Shard
Member
I thought I would share my post from our local reef keeping board to get some input from RC. Short story for my broodstock is it consists of one mated pair of Pearly Jawfish, from a collection site in the Northern part of the Florida Keys. They have been in the tank for about 10 months now (purchased early Feb.).
They finally started breeding in September.
My setup is as follows:
29g AGA tank drilled w/ overflow
connected to a 45g sump, that also runs a 90g display and a 14g frag.
Current USA 48w T5 HO fixture
5.5" DSB, with liverock placed in the substrate to prop up the liverock on top, excellent for their burrowing.
Temp 76.5-77.5,maintained by 1/3HP chiller on the 90.
pH 8.10 minimum, maintained by Kalk Reactor/Doser in the sump (highest I have ever seen in the combined system is maybe 8.3)
Sump has a ~20g refugium with 8" DSB, tons of chaeto, and LR w/ a 80w PC light, helping to keep the water chemistry stable.
12/12 Light Cycle
Here is the rundown of my larvae batch attempts so far.
Larvae batch #1
Male released late Sept. 100% mortality by day 4-5, probably due to lack of sufficient food, because the culture of rotifers I had (S-type) were stored to long, so the culture was not very thick.
Larvae batch #2
Eggs noticed: Oct 7
Released: Oct 22 (possibly an newer batch than the one noticed on Oct 7, 15 days incubation time is to long for this species)
This time I was better prepared. I had a L-strain rotifer culture to work with for this batch, as I couldn't get anymore S-strain on short notice, so I crossed my fingers.
Day 1 - Once they hatched, I moved them to a 5.5g AGA tank (blacked out sides), with a 25w heater set on 75, and foam filter. The foam filter is the yellow ring kind you get from Florida Aqua farms, the ones with a yellow doughnut of foam, around a central stalk, which I slowly had bubbling, maybe 1-2 a second. I did 50% daily Water Changes on the larval tank.
Day 2 - Mortality in the first 24h seemed to be a lot, but I thought the bulk was probably just some of the inviable, plus some of the weaker larvae. Probably about 50 of the 200 or so larvae needed to be siphoned out.
Days 3-5 - Everything seemed to be going better. I fed 1/3 of my live culture a day, plus some frozen rotifers, because my culture was kind of small. Less mortality, maybe 20 a day here, but still a lot. I kind of figured that they were eating the Rotifers, because most of the batch was still alive. On day 4 I also noticed the pH was 7.8 and the Ammonia was about .5, and then after a 50% WC, on Day 5, the Ammonia level was 1.0. I siphoned out all the rotifers from the bottom, probably mostly leftover frozen I had been feeding, and started doing larger water changes, by slowly trickling the water from my main tank into the larval tank, probably about 80% water changes at this point. (Still a fair bit left alive at this point, even during the 1.0 Ammonia level)
Days 6-8 - On these days I continued larger water changes to keep the Ammonia level down, keeping it at or below .25, but still kept having a good bit of mortality, and I noticed something funny about some of the dead larvae. They were pink. For some reason some of the larvae that died and ended up in the bottom of the tank had pink spreading out from them on the tank bottom. (More on this later).
Days 9-10 - By Day 9 I only had about 7 left, and I kept a good eye on water chemistry, feeding less, and doing less water changing, as it wasn't necessary, but on Day 10 I only had two larvae left, and on D11 I had none. So batch #2 was down.
Larvae Batch #3
Eggs noticed: ~10/29?
Released: 11/3
For this batch, my L-type rotifer culture was really depleted, and the little bit of S/SS-type I managed to save from my first wasn't large enough yet to be used for feeding either. I decided to try feeding the frozen rotifers, which were Branchionus spp., just like my cultures, because I thought the larvae were eating the frozen along with the live in Batch #2.
Day 1 - At hatch, the larvae, which appeared to be about 250+ this time, were transferred to the larval tank (AGA 5.5, blacked out sides) with the same heater/foam filter as Batch #2, but I decided to raise the temp a bit, to 77-78F. Some time over the course of the first 24h, I noticed what I think may be the cause for some of the larvae to die and possibly cause the pink decay on some of the dead. They appeared to be attempting to eat the foam filter! I noticed some would make "jabs" at it, and back away twitching like they were trying to take bites out of the bright yellow foam ring. I really think they were nipping at it and trying to tear pieces of the foam away. I think this may be why some of them died and had a bright pink area around them on the bottom glass. Could this be the foam they swallowed being broken down?
