Our first attempt at raising Perculas

[saltyjo]

Great video and I say that honestly. I phones are so hard to keep focused on the little guys. So keep the pictures coming!
~Jo

 

[ernieq]

Sandy are you watching your ammonia levels? Now that you feed Otohime, you need to keep an eye on that. If you don't have something like Amguard or CloramX, it is time to get some. I find that I'm dosing every other day to keep the ammonia in check, because even though I clean up the leftover feed and do water changes, it still fouls the water somewhat. My 20 DPH olds are getting their sponge filter this weekend that has been on the previous batch's tank. I am hoping to get my 55G going this weekend as well to move the old guys into growout and have the 10G available for Batch 6 due to hatch next Tuesday.

Wait a couple of days. You think they are swimming fast now...

 

[edandsandy]

Great video and I say that honestly. I phones are so hard to keep focused on the little guys. So keep the pictures coming!
~Jo

Thank you!

 

[edandsandy]

Sandy are you watching your ammonia levels? Now that you feed Otohime, you need to keep an eye on that. If you don't have something like Amguard or CloramX, it is time to get some. I find that I'm dosing every other day to keep the ammonia in check, because even though I clean up the leftover feed and do water changes, it still fouls the water somewhat. My 20 DPH olds are getting their sponge filter this weekend that has been on the previous batch's tank. I am hoping to get my 55G going this weekend as well to move the old guys into growout and have the 10G available for Batch 6 due to hatch next Tuesday.

Wait a couple of days. You think they are swimming fast now...

Yes, I have one of those hanging badges in there.... It is still in the safe zone.... I think I will double check it to be on the safe side.

They are swimming so fast, it's so funny to watch them.

So you wait until 20 dph before you place a sponge filter in?

Good luck on setting up your 55g...

I only removed one of the four blacked sides this morning.... I feel like I need to clean the sides of the tank too. Maybe clean one side at time???


I moved 27 Banggai babies to their new home this morning too... Super busy in the fish room today! :beer:

BUT it is so rewarding to see your hard work progress.

Since we moved our of mated pair of perks to the 40g breeder, they haven't spawned.... I'm sure it won't be long before they get busy again... I see them snuggling in their hairy mushroom rock, and I noticed them start to clean it again.

My Daughter has a mated pair of mocha clown's they laid a clutch of eggs last Friday, so they should hatch this Saturday evening.... I think I'm going to try and raise them too...

Do you think Ed will notice another 10g tank set up in the fish room?

Oh, my "other" pair of Banggai were doing the "dance" while I was working in the fish room. So I'll know by tomorrow if they transferred eggs.

I have only seen them dance, never the egg transfer, it happens so fast! :spin2:

 

[ernieq]

It'd be cool to see the egg transfer. I've never bred any mouth brooding species. I was going to try African Cichlids back in the day when I bred various freshwater species for the joy of it, but after Discuses, my life got too busy to keep doing that.

Most people put the sponge filter right after they wean them from live foods at around 14DPH, I'm only doing it at 20DPH because it is convenient for me as I've had an S10 Power filter in the big boys tank seeding with Stability from seachem with the sponge filter which had been seeding in the broodstock tank for over 6 weeks. But either the bioload is too big, or it didn't seed all the way. I did have it running in the sump, so I can't really explain why my ammonia moves ever so slowly to the "alert" level.

 

[edandsandy]

ernieq,
I have found raising the Banggai is super easy, they look just like their parents when born and are ready to eat BBS within hours after birth...

I double checked the ammonia level in the tank and I'm still way safe... WHEW!!! I got a little nervous there. I've my sponge filter seedning for a few days in the sump of my reef tank. I tried to remove one of the black sides of the tank today, and they all seem to want to hang out on the side.... So I guess you could say I got a concerned and placed the black out back on...
I did enjoy seeing them from the sides, instead of top down.
Maybe tomorrow will be a better day for removing one of the sides... I so want to clean the glass, just not sure if I'm suppossed to or not..... any suggestions?????

 

[ernieq]

I try and not clean the tank until they are all out of meta. It is a very picky time during their development and you want to keep things as less stressfull as you can. Once they are out of meta, I took a kitchen sponge that I use to clean the glass of the tanks and slowly moved up from the bottom, rinsed and repeat until I'm all the way around the tank.

 

[edandsandy]

I try and not clean the tank until they are all out of meta. It is a very picky time during their development and you want to keep things as less stressfull as you can. Once they are out of meta, I took a kitchen sponge that I use to clean the glass of the tanks and slowly moved up from the bottom, rinsed and repeat until I'm all the way around the tank.

ernieq,
Thanks for the tip :beer:
I still have a few that have not made it to meta, so I will wait to clean the glass... I certanily don't want to stress these guys out over me wanting a clean tank.... :lol:
I like the sponge idea too. I was thinking about using some kind of floss

How long did you wait to remove the black out sides off your tank?

 

[ernieq]

I have the long sides still with bags, I removed the short sides after meta. I removed the long side on the big ones last week, 21DPH but since both tanks are side to side the one in between the two I left because after I took it out, the big ones would hang out on the side looking at the small ones and I didn't want the little ones getting spooked while going through meta. So in a nutshell I had planned 21DPH, but left one side which will be removed when the little guys are 21 DPH this coming monday.

