martinphillip03
New member
Matt, great thread. Only took 3 days to read. Do you keep a heater in the tank. Are the eggs going straight into the 10 gallon tank?
Thanks
Marty
Thanks
Marty
Green Mandarin (Synchiropus splendidus) Breeding Log!
- Thread starter mwp
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mwp
In Memoriam
Marty, I do keep a heater in the larval tank to keep the temp aroud 78F, about the same temp as the parental tank usually. The last 2 spawns were placed directly into the 10 gallon tank and actually gave a fair hatch compared to all the crazy incubation methods I've tried!
FWIW,
MP
FWIW,
MP
martinphillip03
New member
You put all the eggs in a 10 gal tank, some hatch. alot don't. you have a thriving rotifer population. Maybe the water isn't clean enough. Have you considered putting the hatchlings in an identical steralized heated 10 gal tank, with the steralized water. And just feed them a little every day? 2 or 3 days later move them again. Maybe a gallon a day isn't enough. Or it might be if you move them out of the original tank.
Remember this is coming from someone who cann't even breed guppies.
Excellent thread. You should be commended
Marty
Remember this is coming from someone who cann't even breed guppies.
Excellent thread. You should be commended
Marty
martinphillip03
New member
My other idea is along the lines of the first. It involves the double broiler method. First get a rubbermaid container, longer and wider than high. Fill it a third of the way with fresh water and put in a heater. Then add 2 or 3 sterilized 5 gallon goldfish bowls, with the sterilized salt water. Allow the temp to stabilize. Put the eggs in one bowl. As the hatch, move them to a new bowl., with the fresh water. Experiment from there.
Marty
Marty
mwp
In Memoriam
Martin - 2-3 fishbowls, always filled with sterile water to temp...that's VERY interesting. This would allow you to place the larvae in sterile conditions every 24 hours...while labor intensive it could prove somewhat effective. It would also allow for a low amount of food used as well as keeping food concentrated.
Interesting!
MP
Interesting!
MP
Hi Matt,
The "old clear water ghost" is always around !
I´ve reread some texts by Moe ( ) and have just got the Sadovy´s paper and I can´t help but think on sterilized sea water...
Liked Martin sugestion about the fish bowls, little more work to do but a simple design. How do you think mandarins will do with frequent syphoning ?
Still puzzled by the low hatch numbers... Will get back later.
Anderson.
The "old clear water ghost" is always around !
I´ve reread some texts by Moe ( ) and have just got the Sadovy´s paper and I can´t help but think on sterilized sea water...Liked Martin sugestion about the fish bowls, little more work to do but a simple design. How do you think mandarins will do with frequent syphoning ?
Still puzzled by the low hatch numbers... Will get back later.
Anderson.
Sorry here is a text by Moe http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/july2003/breeder2.htm some retrospective about his and others breeding experience and more sterile water and antibiotics stories.
Anderson.
Anderson.
mwp
In Memoriam
6-25-06, 7:15 PM - got home and we STILL have at least 1 larval mandarin. I found him floating at the surface...thought maybe he was dead....nope...just hunting! I watched for a minute; man they have BIG mouths at this point! It hunted rotifer after rotifer, "tasting" some of the smaller ones...basically looking, making a decision and moving on to the next. VERY COOL!
I fed 2 basters of the "mandarin mix" now and will watch through the course of the evening...I'm sure the rotifers could use some food as things are again "clear" except for the S-Strain rots!
MP
I fed 2 basters of the "mandarin mix" now and will watch through the course of the evening...I'm sure the rotifers could use some food as things are again "clear" except for the S-Strain rots!
MP
mwp
In Memoriam
Another little tidbit of good news, our female #2 is on frozen foods already!
I also need to note that WE HAD A SPAWN SOMETIME BETWEEN 6-21 and 6-23 - when I came back from Vegas at 1:30 AM on 6-23, the female was thin. So either the night of the 22nd or the night of the 23rd we had had another spawn.
