Normal Larval Behavior?

[Chelsey]

I'm working on hatching out my first batch of clown larvae right now and I have some concerns about what is considered normal larval behavior. I collected these eggs this afternoon from a LFS display tank. The rock that the eggs were on was much too large to remove from the tank so I had to siphon the eggs out. As of right now they're in a kriesel type setup (2 liter soda bottle) kept in suspension via air bubbles. The eggs had been silver tipped for about 2 days as per LFS employee and three of them hatched as I was siphoning the eggs off the rock. The lights in the room where they're kept at my house have been off for about 30 minutes or so and roughly 10 larvae have hatched out of about 80 eggs.

The larvae that are alive aren't acting "normal", or what I would perceive to be normal. Since the clutch as a whole has not hatched everybody is still in the kriesel setup so to see how many have hatched I have to shut the air pump off. When I do this the larvae don't really swim up to the surface despite there being an overhead light on. They mostly sink to the bottom of the inverted soda bottle though some attempt to swim for a second or two. One or two of the larvae will swim at the surface for a brief period of time but it's not in a straight line, they swim in circles Is this anything close to normal?

I'm also not sure how fast the bubbles should be going. I have them going just enough to keep the majority of the eggs in suspension, nothing close to a rolling boil. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!


Chelsey

 

[JHemdal]

Chelsey,

I always either move the rock with the eggs if possible, or dip up the larva the night they hatch.

Sounds to me that the extra physical handling is damaging the larva....the siphoning, transporting them from the LFS, moving them to new water, changing light levels, etc, etc.

Why don't you buy the pair from the LFS and set them up for yourself?


Jay

 

[Chelsey]

They won't sell the pair to me. I've got several (8) pairs but only one of them are a proven pair and I don't have eggs from any of them yet.

 

[reefstew]

Swimming in circles is not a good sign. If the rock is to big to move then see if the store can put a tile or clay pot in area the clowns are laying eggs. Hopefully they will lay eggs on it & then you can remove the eggs still attached. You will have better results.

 

[Zoa06]

My Yellow tang's stomach appear so big since Tuesday.
There is not any sick indication and fresh appearance is it mean pregnant ?