Diary of a failed breeder
- Thread starter WDLV
- Start date
WDLV
Skunk Hybrid Freak
How many days have the eggs been on the glass as of now Walt??? Got to be getting close. It was 10 days with my Tomatos
Kurt
Today is the tenth. They were laid on the third. IDK if I count the first day or not but by the looks of things this morning I think the clutch will hatch on two nights. The first of which will be tonight or tomorrow.
I am going to try to collect them. I have no illusions that they will not all die (since I have to leave in a week) but it can't hurt to get a little experience. I figure the first week is the part that's gonna give me the most trouble anyway.
I'm more concerned that my rot culture will crash while I'm gone.
I would collect some rots and put them in a separate container and put them in your fridge while you are gone. This will give you a culture to restart if your main crashes. The cool temp slows down metabolism and they will die off more slowly. I have seen a chart somewhere of a percent still alive for a given time period elapsed.
WDLV
Skunk Hybrid Freak
IDK if I have it judged right or not. They eyes have been silvery for two days now. I'm wondering if your guess of 10 days is what I should be expecting. This is day 8 if you don't count the day they were laid... 9 if you do. So, either tonight or tomorrow.
Wilkerson's book said that the pumps needed to be shut off immediately at lights out. So, I think tonight I will have the pump to that tank hooked into the light timer circuit. Do they really start hatching immediately or am I likely to be up for a while waiting for them. I have the impression they come out like popcorn a few, then a whole bunch then they taper off but I'm not clear on how soon to start looking after the lights go out.
Wilkerson's book said that the pumps needed to be shut off immediately at lights out. So, I think tonight I will have the pump to that tank hooked into the light timer circuit. Do they really start hatching immediately or am I likely to be up for a while waiting for them. I have the impression they come out like popcorn a few, then a whole bunch then they taper off but I'm not clear on how soon to start looking after the lights go out.
landlord
New member
They do not start immediately, but anything can happen. I usually see mine start about 45 minutes after lights out. Complete darkness is preferred. Tough for me since some of my breeders are in my TV room upstairs. In cases like that I cover the tank with giant beach towels so the TV doesn't interrupt the hatching.
Being that this is your first hatch I would simply keep the tank in darkness and check it every 30 minutes with a quick shine of a LED flashlight. The babies (if hatched) will be swimming around and noticeable. Sometimes with first time breeding parents the hatches can be "Not so precise", happening over a couple days, or more likely than not "..as soon as you think they aren't going to hatch and turn the pumps back on and go to bed" Next morning you realize you missed it :lol:
If you do not see anything after 4 hours, chances are it isn't going to happen, but not always. See above statement.
You'll get into a routine once you get yourself established to their pattern.
Have a Great Night Walt!
Being that this is your first hatch I would simply keep the tank in darkness and check it every 30 minutes with a quick shine of a LED flashlight. The babies (if hatched) will be swimming around and noticeable. Sometimes with first time breeding parents the hatches can be "Not so precise", happening over a couple days, or more likely than not "..as soon as you think they aren't going to hatch and turn the pumps back on and go to bed" Next morning you realize you missed it :lol:
If you do not see anything after 4 hours, chances are it isn't going to happen, but not always. See above statement.
You'll get into a routine once you get yourself established to their pattern.
Have a Great Night Walt!
john68camaro
New member
+1 to what landload said. I usually dont check for at least 45 minutes. When you check dont shine the light near the egg's as that will disrupt the hatching. Shine it in a corner. If they are in there, you will see them shortly as they swim towards the light.
If I do not see any hatching after 1.5 to 2 hours, I turn my pumps back on.
If I do not see any hatching after 1.5 to 2 hours, I turn my pumps back on.
WDLV
Skunk Hybrid Freak
Thanks guys. I'll shut off the "moonlight" I have in the area. I'll also have to block out the windows since my timers shut off at 2030 and the sun doesn't go down 'till about 2115.
I don't think these are a "first hatch" kind of pair. These were bought as a mated pair from the LFS. Odds are they had several spawns in the tank I had them in before without my noticing it. I've only had them since about February, so it stands to reason that they weren't just a bonded pair before they came into my possession.
That flower pot spawn was from the time frame when I was only feeding them flake food. So, what Marina P. said in a previous post about flake foods being OK has even more merrit. On that note I plan to pick up some Formula II flake (the green veggie diet ones.) The screwy thing is that I remember glancing at the clutch as I was removing the flower pot and writing it off as being red bubble algae AND I KNOW WHAT A CLUTCH LOOKS LIKE!!!! I don't know how that could have happened except that I didn't expect them to spawn so soon after purchase or with what I was feeding or with the poor water conditions they were in or in such a small tank.
