My Breeding attempt - Perculas:

[rkelman]

I'm sorry Dazed. It sucks doesn't it. Its really disheartening to see all our hard work ending in more deaths. Especially when we think we are out of the woods. I've lost alot to jumping out of the tanks through tiny holes. Its very frustrating. I need to invest in better fitting glass tops for my tanks but frankly I need to get some more money out before I put any more in. That i agree with Bill the ph is pretty low but not alarmingly so. There may be another underlying issue with the water. I'd be carefull with large water changes with ph that low... I'd probably buffer it up to a safer range before doing major water changes. Removing a gallon / replacing a gallon doesn't give you great bang for your salt buck.. I do about a 30% water change weekly. I wouldn't be feeding BBS at this point. I've discontinued BBS all together with mine. Hold your head up your doing great

 

[dazed]

rkelman; THANKS for the kind words of encouragement yeah it sucks as now i only have 8 of them in a 5g tank; seems like a waste of space almost at this point.

they are so slow to grow i don't know how long it will take before any of them are ready, even at this point i don't know if i will have any last long enough to get there.

What is a ph value to shoot for in the larvae tanks? I have to admit i have been concerned with watching the ammonia badge and matching the sg and that's about it.
So i should stop with the bbs and feed only the oto a?
I have been giving both because i can't really tell how much of the otohime they are eating so i thought i would give them a choice.

off topic a bit but where is Bellevile?

 

[billsreef]

For the clowns I'd try and keep the pH 7.8 or better, getting it into the 8.2 - 8.4 range is ideal. They aren't esturine species, so they are adapted to normal reef pH. Even the esturine species I rear at the lab don't do well when the pH drops below 7.5, and esturine pH is often around 7.6 - 7.9 in most areas around here.

For right now I'd go for a 50 - 75% water change. Generally the faster you get the water back to rights the better. Other things to check are nitrites and nitrates. While they aren't really a problem themselves, they are a sign of degraded water quality. The biggest thing that gets us with larval rearing is the high feeding rates, crowding, and minimal water circulation needed while our babies are still small. Lots of water changes is key for maintaining water quality.

 

[dazed]

thanks again i also have been testing the make up water (new mixed water, aerated/mixed for a day or longer) I use reef crystals and it has been around 8.2 so i was surprised to see the low ph of the tank.

I have been doing the remove/replace 1g at a time at least every 3 days since they were hatched. so i thought i was good to go there as the ammonia was never an issue this time around.

They are now 39 days old do i still need to replace the water after a wc in a slow fashion? I have been slowly dripping it back into the tank, do i not need to be that gentle anymore?

The ones i have are true perc's and even at 39 days old they are no bigger than say a 1/4" (give or take) and still only have the single headband stripe.

I don't think it's a overcrowding thing as there are only 8 of them in 4g of water.

 

[billsreef]

You can add the new water back to the tank as fast as you can pour without having the fish knocked around

 

[subman719]

dazed- I would like to extend my condolences as well :sad2: It is just so so sad. Can you let me know if you find the cause? You now have me very worried about my upcoming batch. I was thinking of setting up an "automatic" water changer to my larvae tank. I already have a system in place for my main tank so I can tap off of that system. It makes me realize that there is no such thing as: "Out of the woods"!

 

[rkelman]

"rkelman; THANKS for the kind words of encouragement yeah it sucks as now i only have 8 of them in a 5g tank; seems like a waste of space almost at this point."

From a business standpoint you shouldn't bother. But think of what your learning.

"they are so slow to grow i don't know how long it will take before any of them are ready, even at this point i don't know if i will have any last long enough to get there."

You'll get there.

"What is a ph value to shoot for in the larvae tanks? I have to admit i have been concerned with watching the ammonia badge and matching the sg and that's about it."

Bill answered this.


"So i should stop with the bbs and feed only the oto a?
I have been giving both because i can't really tell how much of the otohime they are eating so i thought i would give them a choice."

I would.. (I am) Choice = Too much food = bad water

"off topic a bit but where is Bellevile?"

Its in Ontario Canada. Between Toronto and Ottawa..


When I change water I have a maxijet in a 45g drum that I use to mix fresh Sw. I have a hose attached to it and that's how I fill my tanks during a water change. So pretty much what Bill said. Fast. I still wouldn't change the PH overnight but that's my opinion. (I would do it over a couple days at least) Bill has waaay more experience than I do. So take my opinion with a grain of salt.

You are right subman. There is no "Out of the woods"
__________________

 

[FB]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13292604#post13292604 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rkelman


You are right subman. There is no "Out of the woods"
__________________

You got that right!!!

 

[FB]

Sorry to hear about your losses Dazed.

I always think to myself that they all would have died without me doing what I'm doing, so if one lives I've accomplished something.

Later

FB

 

[agsansoo]

I'm sorry too Dazed. I remember my first batch of fry that survived more than 30 day. There was six of them. Only to watch one die each day for five day until there was only one left. Today he's still alive and well. On a feeding note, try to feed them frozen cylopeeze along with the otohime.

 

[billsreef]

From a business standpoint you shouldn't bother. But think of what your learning.

Even from a business standpoint I'd consider it worth keeping them, just because of that last line about learning

You are right subman. There is no "Out of the woods"

Truer words have never been spoken :lol: How do think I know all this stuff? I've been through it and still have such things crop up in my lab from time to time to keep me in practice

 

[dazed]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13291959#post13291959 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by billsreef
You can add the new water back to the tank as fast as you can pour without having the fish knocked around

:thumbsup: i did set the drip back into the tank last night at a much faster pace then normal so i guess i can change how i have been doing it.

