Green Mandarin (Synchiropus splendidus) Breeding Log!
- Thread starter mwp
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apistomaster
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The best salt water LFS after it gets a shipment and the pick out your pairs or trios before they've been picked over. Another method is buy the females first and the pick up a studly male when one shows up.
mwp
In Memoriam
OK, some updates - we're offline at home so right now (RCN stinks...it'll be a week long outage before I can even hope to be back online).
10-2-06, 11:58 PM - WE'VE HAD A SPAWN!
24 hours prior the tank had undergone a 5 gallon water change (about 25%+ of actual tank water volume). This spawn was 300+ eggs, so "average', mostly not sticky. I harvested with the pipette, getting very little surface water, then ran the filtration for a few minutes before collecting the remaining water to fill the specimen cup. Broodstock tank 79.8F. Larval tank 82.0F.
Overnight things looked OK. Stirred the cup at 11:00 AM, all eggs floating, no hatch yet. 12:00 PM, eggs midwater (neutrally boyant), no hatch. By 1:00 PM all eggs were on the bottom...still no hatch. At 3:00 PM, finally found 2 larvae. 4:00 PM no new hatches. 8:30 PM found one more larvae.
So that's it, we're back where we started...that's a hatch of 1%. Water smelled "Clean". I'm stumped. I'm pretty sure it's something more than just temperature...leaning back towards diet / egg viability. Note that these most recent spawns have been pretty close together, whereas the best hatches had long windows prior to the spawns. Perhaps egg quality degrades as these active periods come to their end?
FWIW,
Matt
10-2-06, 11:58 PM - WE'VE HAD A SPAWN!
24 hours prior the tank had undergone a 5 gallon water change (about 25%+ of actual tank water volume). This spawn was 300+ eggs, so "average', mostly not sticky. I harvested with the pipette, getting very little surface water, then ran the filtration for a few minutes before collecting the remaining water to fill the specimen cup. Broodstock tank 79.8F. Larval tank 82.0F.
Overnight things looked OK. Stirred the cup at 11:00 AM, all eggs floating, no hatch yet. 12:00 PM, eggs midwater (neutrally boyant), no hatch. By 1:00 PM all eggs were on the bottom...still no hatch. At 3:00 PM, finally found 2 larvae. 4:00 PM no new hatches. 8:30 PM found one more larvae.
So that's it, we're back where we started...that's a hatch of 1%. Water smelled "Clean". I'm stumped. I'm pretty sure it's something more than just temperature...leaning back towards diet / egg viability. Note that these most recent spawns have been pretty close together, whereas the best hatches had long windows prior to the spawns. Perhaps egg quality degrades as these active periods come to their end?
FWIW,
Matt
mwp
In Memoriam
10-10-06, 11:55 PM, we have a spawn! - OK, so I'm back online. With all the chaos of last night the Mandarins decided to get back on the wagon and spawn again. I noticed some courtship at 11:30 PM so I turned off the lights and pumps...came back and found a spawn at 11:55 PM. It looked pretty average sized, maybe 300-400? Stickiness was "average". There were not a lot of air bubbles on the eggs, which suggests that they hadn't been sitting at the surface very long.
I collected them via scooping with a small spice jar into my .5 gallon specimen cup. Broodstock temp 76.4, larval tank 81.5.
As of 1:15 PM on the 11th (today), I started to notice hatching. I collected the first round of hatchlings at 1:50 PM - 49 larvae so far.
FWIW,
Matt
I collected them via scooping with a small spice jar into my .5 gallon specimen cup. Broodstock temp 76.4, larval tank 81.5.
As of 1:15 PM on the 11th (today), I started to notice hatching. I collected the first round of hatchlings at 1:50 PM - 49 larvae so far.
FWIW,
Matt
Last edited:
mwp
In Memoriam
As of 2:55 PM I collected another 17 larvae, bringing our total to 66 so far. It seems there are still many viable eggs in there. On a related note, the water once again "stinks"...it didn't smell badly a few hours ago. I'm wondering if this is maybe hatching related?