I'll hook the pump in with the light timer and check every 30 minutes for the first two hours. I would stay up for four hours but I've gotta get up at the butt crack of dawn to go rock fishing tomorrow. So, I don't want to be up too late. That and I really don't expect to see anything till day ten (tomorrow) anyway based on Landlord's Frenatus.
We'll see.
EDIT: The other thing I wanted to mention was that the rotifers are multiplying quickly. If they do hatch tomorrow I'll be better prepared with my rotifer culture. I put waaaaay too much Rotifer diet in there yesterday morning. I put like 5cc in 1 gallon of water. Then last night I added another nine gallons and diluted it so the SG was a little lower than I keep my main system.
I don't think these are a "first hatch" kind of pair. These were bought as a mated pair from the LFS. Odds are they had several spawns in the tank I had them in before without my noticing it. I've only had them since about February, so it stands to reason that they weren't just a bonded pair before they came into my possession.
That flower pot spawn was from the time frame when I was only feeding them flake food. So, what Marina P. said in a previous post about flake foods being OK has even more merrit. On that note I plan to pick up some Formula II flake (the green veggie diet ones.) The screwy thing is that I remember glancing at the clutch as I was removing the flower pot and writing it off as being red bubble algae AND I KNOW WHAT A CLUTCH LOOKS LIKE!!!! I don't know how that could have happened except that I didn't expect them to spawn so soon after purchase or with what I was feeding or with the poor water conditions they were in or in such a small tank.
I'll hook the pump in with the light timer and check every 30 minutes for the first two hours. I would stay up for four hours but I've gotta get up at the butt crack of dawn to go rock fishing tomorrow. So, I don't want to be up too late. That and I really don't expect to see anything till day ten (tomorrow) anyway based on Landlord's Frenatus.
We'll see.
EDIT: The other thing I wanted to mention was that the rotifers are multiplying quickly. If they do hatch tomorrow I'll be better prepared with my rotifer culture. I put waaaaay too much Rotifer diet in there yesterday morning. I put like 5cc in 1 gallon of water. Then last night I added another nine gallons and diluted it so the SG was a little lower than I keep my main system.
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One lesson learned by me. If you have a sump and the heater is in it, when you turn off the pumps your tank temp will drop. Mine dropped like 5 deg in 4-6 hours and I think was a significant reason I lost larvae. They were stressed and laying on the bottom of the larvae tank as soon as I placed them in. I now move the heater to the main tank on hatch night.
WDLV
Skunk Hybrid Freak
Good to know.
I'm still trying to make a decision about where I will keep them I was thinking a large bowl would work well to keep a high rotifer density but I'm not so sure about how to keep the temp stable unless I float it in my sump.
Something cone shaped would be even better so all the dead rotifers and fry would take two seconds to syphon.
Another thought I had was to use one of those green plastic bags that breathes and make an external support structure to support it in the sump.
I have ten gallon tanks coming out of my ears. So, I could go that route too.
I also have a few HOB breeder cubes. Would rotifers stay in there or are they likely to slip through?
EDIT: If I use a ten gallon I was thinking it would be good to paint the sides purple since it's an opposite for green. The rots should be green given what they're eating. That would make them stand out more to the fry.... Yes, I'm over thinking this a little.
I'm still trying to make a decision about where I will keep them I was thinking a large bowl would work well to keep a high rotifer density but I'm not so sure about how to keep the temp stable unless I float it in my sump.
Something cone shaped would be even better so all the dead rotifers and fry would take two seconds to syphon.
Another thought I had was to use one of those green plastic bags that breathes and make an external support structure to support it in the sump.
I have ten gallon tanks coming out of my ears. So, I could go that route too.
I also have a few HOB breeder cubes. Would rotifers stay in there or are they likely to slip through?
EDIT: If I use a ten gallon I was thinking it would be good to paint the sides purple since it's an opposite for green. The rots should be green given what they're eating. That would make them stand out more to the fry.... Yes, I'm over thinking this a little.
landlord
New member
How many did you get?
WDLV
Skunk Hybrid Freak
About 50. I left to go fishing at 4:45 this morning. For reasons not known to me all were dead when I got home at 1100. Ill try again tonight with the ten or so that did not hatch yet. I'm headed to the lfs to get some supplies to put a free standing larval tank together. I think maybe the brood tank cooled too much. I know... I was warned.
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