My Breeding attempt - Perculas:

[billsreef]

maroun,

Check the local universities, see if any have a marine science program. If they do, it is very likely someone there is raising phyto and rotifers and might be willing to give you some.

 

[dazed]

FB & Barbara thank you for the tips & suggestions on the collecting of the bbs.
What i have been doing so far is just draining the bbs into my brine shrimp net, rinse them off and place them in the tank. I think i am going to try the pipette method for better control over the amount being added to the tank.

With the collection method that i have been using i noticed this morning that some of the unhatched (decapped) eggs made there way into the larvae tank is that a problem or will they just hatch in there???

agsansoo i have been doing about the same changing out 1g of water at a time.

I think my ammonia badge is starting to move into the "alert" level though so i may have to change a bit more of the water today.

One quick note to add we had a bit of a hot day yesterday the ambient temp here reached 93 deg. when i got home from work and checked on the larvae tank it was almost @ 85 deg.:eek2: I removed the top cover and placed a fan over the tank and over the next 2 hours brought it back down to 80. Still did not see any losses from the temp swing.

 

[dazed]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12715916#post12715916 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by billsreef
maroun,

Check the local universities, see if any have a marine science program. If they do, it is very likely someone there is raising phyto and rotifers and might be willing to give you some.

That is a great idea; I wonder if i could purchase rotifers from the Monterey Bay Aquarium?
Instead of having stuff shipped to me..

 

[billsreef]

It's worth try, though beer might turn out to be better for bartering than money at an Aquarium, possibly at a university too

 

[Lifes A Beach]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12718840#post12718840 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by billsreef
It's worth try, though beer might turn out to be better for bartering than money at an Aquarium, possibly at a university too

What a concept!!! Will trade clownfish for beer! lol :beer:

--Barbara

 

[billsreef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12719141#post12719141 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Lifes A Beach
What a concept!!! Will trade clownfish for beer! lol :beer:

--Barbara

:beer:

 

[dazed]

Well this is the start of day 8; lost 3 last night they all seemed to be some of the smaller ones of the bunch.

My ammonia badge is at the alert level i did a 20% water change last night and dosed .5ml of amquel and the badge did not change back what should i do more water changes?

In joyce's book it recommends not changing more than 10% during days 8-12 due to the stress of metamorphosis?

 

[agsansoo]

Keep up with the water changes. I have gone as high as 50% when the ammonia been too high. Use a drip to replace the water (from parent tank). I also started using a sponge filter at around day 5-7. That's when I start seeing a ammonia spike.

 

[dazed]

i will try & do a larger wc then maybe later on today. I have been replacing all water via dripping it back into the system; but i have been using new saltwater (aged,mixed, etc) because my reef (parent tank) sg is @ 1.026 and i have the larvae tank @ 1.020. So would it be better to dilute my reef water or use new?

I did not think we were suppose to add a sponge filter until after meta. had happened? days 8-12?

 

[agsansoo]

I added the sponge filter early because my ammonia level started to rise. Due to my rotifer density being so good in the larvae tank. The sponge filter bubble rate is very slow, about two bubble per second. No fry get stuck to it, and the rotifer density is still unchanged.

 

[dazed]

hmm well that's good to know. i do have what i think is a good rotifer density in the larvae tank as well, i have also noticed that the bottom of the tank is getting covered in green sediment i would guess from the phyto additions, is that something that could be contributing to my ammonia rise as well?

 

[agsansoo]

The algae at the bottom is very minimal when using live phyto IMO. I link the ammonia is coming from all the rots and the growing larvae.

 

[FB]

OK I'm a little embarassed to tell you this but, I do not seem to have the ammonia problems you guys have. My current batch 7 days old have not had a water change yet. The only thing I have done is add salt water to bring the tank from 2.5 gallons up to about 4 and freshwater topup. My ammonia indicator has not budged off 0. The one thing I did notice is that both your tanks are immaculate and mine are not . After transferring the 4 week old batch to the growout tank. I empty the tank rinse the tank clean and then set it up again. I do not clean my heater or my airline. Both have small amounts of algae on them. I have a feeling that my heater now has enough bacteria on it that I don't really get any ammonia. This is just a hunch. But I rarely do a water change, I rarely siphon the bottom of the tank and I rarely get any ammonia. Not sure why but that's the way it is. It could also be that the algae I leave in the tank consumes all the waste and I don't have any problems.