One other interesting concept I recently read about was "polyspermy" in oyster spawnings in captivity, where due to the concentration of gametes, multiple fertilizations of a single egg can occur. I wonder if that could happen with the Mandarin eggs and other pelagically spawned eggs?
HMM.
Matt
One other interesting concept I recently read about was "polyspermy" in oyster spawnings in captivity, where due to the concentration of gametes, multiple fertilizations of a single egg can occur. I wonder if that could happen with the Mandarin eggs and other pelagically spawned eggs?
HMM.
Matt
mwp
In Memoriam
Well...something has changed. AT 4:00 PM I went back and found only one additional viable larvae, our standing total is 67. I'm leaving the eggs to incubate some more, but I think hatching is done.
The 67 larvae were placed in a .25 gallon specimen cup with the incubation water that it took to collect them (maybe 50-100 ML) + freshly mixed saltwater. The temperature will be maintained by the larval tank and there is virtually no feed. There will be no circulation. I'm going to see exactly how long they'll live without food as per some earlier comments posted. It's an intriguing question..if I still have larvae at 4-5 days I'll know that the current feeding regime of SS Rots may not be working! I'm not expecting that result, but it IS possible considering that right now, they're all yolk and spinal cord and not much else!
Matt
The 67 larvae were placed in a .25 gallon specimen cup with the incubation water that it took to collect them (maybe 50-100 ML) + freshly mixed saltwater. The temperature will be maintained by the larval tank and there is virtually no feed. There will be no circulation. I'm going to see exactly how long they'll live without food as per some earlier comments posted. It's an intriguing question..if I still have larvae at 4-5 days I'll know that the current feeding regime of SS Rots may not be working! I'm not expecting that result, but it IS possible considering that right now, they're all yolk and spinal cord and not much else!
Matt
mwp
In Memoriam
Jake, the water that the larvae have been transferred to is clean...no surface film etc. The larvae are TINY. I think aeration would do more harm than good to these fragile little guys.
Anderson, all TRULY successful incubations have been without aeration at temps over 80F.
Matt
Anderson, all TRULY successful incubations have been without aeration at temps over 80F.
Matt
mwp
In Memoriam
OK, so the big "bruhaha" is that Female #2 now has a companion, MALE #2. Male #2 is DOUBLE THE SIZE of Female #2, and they both reside in the cardinalfish tank with a M/F pair of Red Scooter Blennies. No aggression between the RSB male and the Mandarin male so far. Female #2 is swimming around in close vicinity of the new male, fins kinda clamped..she's obviously showing submission.
A bit of background on male #2 - this was a return to my LFS that has been in captivity for 6 months. It was on the "fatter" side...no sunken sides or hollow belly. Despite it's size (probably 4"+ TL), these other assets are what got me to bite the bullet. As far as I know this male is NOT trained onto any foods, so we'll see how he does...
FWIW,
Matt
A bit of background on male #2 - this was a return to my LFS that has been in captivity for 6 months. It was on the "fatter" side...no sunken sides or hollow belly. Despite it's size (probably 4"+ TL), these other assets are what got me to bite the bullet. As far as I know this male is NOT trained onto any foods, so we'll see how he does...
FWIW,
Matt
mwp
In Memoriam
Jake, they are soo TINY and have such weak swimming capabilities it'd have to be done 1 drop at a time. Doing so would add rotifers and other microorganisms from the main tank too, as it's full of cardinalfish and clownfish larvae.
FWIW, a check of the larvae this AM reveals most are on the bottom, a few are still swimming around.
FWIW,
Matt
FWIW, a check of the larvae this AM reveals most are on the bottom, a few are still swimming around.
FWIW,
Matt
mwp
In Memoriam
Another update - our new pair is getting along just fine. Male #2 (I've dubbed him "FATBOY", he's probably 4X the mass of female #2) has taken down his first frozen mysis...that was too easy 
Now he just has to find the feeding dish (old tridacna skeleton) and he'll be good to go. He hasn't displayed, but female #2 displays to the male. His introduction I believe has spurred her body into overdrive...she's fattened up considerably in the last 20 hours and her ovipositor is dropped...she wants to get busy this evening, that's for sure. Not sure if FATBOY is up to the task yet...he might very well be old, maybe even shooting blanks?
