Green Mandarin (Synchiropus splendidus) Breeding Log!

[mwp]

6-20-06, 12:35 AM - WE HAVE A SPAWN! - Ok, so this spawn happened in the last 15 minutes or so...I haven't been paying that much close attention 'cause I knew it was coming...turned the pump off about an hour ago. Time to collect more eggs - probably just going to do like last time but dump them straight into the tank with the 4 or so remaining larvae and hope for the best.

Oh, and the Seachem Ammonia test? 0 ppm free ammonia..so we have no water quality issues thus far.

MP

 

[Mr. Ugly]

Matt, I got behind on your thread here, but have been catching up.

On flow through kreisel, what seems to work for me is to run an air line tube from a hang on back power filter into the kreisel and siphon water in a slow drip into the kreisel. You can regulate the flow with a plastic needle valve if necessary.

This would be a continuous water change setup that you probably would run after the first several days post hatching. The clownfish breeders (or was that RCT?) recommended no continuous water change during first 5 days. Presumably due to fragility of the young larvae.

If you use a minijet, you probably have to tee the output and run one branch through a needle valve and into the kreisel. Use the other branch to bleed off excess flow.

Congrats!

 

[mwp]

Well Mr. Ugly...it's looking like I may not need a kriesel of ANY kind...wouldn't that be a kick in the pants! The eggs are now photographed for counting and safely into the larval tank where I hope they'll develop and hatch out..some preliminary observations of the spawn again suggests that the majority of the eggs had been fertilized....up until the spawn before tonight I hadn't really thought I could check fertility within minutes of them spawning.

I'm going to go back and go through the pictures now...will post up the series of most all the eggs (I stupidly took maybe 25-50 straight from the parental tank to the larval tank before this new counting method dawned on me).

More soon!

Matt

 

[mwp]

?@@!#$!@#$!@!@!@#!@#!@!#!@# - I included too many images in my post?!!!

OK, so crapola, I have to retype this whole message again. Basically, before I realized how I could EASILY count the eggs, I guestimate I dropped somewhere between 25 and 50 straight into the larval tank. I also did not photograph the last 7 eggs...the samples were just getting too diluted and they were easier to count as I sucked them up one by one. I also believe I left some in the parental tank.

To count, I shot the pictures on the "makeshift microscope", brought them into photoshop, and placed a blue dot on each egg as it was counted to prevent duplications. For the larger samples, where the eggs were piled 2 or 3 deep, I looked for the circular rings created by the light reflecting...it became rather easy to identify multiple eggs stacked on top of each other.

So, for the official count, I'd say it's safe to add between 35 and 65 eggs (or more) to the count to get an idea of the size of the spawn.

I promise, next time I count I won't bother posting all the egg pics - however, these were shot between 1:03 AM and 1:18 AM camera time; you can actually see some development between the first and last pictures even in this small window of time!

Here they are; most of tonights spawn recorded for posterity!

76 eggs

175 eggs

80 eggs

 

[mwp]

47 eggs

50 eggs

23 eggs

 

[mwp]

216 eggs

13 eggs

55 eggs

 

[mwp]

10 eggs

9 eggs

8 eggs

That's 567 Eggs photographed in tonight's spawn! - Given the 7 not shot + another 35-65 or more, we're easily at or above 600! If my memory serves me, that's 3 TIMES the maximum number of eggs recorded from a female mandarin in the wild. Perhaps egg capture methods missed a lot of eggs, or perhaps mandarins in captivity can simply produce that much more!

That's it, I'm out...hoping for tons of babies but not expecting much!

MP

 

[FishGuttz]

Man thats a lot of eggs!

I'm amazed by the rapid development of the eggs.

I'm considering breeding a species of gobies, which do you think would be easiest? if that's the right word to use. I'd like to try red heads. Do they lay nests?

-Doug

 

[mwp]

Neons are the most well documented and one of the easier ones from my understanding. My GBG's (GreenBanded Gobies) spawn regularly but I haven't had much success - supposedly they tank twice as long to settle as Neons but on the flipside, they may be hermaphrodites.

Either would be easier than the mandarins!

Matt

 

[FishGuttz]

Thanks, I just read your GBG thread last night, very informative. I would never attempt to keep mandarins, let alone breed them.