FB

 

[dazed]

FB; No need to be embarrassed lol; thanks for sharing we can all learn from each other at this point (well i know i can)..

Update: Not good news at all, i went home for lunch and the ammonia badge has gone up!!!!!!

I removed 2g of water, added some amquel, started a drip of 1g back into the tank and now sit here at my desk frustrated i lost another 7:mad2:

Should i just keep doing water changes tonight when i get back home from work???

Maybe i should increase the overall volume of water in the tank?
to help dillute the system??

I have been running the tank at about 5g total.

What do you guys think my course of action should be??

 

[Lifes A Beach]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12726225#post12726225 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by FB
OK I'm a little embarassed to tell you this but,

Ok, FB, since you broke out, I'll have to. My ammonia badges have never budged either. In fact, I had to test one over an ammonia bottle to make sure it was working. And I try and keep my tanks a little tidy - I siphon excess food and poops off the bottom every day during the first 2 weeks, do a 10% water change every other day, and add a few drops of Amquel every day. After 2 weeks or so, I do housecleaning every 2-3 days and a small water change (replacing what I siphon out in the cleaning). I don't add a sponge filter until about 4 weeks with only good aeration going until then. I have done a thorough cleaning of the tanks about once a month.

I had one tank in the beginning where I had a bacterial bloom. Can't figure out why since no other tank had a problem (except that was the only tank I tried a heater in). It was scary when all of a sudden the water is like milk. Since I didn't have a seasoned sponge filter ready, I took a filter pack off one of my other tanks and placed it in the tank with the airstone. Within a day, the water was clear. And no fatalaties...whew!!!

Dazed, I don't know why your ammonia is so high especially with so many water changes. Is your sponge filter well seasoned? How often are you using Amquel? How many fry do you have in the tank? Hopefully you can figure this one out soon!

--Barbara

 

[rkelman]

"I do not seem to have the ammonia problems you guys have. "

Sorcerer.

"My ammonia badges have never budged either. "

Hmm Another one.

Well I have ammonia until I get the sponge filters going as well. I don't have any trouble controlling it though. Are you rinsing the rots before adding them to the tank? If not you are just adding to the problem. I'd be a little concerned doing 50% water changes but if you have no choice then do it. I'd use new water myself but whatever I don't think it matters. Check the PH as well. New fry don't like PH swings. And of course drip. I would also siphon the bottom. At this point you need it to be as clean as possible. Day 8 you should be able to fill the tank now. (10g I assume) and still maintain enough rotifer density that they will eat. They should be good hunters by now. Really you need to be moving on to BBS before much longer anyways. If the above fails and it was me on day 8 having as much ammonia trouble as you I'd be putting a sponge filter in no question. You have one seasoned right? Good luck your really doing quite well with it so far.

 

[dazed]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12728236#post12728236 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Lifes A Beach
Ok, FB, since you broke out, I'll have to. My ammonia badges have never budged either. In fact, I had to test one over an ammonia bottle to make sure it was working. And I try and keep my tanks a little tidy - I siphon excess food and poops off the bottom every day during the first 2 weeks, do a 10% water change every other day, and add a few drops of Amquel every day. After 2 weeks or so, I do housecleaning every 2-3 days and a small water change (replacing what I siphon out in the cleaning). I don't add a sponge filter until about 4 weeks with only good aeration going until then. I have done a thorough cleaning of the tanks about once a month.

I had one tank in the beginning where I had a bacterial bloom. Can't figure out why since no other tank had a problem (except that was the only tank I tried a heater in). It was scary when all of a sudden the water is like milk. Since I didn't have a seasoned sponge filter ready, I took a filter pack off one of my other tanks and placed it in the tank with the airstone. Within a day, the water was clear. And no fatalaties...whew!!!