The larvae - well, 24 hours+ post hatch there are still larvae alive and well. Not much else to say other than see when the last one kicks the bucket.
Matt
Now he just has to find the feeding dish (old tridacna skeleton) and he'll be good to go. He hasn't displayed, but female #2 displays to the male. His introduction I believe has spurred her body into overdrive...she's fattened up considerably in the last 20 hours and her ovipositor is dropped...she wants to get busy this evening, that's for sure. Not sure if FATBOY is up to the task yet...he might very well be old, maybe even shooting blanks? The larvae - well, 24 hours+ post hatch there are still larvae alive and well. Not much else to say other than see when the last one kicks the bucket.
Matt
mwp
In Memoriam
FATBOY has ICH! I can't believe I didn't notice it when I picked him out! GRR. Oh well, at least he's in the tank with the UV on it!
The larval update - there's maybe 3-4 larvae still alive in our "starvation" test. I'd say that while it's not a perfect test, this seems to be pretty indicative of starvation...losses are not usually this high this soon. We'll see how long those last ones stick it out.
Matt
The larval update - there's maybe 3-4 larvae still alive in our "starvation" test. I'd say that while it's not a perfect test, this seems to be pretty indicative of starvation...losses are not usually this high this soon. We'll see how long those last ones stick it out.
Matt
mwp
In Memoriam
Well, the macro mode on my camera is shot, but I still managed to get a couple decent shots of Fatboy and Female #2. Fatboy has settled in now and is constantly displaying/flaring fins, I think to his reflection.
Fatboy still has ICH - I'm dosing the tank with Marine Max to help stave it off, PLUS the tank has an oversized UV on it (oversized by rating, but not by flow, so it's just turning over a lot of water).
Anyway, without further delay, I'd like to introduce Mr. and Mrs. Fatboy Mandarinfish, our 2nd pair (maybe they'll make better eggs & larvae than our first pair?).
I wonder how the size descrepency between this pair is going to shake out...
Matt
Fatboy still has ICH - I'm dosing the tank with Marine Max to help stave it off, PLUS the tank has an oversized UV on it (oversized by rating, but not by flow, so it's just turning over a lot of water).
Anyway, without further delay, I'd like to introduce Mr. and Mrs. Fatboy Mandarinfish, our 2nd pair (maybe they'll make better eggs & larvae than our first pair?).
I wonder how the size descrepency between this pair is going to shake out...
Matt
mwp
In Memoriam
So, first FATBOY again - he's a darn PIG, taking down PE Mysis without a care in the world. Now if he can just shake the ICH or whatever external infestation he has (still kicking myself for not noticing it when I purchased him).
the LARVAL TRIALS - well we're at about what, 48 hours post hatch, and I didn't notice before, but they're all up in a corner by the light. There are at least 10 viable larvae still in the specimen cup which is mostly clean water, dead larvae and little else (except maybe bacteria from the DOA larvae, unless they "dead larvae" are just on the bottom, not actually dead).
Interesting results on our "starvation" test so far...I wonder how long they'll make it....I'm going to be gone fishin' but hopefully will get to check on 'em maybe Saturday night, but more likely not until Sunday evening...
FWIW,
Matt
the LARVAL TRIALS - well we're at about what, 48 hours post hatch, and I didn't notice before, but they're all up in a corner by the light. There are at least 10 viable larvae still in the specimen cup which is mostly clean water, dead larvae and little else (except maybe bacteria from the DOA larvae, unless they "dead larvae" are just on the bottom, not actually dead).
Interesting results on our "starvation" test so far...I wonder how long they'll make it....I'm going to be gone fishin' but hopefully will get to check on 'em maybe Saturday night, but more likely not until Sunday evening...
FWIW,
Matt
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