I think at some point on one of these threads, you mention blue-spot jawfish as your holy grail. Do you think they would be difficult to breed, or is it the tank size, or availability of pairs, or cost, or sensitivity to tank parameters, or other, that is stopping you from breeding them?

 

[mwp]

All I know about blue dots is that the answer is probably yes to everything on that list! They are expensive, they are difficult to find as a pair (they can be difficult to find PERIOD, they are seasonal too!), they do need a large tank, they can be sensitive and suceptible to disease (especially early on), not to mention the mouthbrooding thing and the fact that no one has successful done them, or at least no one seems to have come forward about it.

Blue Jaws seem to be one of those fish that a hobbyist might be able to do successfully AND make a fair chunk of change doing so.

The BAD news - I found out my work trip flight leave at 8:35 AM tomorrow, NOT PM, so I'm gone for 2 days instead of one! ASDGASD@!#$@!#$!@#$!!!! I'll get to see the hatch this evening from the eary AM spawn, but I won't be around to monkey with the critical first days of life. Ultimately, that means this spawn, even if a good hatch occurs, is likely doomed!

MP

 

[Roks-Sharky]

Hi all, I was directed over here from reefs.org when I posted "WHO IS BREEDING MANDARIN FISH?" Because, and you all already knew this, it is the best info that can be found on the subject anywhere! How lucky Matt can capture these pictures so well for us! And freely shares!

I'm planning to try breeding them too, I'm starting from scratch, so I'd say 6 months to a year away! I plan to start with peppermint shrimp anyway. (april Kirkendol?)

For anyone who doesn't have the time to go back and read MPW's whole log, I edited from start in April to June 19, down to a text file.

I sent the copy to Matt, it's up to him what to do with it.

MPW-SAVING THE REEF ONE CREATURE AT A TIME!

 

[mwp]

Well, we had another fairly good hatch...maybe 15-20 or more from last night's spawn. Things are in high gear again and I'm basically gone...to make it real short, instead of heading out at 8:35 PM tomorrow, it's 8:35 AM...then we turn around and have a 3 day weekend.

To make matters worse still, the pair is already courting this evening AGAIN. At best, I may collect the eggs and just dump them into my mandarin witch's brew! I'm behind on my phyto cutlures tooo - hopefully I'll get some breathing room on Friday to at least get back on top of those!

Matt

 

[mwp]

OK, so just some misc. details that'll at least give the mandarins a fighting chance while I'm gone. I harvested another 500 ML worth of an SS culture and placed it in the larval tank tonight. Renee is going to feed our "Mandarin Mix" (50% Isocrysis, 50% Tetraselmis) in the mornings while I'm gone...roughly 6 "basters" worth will go in each day.

Our pair is still courting and I really don't want to wait up for the spawn..I hope they do it quickly!

MP

 

[mwp]

Well, for all their efforts around 12:40 AM I had to get into the tank to get some bryopsis out. The appeared to be asleep at first, but I think they were still courting at that point. I probably freaked them out enough when I had the tank lights on and my hand in the tank to postpone the spawn for at least a day (which means I definitely won't get to collect any eggs and might not even know it has happened)

That's it on the updates until Friday - enjoy your week!

Matt

 

[mwp]

6-23-06, 1:30 AM - well, I'm back and the tank is clear and fully of rotifers + 2 little mandarins with black eyes. That's better than we've done in a WHILE! These are either from the 6-20 or 6-18 spawn, but I'm inclined to think they we spawned 3 days ago vs. 5...

FWIW,

Matt

 

[FishGuttz]

congrats, you've doubled your success rate. Maybe you need to take more trips! Are you saying the tank is fully clear of rots?

 

[mwp]

Clear of algae and full of rots!

An update on the other 1/2 of this project, the female mandarins, well, as the lights came up this morning there was a bit of sparring between the two females through the net...didn't look very serious but was definitely noteworthy

Matt

 

[mwp]

6-23-06 - we have some well defined green lavae, still 2, in the larval tank! They're both active and swimming with long clear tails...mabye these are from the 6-20-06 hatch afterall?

So, it looks like Renee neglected to feed the babies at all while I was gone - I added in 4 "basters" of the Mandarin Mix (50% T-Iso, 50% Tetraselmis) and well, I have to go back to MN 'till Sunday so I'll probably just let them sit and stew until then...could be interesting!

MP

 

[Kathy55g]

great news on the babies!