Looking at #1 right now, I don't expect a spawn tonight or perhaps even in the next few nights...while I was gone the fish were only fed once per day so that may have "helped" to slow them down...we'll see.
MP
I also need to note that WE HAD A SPAWN SOMETIME BETWEEN 6-21 and 6-23 - when I came back from Vegas at 1:30 AM on 6-23, the female was thin. So either the night of the 22nd or the night of the 23rd we had had another spawn.
Looking at #1 right now, I don't expect a spawn tonight or perhaps even in the next few nights...while I was gone the fish were only fed once per day so that may have "helped" to slow them down...we'll see.
MP
mwp
In Memoriam
OK, very shaky and not that great, but if you want to see vid of a live baby mandarin that's either rounding out it's 5th or 7th day post spawn, here it is, around 8 MB, quicktime. Sorry, best I could get...it's too low for my tripod and the best contrast is with the hand holding the flashlight, so it's all hand held.
http://www.cichlidrecipe.com/nanoreef/DSCN0007.MOV - BTW TURN DOWN YOUR VOLUME 'cause all you'll hear is racket from the 3 air pumps and my breath blowing on the microphone, LOUDLY!
As best as I can tell, this is the ONLY mandarin larvae to make it this far along. It's FAT and feeding...the white specs in the vid are SS-Strain rotifers...they'll at least give you an idea of size for comparison!
FWIW,
MP
http://www.cichlidrecipe.com/nanoreef/DSCN0007.MOV - BTW TURN DOWN YOUR VOLUME 'cause all you'll hear is racket from the 3 air pumps and my breath blowing on the microphone, LOUDLY!
As best as I can tell, this is the ONLY mandarin larvae to make it this far along. It's FAT and feeding...the white specs in the vid are SS-Strain rotifers...they'll at least give you an idea of size for comparison!
FWIW,
MP
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mwp
In Memoriam
ACK, the propeller shaft BROKE OFF the stirrer! Guess they're going into a 1 gallon round fish bowl with a gentle air feed instead!
A quick edit/addition - this has "worked" somewhat fairly well on a larger scale, so hopefully it'll work here too! The difference is that we have a small body of water, 1 gallon vs. 6, and the fish bowl is unheated. While the temps match now, they're going to slowly drop overnight and at some point will hit room temperature, about 72F.
This was a SMALL spawn, perhaps the smallest I've harvested...I'm guestimating around 150 to 200 eggs MAX.
MP
A quick edit/addition - this has "worked" somewhat fairly well on a larger scale, so hopefully it'll work here too! The difference is that we have a small body of water, 1 gallon vs. 6, and the fish bowl is unheated. While the temps match now, they're going to slowly drop overnight and at some point will hit room temperature, about 72F.
This was a SMALL spawn, perhaps the smallest I've harvested...I'm guestimating around 150 to 200 eggs MAX.
MP
mwp
In Memoriam
Two quick updates. All the eggs from last night's spawn appear to have sunk overnight, so either I killed them or it was a bad spawn. There weren't many clusters and as I mentioned before, it was a very small spawn compared to the usual.
However, the baby mandarin is still alive and kicking. Only need to raise one, right? I think at this point we have a new record for length of larval survival but I'll have to check back a bit. With the tail it's maybe 3mm long at this point, the body maybe 2mm at most. Since it's the only one I'm not going to be harassing it and catching it out to photograph every day on the "makeshift microscope"...you'll have to do with what I can capture through the aquarium glass
MP
However, the baby mandarin is still alive and kicking. Only need to raise one, right? I think at this point we have a new record for length of larval survival but I'll have to check back a bit. With the tail it's maybe 3mm long at this point, the body maybe 2mm at most. Since it's the only one I'm not going to be harassing it and catching it out to photograph every day on the "makeshift microscope"...you'll have to do with what I can capture through the aquarium glass
MP
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