Day 2-3 - I removed the foam filter, and replaced it with just a airstone, set to make small bubbles, and set fairly low also. I made water changes daily, about 50% a day to keep the Ammonia as low as possible, but by the end of Day 3, I had 100% mortality again. To note the Ammonia level, without the foam filter in there, it kept rising, so it stayed around .5, even after doing massive water changes, probably due to the use of frozen rotifers as food.
Larvae Batch #4
So on 11/6, my male had a new batch of eggs in his mouth again. I am currently awaiting this batch, but would like to get some advice here so maybe I can finally succeed in bringing a clutch to meta, and hopefully have some juveniles to give some of my friends or sell, which could help recover my cost of raising them. What do you guys think?
(1) Are SS/S or L-type rotifers good food for this species? I am not so sure they are. Has anyone done a gut dissection to see if rotifers are there?
(2) Why would they die and then some have what looks like hot pink blobs around them when decaying (keep in mind its just some, not all)? I think its the ones eating the sponge filter that look like this, possibly the degradation of the yellow foam.
(3) What about the temp for the larval tank? I think 75F might have been a bit low, so I am thinking 78F is a better setting, more reflective of the Caribbean temperatures this species is used to.
(4) What are acceptable Ammonia levels for larval tanks?
(5) Are 50%-80% Water Changes to much? Even when the replacement water comes from the main tank to keep with chemistry, and is trickled in over the course of 1-2hrs?
(6) Would a bigger larval tank be better? Wouldn't a larger tank make it harder for the larvae to catch food?
(7) Should I try to get Acartia tonsa copepods as a food source?
(8) How much should I "bubble" the larval tank? I read large bubbles were bad, so I tried to use a smaller airstone, with smaller bubbles, and on a low setting. Glass bead airstones?
(9) Is a foam filter a bad idea? It seems to be, since they appear to be eating it! Other methods for circulation/filtration?
What I am considering for setup is a 10g AGA, double drilled in the back left, with two PVC pipes in the bulkheads with a fine mesh covering so the larvae don't go down the tubes. Either plumb this to the main system, with a small trickle overflow into it. Or set it up plumbed to the 5.5g I currently use and put chaeto, a HOB, heater, and sandbed in the 5.5 mini sump to help process the biocycle.
Sorry for such a long winded post, but I wanted to be thorough!
Thanks,
Landon
They finally started breeding in September.
My setup is as follows:
29g AGA tank drilled w/ overflow
connected to a 45g sump, that also runs a 90g display and a 14g frag.
Current USA 48w T5 HO fixture
5.5" DSB, with liverock placed in the substrate to prop up the liverock on top, excellent for their burrowing.
Temp 76.5-77.5,maintained by 1/3HP chiller on the 90.
pH 8.10 minimum, maintained by Kalk Reactor/Doser in the sump (highest I have ever seen in the combined system is maybe 8.3)
Sump has a ~20g refugium with 8" DSB, tons of chaeto, and LR w/ a 80w PC light, helping to keep the water chemistry stable.
12/12 Light Cycle
Here is the rundown of my larvae batch attempts so far.
Larvae batch #1
Male released late Sept. 100% mortality by day 4-5, probably due to lack of sufficient food, because the culture of rotifers I had (S-type) were stored to long, so the culture was not very thick.
Larvae batch #2
Eggs noticed: Oct 7
Released: Oct 22 (possibly an newer batch than the one noticed on Oct 7, 15 days incubation time is to long for this species)
This time I was better prepared. I had a L-strain rotifer culture to work with for this batch, as I couldn't get anymore S-strain on short notice, so I crossed my fingers.
Day 1 - Once they hatched, I moved them to a 5.5g AGA tank (blacked out sides), with a 25w heater set on 75, and foam filter. The foam filter is the yellow ring kind you get from Florida Aqua farms, the ones with a yellow doughnut of foam, around a central stalk, which I slowly had bubbling, maybe 1-2 a second. I did 50% daily Water Changes on the larval tank.
Day 2 - Mortality in the first 24h seemed to be a lot, but I thought the bulk was probably just some of the inviable, plus some of the weaker larvae. Probably about 50 of the 200 or so larvae needed to be siphoned out.
