Breeding gobies

[LobsterOfJustice]

Hello all,

I am tossing around the idea of trying to breed and culture some fish. This is a new side of the hobby I have yet to dabble in.

Clownfish are so overdone, I would like to breed a pair of gobies. I know people have had successful watchman goby spawns, and i think I remember some rearings as well. I am thinking about trying to breed a pair of Stonogobiops yashia. I assume this should not be much different that breeding and culturing of watchman gobies.

Can anyone point me in the right direction or share any information on breeding gobies? Specific questions include tank size/setup, addition of a pistol shrimp, and feeding and rearing schedules of the larvae/fry. One big thing I have going for me is that I volunteer in a university aquaculture lab and have access to live rotifers. That will save me a lot of hassle I believe.

 

[billsreef]

Look up the threads in this forum on yellow watchman gobies, there also was an article on them in Reefkeeping a year or so ago. I would expect the breeding and larval rearing to be very similar.

 

[FMarini]

Lobster--
search please. Neon, clowns, and many of the 7 spine gobies are being routinely bred in aquaculture. Heres a freebie
(http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/jan2003/breeder2.htm)
Watchman & shrimp gobies-occasionally, and their fry have proven difficult, but not impossible.

I would also disagree that clownfish are overdone. If your a whiz at breeding them-- great, but if you've never bred a saltwater fish before, you'll need these fish & their fry are experience to grow to the next step.

Allow me also add. ALL-repeat ALL commercial marine ornamental aquaculture facilaties are using clownfish are ecomonic drivers

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

Thanks for the links guys.

I was basically just thinking that selling a batch of clowns, which retail around $15, is going to make me a lot less money than a batch of gobies which retail for around $60 each. Also, the lab I volunteer in breeds exclusively clowns, I'm just looking for something different. People are already breeding clowns, so in my opinion they are "saved" from wild harvest. I would like to add another new species to the list of fish being captive bred.

 

[FMarini]

Lobster--your welcome for the links.

If i may---
clownfish produce 200-300 fry at each batch and you can successfully raised >80%, and sell each for 5/bux.
Your gobies will produce 100 fry of which you'll raise 15% (if your lucky) and sell them for maybe 8-/ea. Remember that most LFS will only pay a few cents/dollars more than what they pay for WC fish, even if they sell for more.

Anyway, learn on the clowns-progress to gobies-My opinion

 

[billsreef]

On the business side, you'll also find that clowns will outsell the gobies by a huge margin. Clowns are what are called "bread and butter" fish, meaning they sell in large enough quantities that to make the bulk of your sales. Gobies are more like fillers. Yes they sell, but only one or two to every couple of dozen clowns. This doesn't mean that gobies are not worth working with, just that clowns are going to be needed for a viable business.

 

[FMarini]

Okay---
so Bill said it more eloquintly than I did.
I used the term "economic driver", but its the same concept. The clowns will be your bread-n-butter sales, everything else you can breed will be sold at lesser quantities and for a few dollars more

 

[Nick McClurg]

Hi I've just managed to raise my first batch of Yellow watchman gobies. Larvae are tiney and first food is a major problem. Managed to get over 100 through - so I'll see if I can repeat this success. I've only heard of a couple of other hobbiest raising them. If you are new at the game start with clowns. No harm in establishing some goby pairs so long. Then you'll have larvae when you ready. Neon gobies are much easier to raise and will take rots.

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

I spent a few hours reading various threads and links, including NicoleC's thread "lost another nest", and the links presented in that thread on the top of page two.

However, I wasnt able to PM or email NicoleC (features disabled), and I sent a PM to Oceanarus (another goby breeder) but didnt get a response. And I havent found anything more recent from either of them.

I have their tank setup: it is going to double as a refugium on my reef system:

Before thinking about culturing, I want to make sure they will even make nests in this setup, or in captivity in general (all the reading I have done is on YWGs). In the event of a spawn, I can set up a culture tank. 10G tank with heater and light on top, with either an airstone or air driven sponge filter.

(Looking for critiques, suggestions, and answers form Nick or anyone else successful or experienced with breeding gobies)

As I said, I have access to S- strain rotifers, which were what Oceanarus reported as a good first food. I am not sure if I will need to start my own culture. I can buy a batch of 100,000 rotifers for $4 or 1 million for $40. I need an idea of how many rotifers I will need... Will 100,000 last me the whole culture, or just a day? My source says they can keep 7 days in the refrigerator. I have not located a source for the L-strain, are there suitable alternatives? I have decapsulated artemia cysts as well as frozen baby artemia and daphnia. I am willing to locate other foods if necessary. I will also be able to perform the necessary water changes, as I have access to unlimited filtered and UV sterilized seawater.

