the log and help me figure out what can be done to improve! I think I logged everything as it happened...as things have come to this point I haven't been logging every single dosing of BBS nauplii etc, but for the most part, it's all there.
Frank, any thoughts?
Matt
Looks like I'll be harvesting some more tomorrow morning!One of our DOA's was one of the "good looking" larger cardinals. MOST are now "gaping"...maybe only 2 look good, one being the largest one in the tank who's now double the size of most of the rest, and the other is a smaller one, possibly a runt. I'd say it looks like a turn for the worse with most of the larvae...not sure WHY though. I may move the Big One (and any others that look "OK") over to a net breeder next week to fend for himself in a more stable environment.
Considering I started with probably 500 larvae, to get this far and have so few left means there's definitely room for improvement. Not sure what/how that should be accomplished, but I'd like to encourage everyone else to give the pelagic cardinals a shot - if ORA can do it we should be able to too...I think 34 days and at least one larva at probably 1.2 CM means it CAN be done! What I wouldn't give to have a candid conversation with the person responsible for rearing Apogon compressus at ORA!
So at this point, I'd welcome you all to look through the log and help me figure out what can be done to improve! I think I logged everything as it happened...as things have come to this point I haven't been logging every single dosing of BBS nauplii etc, but for the most part, it's all there.
Frank, any thoughts?
Matt
mwp
In Memoriam
37 days post release, and there are 9 cardinalfish remaining. The water was crystal clear most of the day, the clowns are going through meta (many are post), and I've been feeding mostly selcon soaked nauplii for the last couple days. Tonight I've started a drip of stored T-Iso, maybe 500 ML, just to put some color back in the water and nutrition into the rotifer population
Out of the 9, I'd say only the one BIG one is NOT gaping...what I take that to mean is that we'll end up with only ONE that goes ALL the way. One is all it takes though!
It's a 50/50 shot on whether I'll try to rear another spawn or not - if I can get my hands on Amphiprion latezonatus, this proven trio of Glass Cardinals is "outta here". Sooner or later they're going to go (that was the deal with Renee, although tonight she technically recinded it since the tank is no longer one she routinely looks at!), and I think they should go to someone who's breeding oriented (i.e. will be putting them in a bare tank with easily removeable structure) and wants to try something a bit different and challenging. PM me if you're interested in purchasing this breeding group, 'cause when the time comes they're probably going to have to be outta here fast
Basically, they're not for sale at this time, but I'd like to know who's interested should I decide to part with them! Now that larval tank #2 has been "approved" by Renee, I'll have the space to rear the percs/clownfish in one, and continue on with my experimental projects in the other.
Matt
Out of the 9, I'd say only the one BIG one is NOT gaping...what I take that to mean is that we'll end up with only ONE that goes ALL the way. One is all it takes though!
It's a 50/50 shot on whether I'll try to rear another spawn or not - if I can get my hands on Amphiprion latezonatus, this proven trio of Glass Cardinals is "outta here". Sooner or later they're going to go (that was the deal with Renee, although tonight she technically recinded it since the tank is no longer one she routinely looks at!), and I think they should go to someone who's breeding oriented (i.e. will be putting them in a bare tank with easily removeable structure) and wants to try something a bit different and challenging. PM me if you're interested in purchasing this breeding group, 'cause when the time comes they're probably going to have to be outta here fast
Basically, they're not for sale at this time, but I'd like to know who's interested should I decide to part with them! Now that larval tank #2 has been "approved" by Renee, I'll have the space to rear the percs/clownfish in one, and continue on with my experimental projects in the other.
Matt
mwp
In Memoriam
I got a kick out of this one, just had to come back and post. I'm winding down for the evening, watching the cardinalfish larvae which are all pretty much schooled up in some heavier current. As rotifers and BBS drift by, not much is going on. Then, the largest (and only really healthy looking one) spies something...a 12 hour old mandarin. WHACK!
Well, I guess we found the "third food" for Apogon leptacanthus!
Matt
Well, I guess we found the "third food" for Apogon leptacanthus!
Matt
mwp
In Memoriam
41.5 days post release. Sad news - sometime between 9:00 AM and 1:00 PM today 2 of the larvae kicked the bucket, including our big one. All are now gaping, and schooling behavior has stopped. Looks like "end of the line" for all the remaining cardinals (I counted around 7). Meanwhile the clownfish are doing fine, which tells me that it's likely not disease or water quality...gonna have to focuse on nutrition. I may clear the tank out in the next couple days and try to catch the next batch if I can - I'm ready to give these another shot, while I still need a few things for my next mandarin attempt.
Matt
Matt
mwp
In Memoriam
Well, getting close to 42 days, 1 more cardinal died this evening. To give a size reference, our largest one was roughly the size of a small neon tetra. GRRRRRR!
I REALLY think I want to give these guys another shot. EVERYONE please review all my notes and make any educated/experienced suggestions for changes on the next attempt!
Matt
I REALLY think I want to give these guys another shot. EVERYONE please review all my notes and make any educated/experienced suggestions for changes on the next attempt!
Matt
mwp
In Memoriam
About to round the corner on 44 days and as best as I can tell only 1 leptacanthus juvie remains, and it's the RUNT of the litter. I pulled it out to photograph under the QX5 (will post later) and placed it in the breeder net that is in the parent's tank....I don't expect this little guy to be around come morning. From what I can gather, it may in fact be that this guy was STILL feeding on rotifers.
Not sure what all this means, but I'm eager to try the next batch I can manage to capture. ANY suggestions would be welcome!
Matt
Not sure what all this means, but I'm eager to try the next batch I can manage to capture. ANY suggestions would be welcome!
Matt
mwp
In Memoriam
OK, so we actually had TWO larvae left. I shot pix of both..the first one (smaller) made it, the 2nd one died from shock almost immediately. The one upside is that I got closeups of both and the ones I"ll post first are the larger one, clearly showing the black coloration that showed up on the tip of the first (anterior) dorsal fin. Pretty much I think this is the end for this batch.
Pics in the next few posts.
Matt
Pics in the next few posts.
Matt
mwp
In Memoriam
So we made it to 45 days, I can no longer find our last Apogon leptacanthus juvie. This evening, I had planned to start up a new tank and harvest the next batch that was "due" tonight - unfortunately the male beat me to the punch and let them go sometime between 2:00 AM and 8:00 PM today...so I'm stuck waiting probably another 2 weeks. I guess in the meantime I'll go for GBG or Mandarin larvae in my currently empt first larval tank.
That's all the news.
Matt
That's all the news.
Matt