Days 3-5 - Everything seemed to be going better. I fed 1/3 of my live culture a day, plus some frozen rotifers, because my culture was kind of small. Less mortality, maybe 20 a day here, but still a lot. I kind of figured that they were eating the Rotifers, because most of the batch was still alive. On day 4 I also noticed the pH was 7.8 and the Ammonia was about .5, and then after a 50% WC, on Day 5, the Ammonia level was 1.0. I siphoned out all the rotifers from the bottom, probably mostly leftover frozen I had been feeding, and started doing larger water changes, by slowly trickling the water from my main tank into the larval tank, probably about 80% water changes at this point. (Still a fair bit left alive at this point, even during the 1.0 Ammonia level)
Days 6-8 - On these days I continued larger water changes to keep the Ammonia level down, keeping it at or below .25, but still kept having a good bit of mortality, and I noticed something funny about some of the dead larvae. They were pink. For some reason some of the larvae that died and ended up in the bottom of the tank had pink spreading out from them on the tank bottom. (More on this later).
Days 9-10 - By Day 9 I only had about 7 left, and I kept a good eye on water chemistry, feeding less, and doing less water changing, as it wasn't necessary, but on Day 10 I only had two larvae left, and on D11 I had none. So batch #2 was down.
Larvae Batch #3
Eggs noticed: ~10/29?
Released: 11/3
For this batch, my L-type rotifer culture was really depleted, and the little bit of S/SS-type I managed to save from my first wasn't large enough yet to be used for feeding either. I decided to try feeding the frozen rotifers, which were Branchionus spp., just like my cultures, because I thought the larvae were eating the frozen along with the live in Batch #2.
Day 1 - At hatch, the larvae, which appeared to be about 250+ this time, were transferred to the larval tank (AGA 5.5, blacked out sides) with the same heater/foam filter as Batch #2, but I decided to raise the temp a bit, to 77-78F. Some time over the course of the first 24h, I noticed what I think may be the cause for some of the larvae to die and possibly cause the pink decay on some of the dead. They appeared to be attempting to eat the foam filter! I noticed some would make "jabs" at it, and back away twitching like they were trying to take bites out of the bright yellow foam ring. I really think they were nipping at it and trying to tear pieces of the foam away. I think this may be why some of them died and had a bright pink area around them on the bottom glass. Could this be the foam they swallowed being broken down?
Day 2-3 - I removed the foam filter, and replaced it with just a airstone, set to make small bubbles, and set fairly low also. I made water changes daily, about 50% a day to keep the Ammonia as low as possible, but by the end of Day 3, I had 100% mortality again. To note the Ammonia level, without the foam filter in there, it kept rising, so it stayed around .5, even after doing massive water changes, probably due to the use of frozen rotifers as food.
Larvae Batch #4
So on 11/6, my male had a new batch of eggs in his mouth again. I am currently awaiting this batch, but would like to get some advice here so maybe I can finally succeed in bringing a clutch to meta, and hopefully have some juveniles to give some of my friends or sell, which could help recover my cost of raising them. What do you guys think?
(1) Are SS/S or L-type rotifers good food for this species? I am not so sure they are. Has anyone done a gut dissection to see if rotifers are there?
(2) Why would they die and then some have what looks like hot pink blobs around them when decaying (keep in mind its just some, not all)? I think its the ones eating the sponge filter that look like this, possibly the degradation of the yellow foam.
(3) What about the temp for the larval tank? I think 75F might have been a bit low, so I am thinking 78F is a better setting, more reflective of the Caribbean temperatures this species is used to.
(4) What are acceptable Ammonia levels for larval tanks?
(5) Are 50%-80% Water Changes to much? Even when the replacement water comes from the main tank to keep with chemistry, and is trickled in over the course of 1-2hrs?
(6) Would a bigger larval tank be better? Wouldn't a larger tank make it harder for the larvae to catch food?
(7) Should I try to get Acartia tonsa copepods as a food source?
(8) How much should I "bubble" the larval tank? I read large bubbles were bad, so I tried to use a smaller airstone, with smaller bubbles, and on a low setting. Glass bead airstones?
(9) Is a foam filter a bad idea? It seems to be, since they appear to be eating it! Other methods for circulation/filtration?
What I am considering for setup is a 10g AGA, double drilled in the back left, with two PVC pipes in the bulkheads with a fine mesh covering so the larvae don't go down the tubes. Either plumb this to the main system, with a small trickle overflow into it. Or set it up plumbed to the 5.5g I currently use and put chaeto, a HOB, heater, and sandbed in the 5.5 mini sump to help process the biocycle.
Sorry for such a long winded post, but I wanted to be thorough!
Thanks,
Landon
