Help

[crashrat]

OK, it looks like my clowns or damsels have hatched some fry. At night when the lights are off if I feed my reef tank some phyto I see a hundred of small fry swimming around. So what do I do? Do they have a chance at making it? Should I try to trap them and raise them in a separate tank?
Thanks

 

["Umm fish?"]

If you pull one out and take a closer look at it, it will likely look like this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/13084997@N03/2207837426/

If you only see them at night and they persist night after night, mysid shrimp is the likely animal. They look a lot like larvae.

 

[crashrat]

Do they have tails and swim like fish?

 

[landlord]

Kevin - Do you see them every night or just once every 10 or so days? If you are seeing then nightly they are probably not fish as mentioned above. If you see them every so often take a looksee around your tank for a nest of eggs.

If they are fish, and you decide to raise them, there is plenty of good information on the subject. Ideally just look for a breeding thread on whatever your species is and I am sure it will get you in the right direction and help you to at least be able to formulate a plan of attack.

Kurt

 

[crashrat]

No, I do not see them every night, but when I do it's at night and I notice them more if I feed the tank at night with Coral Frenzy or Phyto. I'll take a look around on the net to see what I can do. I'd like to see if I can raise them, hate too see the little critters die or end up as food for someone else .

 

["Umm fish?"]

Well, you can see that they do have tails in the photo and the reason I mention it is that you wouldn't be the first to mistake them for larvae. Almost every one I know has done that, including me. Your description sounds like them. So I suggested that you catch one and take a closer look at it. They are really cool creatures in their own right and well worth the time spent watching them and are well worth your time to catch them and raise them in another tank.

Fish larvae do not persist in most tanks, especially not tanks with any kind of filtration system. Right after birth, they are designed to float in the plankton for days and weeks at a time. They don't hide in the rockwork during the day. They are _very_ poor swimmers and can only swim in very short bursts. Fish larvae do not swim like fish. And everything, including their parents, eats them.

So, what you are seeing is probably not larvae.

 

[crashrat]

I'm going to try and catch one and examine closer, maybe my son's play microscope will come in handy.