Ok; well last night i did a 50% wc on the tank and this morning there were still 8 of them alive

but i will have to wait and see how they are doing today at lunchtime.

I did check the tank prior to doing the wc and found that the nitrate was around 20ppm; I do not have a nitrite test (i thought i did) so i could not check that, the ammonia badge still reads safe.

The one thing i found strange was i decided to test the alkalinity of the larvae tank. I use the Elos brand test for my reef and it's a simple test of counting the drops until the color change happens. What i found though was strange the test kit turned orange? The color spectrum is supposed to be yellow & blue.
I know the test kit is not bad because i tested the make up water & my reef and it read the normal 10dkh.

So i am not sure if the alkalinity was either to low or to high to get a reading on; strange, strange.

I also plan to start cutting back on the bbs feeding over the next 2 days and try and get them only on the dry otohime.

 

[dazed]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13292323#post13292323 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by subman719
dazed- I would like to extend my condolences as well :sad2: It is just so so sad. Can you let me know if you find the cause? You now have me very worried about my upcoming batch. I was thinking of setting up an "automatic" water changer to my larvae tank. I already have a system in place for my main tank so I can tap off of that system. It makes me realize that there is no such thing as: "Out of the woods"!

Wow; either i type real slow or i did not get the latest refresh on my screen as everybody's time that they posted is all messed up.

subman719; thanks, yeah it's sad to see but what can you do? I reminded myself last night that since we are trying to mimic mother nature there are going to be bumps along the way.
Don't let my issues worry you with your hatch everyone seems to have something to deal with.

 

[dazed]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13292604#post13292604 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rkelman
"rkelman; THANKS for the kind words of encouragement yeah it sucks as now i only have 8 of them in a 5g tank; seems like a waste of space almost at this point."

From a business standpoint you shouldn't bother. But think of what your learning.

"they are so slow to grow i don't know how long it will take before any of them are ready, even at this point i don't know if i will have any last long enough to get there."

You'll get there.

"What is a ph value to shoot for in the larvae tanks? I have to admit i have been concerned with watching the ammonia badge and matching the sg and that's about it."

Bill answered this.


"So i should stop with the bbs and feed only the oto a?
I have been giving both because i can't really tell how much of the otohime they are eating so i thought i would give them a choice."

I would.. (I am) Choice = Too much food = bad water

"off topic a bit but where is Bellevile?"

Its in Ontario Canada. Between Toronto and Ottawa..


When I change water I have a maxijet in a 45g drum that I use to mix fresh Sw. I have a hose attached to it and that's how I fill my tanks during a water change. So pretty much what Bill said. Fast. I still wouldn't change the PH overnight but that's my opinion. (I would do it over a couple days at least) Bill has waaay more experience than I do. So take my opinion with a grain of salt.

You are right subman. There is no "Out of the woods"

I defiantly didn't start this out as a business venture if at some point it goes that far that's fine with me; I really started trying this because the opportunity presented itself and i thought i would give it a try.

I had a feeling it was in Canada but when i goggled it a bunch of different locations showed up; so just thought i would ask.

I do just about the same thing as you for the wc but on my reeftank; I have a 55g drum that holds my ro/di water and i have a maxi-jet as well that i use to pump water in & out of the sump. I had not been doing that on the larvae tank due to it only being a 5g tank, with around 4g of water in it, so 1g removed=25% wc. and can be done in just a couple of minutes.

__________________

 

[dazed]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13292843#post13292843 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by FB
Sorry to hear about your losses Dazed.

I always think to myself that they all would have died without me doing what I'm doing, so if one lives I've accomplished something.

Later

FB

Thanks Fb; I think you have accomplished more than something at this point but i do understand what you are saying. Another lesson learned for sure.

 

[dazed]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13293754#post13293754 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by agsansoo
I'm sorry too Dazed. I remember my first batch of fry that survived more than 30 day. There was six of them. Only to watch one die each day for five day until there was only one left. Today he's still alive and well. On a feeding note, try to feed them frozen cylopeeze along with the otohime.

Thanks Andy; now that you mention that i do remember reading about that on your thread.

Cyclopes? I would guess just a little bit of it for only the 8 mouths to feed in the tank but i am also worried about the water conditions at this point so i may wait on that for now.

 

[dazed]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13294948#post13294948 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by billsreef
Even from a business standpoint I'd consider it worth keeping them, just because of that last line about learning



Truer words have never been spoken :lol: How do think I know all this stuff? I've been through it and still have such things crop up in my lab from time to time to keep me in practice

I really like the last line about "keeping me in pratice"

 

[dazed]

Well so far so good i guess i still have the crew of 8.

I tried over the weekend to cut back on the bbs offerings and offer more of the otohime a but they do not seem real interested in it for food, as i noticed allot of it was settling on the bottom of the tank. They seem to wait for the bbs and them go crazy eating them, I don't want to stop the bbs completely what should i do?

Another observation on their behavior they still hang out in a group in the corner at the surface (6 of them) and do not swim throughout the water column. The other (2) hang out at the bottom of the tank close to a piece of pvc that i added but they do not swim around either; i wonder why??

 

[FB]

Because they don't want too!

 

[dazed]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13319961#post13319961 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by FB
Because they don't want too!

Yeah i guess but i would think they would be out exploring at least a little bit.

and boy oh boy do these perc's grow slow; day 45 or 46 (i don't have my notes with me) still only the one headband and no signs yet of any other stripes.