Green Mandarin (Synchiropus splendidus) Breeding Log!

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Just an update, returning home Sunday evening none of the larval mandarins remained in our "starvation trial" and there are NO visible bodies. I think this suggests that they may have passed on as early as Saturday...so definitely less than 4-5 days post hatch, IF their cause of death was starvation (which I think is a 50/50 possibility considering the unusual circumstances under which I kept the larvae alive).

Bottom line, it does look like our 4-5 day survival rate means they are feeding on SOMETHING during that time.

That's the news on the Mandarin front - Fatboy looks like he's kicked the ICH infestation, but he still looks a bit ratty otherwise. Gonna have to really fatten him up!

Matt
 
I was poking around some of the old "Advanced Aquarist" articles and came across some good information that you may want to dig into.

Although it appears counter-intuitive, it turns out that growth and survival can be equally reduced by a lack of food OR an over-abundance of food! The experiments revealed that the highest survival and growth of fish larvae was obtained by maintaining an approximate ratio of 10 rotifers per milliliter for densities between 25 and 50 fish larvae per liter (Tamaru et al. 1991).

Here is a link to the complete article of December 2003 on nutritional value of live foods.


http://advancedaquarist.com/issues/dec2003/invert.htm

Keep up the good work!
 
EASY, look at some of the earlier pics perhaps. Male has an elongated first dorsal ray, female does not.

Matt
 
Courtship this evening...first attempted spawning run on pair #1(aka a "false spawn" at 11:17 PM this evening...lights out only minute prior.

Meanwhile, our RSB pair is showing promise...the male desperately wants to spawn with the female, who has only started to finally fill out in the last 2 weeks. I'll have to resurrect that thread or maybe start a new "breeding log" thread.

Matt
 
***, it's a Synchiropus kind of night - our #2 pair is officially up at the surface, going through courtship as well! The pumps in the RSB/#2 tank are off...if ANYONE spawns tonight we'll know. Of course, the question could be "which one spawned, or did they both?"! Definitely no chance for hybrids...the males seem totally keyed in on their respective females.

Matt
 
10-19-06, 12:31 AM - WE HAVE TWO SPAWNS!

OK, Pair #1 has spawned. I think the other eggs belong to pair #2 vs. the RSBs, as female #2 has been in "exploding" state for about a week. The moment I can see her I'll know 100% if these are mandarin eggs or RSB eggs ;)

I've collected the eggs from both. Pair #1 is in the 1/2 gallon specimen cup. The eggs were all very boyant, some air bubbles starting to form, average clumping, maybe 300.

Pair #2 is in a .25 gallon specimen cup. Eggs were a bit more broken apart, however I had the internal UV sterilizer running. Eggs appear smaller, and not as bouyant. Also maybe 300 eggs.

Both specimen cups are resting in the 10 gallon larval tank...they are not fully submersed but I will bring up the water level a bit to help out in that dept. (for thermal regulation).

I've set aside a small number of eggs from pair number 2 to check for fertility. I may also do a side-by-side comparison of eggs from the 2 females to see what difference in size there is. Remember, there's still an outside chance that the eggs from the cardinalfish tank may actually be RSB eggs, not Mandarins. It's unlikely considering the condition of the RSB female vs. the Mandarin female.

That's the news on this front. We also had a Priolepis hipoliti hatch this evening. A wierd day for everything to be kicking off...it's not a full or new moon. I wonder if there's been some sort of barometric activity.

Matt
 
First up - Egg Pictures from Pair #2 - they sure look fertile to me (I admit it, with Fatboy's current condition and possible old age, I wasn't sure he'd have it in him!)

man2_eggs_1.jpg


man2_eggs_2.jpg


man2_eggs_3.jpg


man2_eggs_4.jpg
 
Next up, a side-by-side comparison of eggs from Pair #1 and Pair #2. Checking for SIZE of eggs more than anything else. FWIW, the may look pretty different; I suspect that Pair #1 spawned as much as 45 minutes before Pair #2 did...nothing to back it up, just a hunch. Again, there is also the off chance that these could be RSB eggs...I got a "look" at female #2...I can't say for certain as she's pretty obstructed but she MAY still be in "golfball" condition..in other words she may not have been the spawner. Of course, if we get a hatch and raise them up a bit, there might be significant differences. I wish I had been able to sit and watch to see WHO spawned. Of course, there's even the chance that BOTH the Mandarins and RSBs spawned...wouldn't that be a riot!

Both eggs were shot at 60X, top lit, in single drops of water sitting side by side, under the QX5. I've included the scale...sure looks to me like any size difference is minimal.

mandarineggs_f1r_f2l.jpg

Egg from Female #1 on the Right, Female #2 on the Left.

Matt
 
I couldn't wait...I dug around in the tank a bit and got a look at Female #2 - still fat as a basketball. This may actually be a Red Scooter Blenny spawn! I can't find her...she's obviously burried in the sand somewhere (I know my male sleeps in the sand right at the front of the tank..his eyes are always peaking out...don't have a clue where the female has chosen to sleep yet).

Matt
 
Yeah, actually I CAN play with contrast!

mandarineggs_f1r_f2l_a.jpg


So I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually am leaning towards the eggs having come from the Red Scooter Blennies because that female's belly has gone from slightly convex to moderately concave. Adding onto that the persistence of the male last night, I guess it's plausible that the RSB's spawned and Mandarin pair #2 did not. Hopefully I'll get more difinitive answers soon, but for now it's almost a 50/50 split as to which Synchiropus sp. spawned last night in the cardinalfish tank!

Matt
 
Yeah, darnit, just got a good luck at female #2. She looks like she spawned last night, but she's still quite fat, no longer like she swallowed a golfball though. It's a tossup. It never occured to me that if I had two Synchiropus sp. in the same tank that they actually might spawn at the same time...guess I'll have to WATCH the tank anytime I see courtship and wait for visual confirmation of who's eggs they are!

Matt
 
As of 2 PM, no hatch yet. Some eggs floating, some eggs on the bottom. Most of the eggs on the bottom are white, most of the ones still floating are clear.

Matt
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8372227#post8372227 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mwp
Yeah, actually I CAN play with contrast!
Click to expand...
Better don´t!It was nicer before! :D Perhaps photoshop?
 
Luis, I'm a multimedia developer, what else would I use BESIDES photoshop? ;)

BTW, at 3:15 PM we had a single larvae from the Pair 1 eggs.

Matt
 
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WOW that is a pretty cool site. I have been watching all you have done here Matt and I think you are amazing too. I think most people would of given up long ago not sure if I would even carry it this far and I am one of those types that don't like to give up either. My pair must be spawning to but I have never seen them yet. The Mrs. looks like she is going to pop any minute most of the time. I know you will get it figured out.
 
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