HELP- Babies on the way!

[subman719]

I need help! I just noticed that my Yellowheaded Sleeper Gobies just laid eggs in their cave. (looks like a jelly mass with little eggs) I'm assuming this is what it is. One of the Gobies in there with the eggs, fanning them. Never had this experience before. I'm also guessing that once the eggs hatch, there will be little fry all over the place? That's my concern! I don't know what to do to prevent them from getting eaten once they hatch? Any help would be GREATLY appreciated! Thanks!

 

[FB]

Not sure about gobie eggs but you can create a larvae snagger which you can find in Dazed / Rkelman threads. Or if the rock is small enough you can move it to another tank.

They are not just going to survive on their own. You are going to need special food to feed them. Not sure if anyone has had success with gobies and I'm also not sure if they are big enough for rotifers or what their first food may be. Maybe somenoe else will comment.

FB

 

[FB]

http://www.reeftime.com/profiles/sleeper-gobies/yellowheaded-sleeper-goby/100020.htm

"The female generally lays about 2000 eggs on the roof of their chamber. She will tend the eggs for three weeks, during which time she will not leave the chamber. Just before hatching occurs the male will seal the entrance to the chamber, sealing in the female. After the eggs have hatched the male will reopen the chamber, at night, freeing the 2-millimeter fry (Debelius 1986). We have not read any reports of successful rearing of the fry, but it seems that it may be possible given enough time and patience"

 

[dalilgriffith]

Didn't ORA raise these? Maybe you should call them and see if they can point you in a direction worth going.

 

[subman719]

Who's ORA? Thanks for the info so far. I'm still on a quest to hopefully be successful with these little guys.

 

[dalilgriffith]

http://www.orafarms.com

 

[subman719]

Thanks

 

[subman719]

Could it be a different link? It doesn't look like a "fish" site.

 

[FB]

Here is the correct site.

http://www.orafarm.com/

FB

 

[subman719]

Thanks! That link worked!

 

[FMarini]

you might want to do a search in this forum for watch gobys and breeding as well. They fry are approx the same size, and a couple of folks here were successful at raising them.

 

[subman719]

Thank you folks for your info! Luckily you gave it to me just in the nick of time! Unfortunately I can't do my research faster than these things are breeding so I really need to be walked through this! Now what do I do??? Apparently my Gobies decided to hatch early! Earlier yesterday (Sat. 8/23) I noticed that my gobies closed up their cave. Just as I was getting ready to go to bed, I gave my tank it's last look for the evening (around 11:45pm) and noticed their cave was wide open and there was a storm of fry in the tank! So much for going to bed! Based on what I was reading in another forum: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1401023&perpage=25&pagenumber=19 , the only thing I could do was scoop out as many as I can. It looks like I salvaged a few hundred out of the few thousand there appeared to be in the tank. I put them in a clear tupperware container, put in an airstone with gentle bubbles, a small flourescent light strip behind the container and I sprinkled in a little "Artemia Food" from Ocean Star International (O.S.I.). That's all I have available at this time for food and a container. My spare 10 gal tanks are in storage so I'll be getting them out later today.

With this said, what should I do next? I posted in the forum I linked to above because my Ocellaris Clowns just laid eggs too! I feel like I'm getting fast balls thrown at me from every angle! I was sooooo not prepared for this!

 

[FB]

I can help you with the clowns but not the gobies.

For the clowns you need a 5 or 10 gallon tank. A rotifer culture and some phyto (either live or concentrated) to feed the rotifers. You feed the rotifers to the larvae for several days. After day 4-8 depending on the size you then start to feed baby brine shrimp. I would really recommend you pick up this book for more information on the clowns. You probably cannot be ready by the time the clown eggs hatch.

http://www.amazon.com/Clownfishes-Joyce-D-Wilkerson/dp/1890087041

You can also check out my thread for things to watch out for.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1289236

FB

 

[subman719]

Thanks FB. So far, the only food I have is Kent Marine Phytoplex and Micro Vert, that Artemia Food and Hickari frozen Rotifiers. Can any of these hold me over till I can get live rotifiers?

Also, is there a way / can I remove the clown eggs from the rock to transfer them? How do these things survive in nature?

 

[FB]

Clowns will not eat phyto. The rotifers eat the phyto and then the clowns get the nutrition from the phyto in the rofiters.

Many people have tried to feed frozen food as the first food with dismal results. They need to learn how to hunt for their food.

If the rock with the eggs is not removable you will have to wait and capture the larvae after they hatch. This can be a late night painful task. If you go back to dazed and rkelman's thread they used a larvae snagger (talked about in joyces book) to capture the larvae without causing damage.

After these eggs hatch place a tile in the "EXACT" spot where they laid the eggs and you may get lucky and have them spawn on the tile next time. However this may spook them and they may stop spawning for a while or longer. I just posted some pics in my thread of them spawning on the tile.

They don't really survive in nature. If 1 or 2 grow to full size from a pair over their entire life it is deemed a success. This is why they lay so many eggs.

Anyway good luck

FB