Dazed, I don't know why your ammonia is so high especially with so many water changes. Is your sponge filter well seasoned? How often are you using Amquel? How many fry do you have in the tank? Hopefully you can figure this one out soon!

--Barbara

well i just got done with another water change; tonight i removed another 2 gallons and i started a drip back into the tank, there is only about a gallon and a half in there right now i added 5ml of amquel to the new water to be dripped in.

i do not have a sponge filter in the tank i just placed one in my sump of my reeftank to start the seasoning process;

during the water change tonight i removed another 10 or so dead ones.

i did not start using the amquel until yesterday when i noticed that the badge had changed.

if i had to guess at this point i would say there are around 20 larvae left in the tank i do not know how many will be alive by morning because some of the ones still in there do not look good.

this is day 8 for the larvae and with all the stress from me cleaning the tank and the ammonia problem and the pending meta. i don't know how well they will fare at all.

if you would like to have the function checked of your ammonia badges send them to me and i can verify it for anyone; lol

 

[agsansoo]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12729254#post12729254 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dazed


if you would like to have the function checked of your ammonia badges send them to me and i can verify it for anyone; lol

Can you check mine ... It's stuck on TOXIC ! LOL
How dense are the rotifers in your larvae tank ?

 

[dazed]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12728383#post12728383 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rkelman
"I do not seem to have the ammonia problems you guys have. "

Sorcerer.

"My ammonia badges have never budged either. "

Hmm Another one.

Well I have ammonia until I get the sponge filters going as well. I don't have any trouble controlling it though. Are you rinsing the rots before adding them to the tank? If not you are just adding to the problem. I'd be a little concerned doing 50% water changes but if you have no choice then do it. I'd use new water myself but whatever I don't think it matters. Check the PH as well. New fry don't like PH swings. And of course drip. I would also siphon the bottom. At this point you need it to be as clean as possible. Day 8 you should be able to fill the tank now. (10g I assume) and still maintain enough rotifer density that they will eat. They should be good hunters by now. Really you need to be moving on to BBS before much longer anyways. If the above fails and it was me on day 8 having as much ammonia trouble as you I'd be putting a sponge filter in no question. You have one seasoned right? Good luck your really doing quite well with it so far.

Sorcerer i like that one
guess it really is hit or miss with how the tanks will react.

you mention rinsing the rot's before adding them to the tank i have not been doing that; What should i be rinsing them in??

Currently i have been scooping the rot's out of my culture tank and placing them in the FAF sieve and letting all the water drain out before placing the sieve upside down and using a turkey baster to blow them off into the larvae tank. Maybe that is where my problem is??

I don't like changing all of this water either but i don't know what else to do. i have been siphoning the bottom and returning all water via the drip method to the tank. I have been using new mixed saltwater as well maybe the ph value of it is to high and is causing the ammonia to become more toxic.

Yes it is a 10g tank and i plan to keep adding water to maybe help dillute the situation/problem.

The larvae tank was full of rot's (maybe to many?) and i started bbs on the morning of day 5.

i just placed a sponge filter in the sump of my reef tank tonight to start the process of building bacteria.

How long do i need to leave it in there before it will do any good i know i need it now but it's not going to do much right now...

Thanks for the kind words as well; and i thought sps was diffcult.

At this point i am just hoping that i don't wake up to a tank full of dead larvae on my birthday.:mixed:

 

[dazed]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12729460#post12729460 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by agsansoo
Can you check mine ... It's stuck on TOXIC ! LOL
How dense are the rotifers in your larvae tank ?

LOL yours to must be a california thing
mine has not actually hit toxic yet but by the way everything is going it would not surprise me to see it in the morning at that level.

the rotifers were very dense before i started with all of these water changes i am sure they have been reduced in population of course if i don't have anything alive to eat them it won't really matter much at all.....