 

[billsreef]

The rubble on the sand bed is perfect for the gobies

Since your not yet spawning the fish, I would go with the smaller batch of rotifers and use those to start up larger cultures. Are you sure it's the S strain you've located and not the L strain? The L strain is the common one available from all the major sources, Florida Aquafarms, Aquatic Ecosystems, Reed Mariculture, etc. It's normally the S strain that has people going nuts trying to locate. As for viable alternatives, copepod nauplii or wild plankton would be the only options that come to mind.

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

Thanks. The sand has even more texture/grain size than you can see, the picture kind of washed it out.

Yeah, I'm sure its the S-strain. I picked up an informational packet which they had near the filtered seawater spigots, here is an excerpt:

"Right here at UNCW's Aquaculture Research Facility we culture the smaller type rotifer, Brachionus rotundiformus, to feed our marine finfish larvae. Our B. rotundiformus ranges in size from 90-150 um (Avg 120 um) and is smaller in size than the L-type rotifer, B. plicatilus (130-340 um, avg 235), and therefore more easily captured by our smaller-mouthed newly hatched marine fish larvae."

 

[Luis A M]

Great link from Frank!
I would start with seven spine,neons or Gobiosomas.Larvae hatch large and are easier to raise.But not as easy as clowns though
C.cinctus seem to be intermediate.Some people could do them,but few.I set pairs several times and never got spawns,so I can´t tell about how small/difficult the larvae are.I set this last pair with a breeding couple of Alpheus sp.and I think it was a bad idea.Both species were not compatible and the shrimps were always occupying the gobies caves,surely disturbing their breeding process.
And S.yasha is very difficult.Expert breeders have failed with them.
Coral gobies,Gobiodon are easy spawners but also very hard to raise,they hatch tiny.I could recently raise only three G.okinawae which had to be fed on copepods

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

Any idea on what in particular is difficult about them? Rearing the fry, or getting them to lay in the first place, etc. Have they ever been raised, or even spawned for that matter?

 

[billsreef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11720172#post11720172 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LobsterOfJustice
Yeah, I'm sure its the S-strain. I picked up an informational packet which they had near the filtered seawater spigots, here is an excerpt:

"Right here at UNCW's Aquaculture Research Facility we culture the smaller type rotifer, Brachionus rotundiformus, to feed our marine finfish larvae. Our B. rotundiformus ranges in size from 90-150 um (Avg 120 um) and is smaller in size than the L-type rotifer, B. plicatilus (130-340 um, avg 235), and therefore more easily captured by our smaller-mouthed newly hatched marine fish larvae."

Most excellent :thumbsup:

 

[Luis A M]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11723682#post11723682 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LobsterOfJustice
Any idea on what in particular is difficult about them? Rearing the fry, or getting them to lay in the first place, etc. Have they ever been raised, or even spawned for that matter?

What is difficult in breeding ANY marine species (other than clowns) is raising the larvae.

 

[heap]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11719664#post11719664 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by billsreef
It's normally the S strain that has people going nuts trying to locate.

of all places, saltwaterfish.com is now selling S strain rots - they've been available over the last 2 months or so, at least.

 

[Luis A M]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11737005#post11737005 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by heap
of all places, saltwaterfish.com is now selling S strain rots - they've been available over the last 2 months or so, at least.

Never mind the S or SS labels.This is usually just a sales trick.
What matters is the size of the rots offered,you´ll have to do your own measurement.My"SS"from Algagen measure 160 mics.This is good enough,though smaller strains do exist.

 

[heap]

yah, they are actually a smaller variety than the L's sold by reeds or florida aqua farms.

i was surprised, again, considering the source.

 

[Nick McClurg]

Hi I doubt YWG are capable of eating any form of rotifer as a first food. My next batch are over 10 days old and still not accepting rotifer. They are tiney larvae! S variety rots would be usefull to wean them onto earlier. Your breeding tanks looks suitable for housing a spawning pair. You might battle to see the eggs with all the live rock.
http://www.dropshots.com/NickMcClurg#date

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

Nick - you reported success with the last batch, what was their first food source? I too was wondering about wether I could see the nest, so I took a few pieces of rock out.

Luis - So you mean to say that S. yashia HAS layed eggs in captivity, but no one has raised them? Is that correct?

To all,

I hope I'm not coming of as stubborn or not listening. But I am just looking for a challenge. Honestly, I'd be happier if I tried the gobies and it didnt work out than if I was successful with clowns. The local market is already flooded with clowns due to the university aquaculture lab I work at. Also, personally, I'd just rather have a pair of the gobies than another pair of clowns. I want to try something new... I'm actually looking for something no one has done before. Now, I was hoping no one had done it before because no one had tried, so it is a bit of a bummer to hear that experts have tried and been unsuccessful. But in my mind the hard part is getting them to lay eggs in the first place. That is the only part you can't force, or that you have little to no control over. After that there are 1001 different ways you can try to raise the larvae.

I guess I'm not 100% set on the S yashia but I think I would like to do some type of shrimp goby.