 

[rgreene]

wow thats cool good luck my maroons just spawned a few days ago Iam also going to try and raise them

 

[edandsandy]

13 dph, we have about 3-4 tiny larvae still, this morning I found one dead on the bottom...So we have 152 larvae now. I'm not sure if it died from weaning them off rotifers or if it's because they are still so small..
I was adding just a few rotifers to help keep the tiny larve feed. I guess it wasn't enough??? I can see the larvae are enjoying the BBS, so in the morning after I clean the tank, I have been adding some golden pearl or octomine A, I wait for about an hour then I feed them more BBS. I see most of the larvae have the white translucent upper portion head band starting, and 4-5 have their mid body bar.

 

[ernieq]

Sandy, that's pretty good development for percula fry. Mid-bars at 13 dph is around what I get on my ocellaris. This morning I saw 2 from my 21DPH batch that still look pre-meta (no bars, but light orange colored and pre-meta swimming motion). So you will always have those that are late bloomers. On my first batch, the 2 smallest ones are very close in size to the biggest ones on the following batch.

 

[edandsandy]

Sandy, that's pretty good development for percula fry. Mid-bars at 13 dph is around what I get on my ocellaris. This morning I saw 2 from my 21DPH batch that still look pre-meta (no bars, but light orange colored and pre-meta swimming motion). So you will always have those that are late bloomers. On my first batch, the 2 smallest ones are very close in size to the biggest ones on the following batch.

Thank you!
It so interesting to see them morph into fry at diffrent rates.. Who knew???

I have been a little concerned about Adam & Eve since we moved them from our main tank into the 40g breeder tank. I have noticed them cleaning their rock yesterday and Eve's pushing the male around.. Her abdomen had a swollen appreance, then I seen it... Her ovapositor tube!!!!! Today at 3 she started laying her eggs again :dance::dance::dance: 14 days since the she laid her last batch... So here I'm thinking we totally disturbed their patten of laying eggs, and viola!
I stayed out of the fish room to not disturb them. but I could peek in....The clutch is HUGE!!!! I will take pictures later... Adam is still tending the eggs! :celeb3:

 

[edandsandy]

15 dph.....Not much of an update, no losses in 2 days......Except the larva are getting so big! The 3-4 tiny ones are finally growing.... They don't really seem to interested in the Octomina A or Golden Pearls
I usually offer the dry food in the morning, after they have eaten all the live food from the day before....

They are pecking at it, just a few of the larger ones are actually eating the dry food.
So I usually wait for an hour, clean up the uneaten food off the bottom of the tank, then add just a little rotifers for the tiny larva and then a fair amount of BBS...

 

[ernieq]

What size Golden Pearls did you get? I use the 300-500 micron size. It took like a week for my 3rd Batch to actually surface feed, which is the key to them eating most of it. Some are lazy and wait at the bottom for the food to be hit by the water falling from the filter and then they eat it. But for the most part, almost all of them are surface feeding. There is very little food that goes un-eaten now, mostly the really big chunks that nobody can eat. Batch 4 is another story. They will surface feed Oto B1, but only eat about 2/3 of the golden Pearls. I have my wife give the big ones a pinch or two in 2 hour intervals while I'm away at work. I leave BBS in the morning for the "little" guys so they get nice and fat, so by the time I get home I feed them OTO B1 and then golden pearls about 2 hours later. At night, they get some golden pearls, and about 1 hour later, their home gets vacummed. Then lights out.

 

[edandsandy]

What size Golden Pearls did you get? I use the 300-500 micron size. It took like a week for my 3rd Batch to actually surface feed, which is the key to them eating most of it. Some are lazy and wait at the bottom for the food to be hit by the water falling from the filter and then they eat it. But for the most part, almost all of them are surface feeding. There is very little food that goes un-eaten now, mostly the really big chunks that nobody can eat. Batch 4 is another story. They will surface feed Oto B1, but only eat about 2/3 of the golden Pearls. I have my wife give the big ones a pinch or two in 2 hour intervals while I'm away at work. I leave BBS in the morning for the "little" guys so they get nice and fat, so by the time I get home I feed them OTO B1 and then golden pearls about 2 hours later. At night, they get some golden pearls, and about 1 hour later, their home gets vacummed. Then lights out.

I'm feeding golden pearl 200-300 micron size... or Octomina A............
I really need to remember that they are only 16 dph too. I try feeding the dry food in the morning when I think they are the hungriest.....I guess that's the Mother in me, making sure everyone has enough to eat! LOL...

So far everyone look's fat and healthy, I will continue to offer the dry food, and eventually they will eat it.

I'll take another video or picture today.

 

[ernieq]

I think by 16 DPH, you could probably move them to OTO B1. It's easier to pick up from the bottom while cleaning and the little guys don't have to eat as many to get filled up. I'm trying to go B2 on my 34 DPH batch, but it still seems a bit large for them as a lot is left un-eaten. I also have the next size golden pearls, but they really look big, so I'm not even going to try until they are at least 3/4 inch.

 

[edandsandy]

I think by 16 DPH, you could probably move them to OTO B1. It's easier to pick up from the bottom while cleaning and the little guys don't have to eat as many to get filled up. I'm trying to go B2 on my 34 DPH batch, but it still seems a bit large for them as a lot is left un-eaten. I also have the next size golden pearls, but they really look big, so I'm not even going to try until they are at least 3/4 inch.

Thanks for the heads up on the size of the food

This morning I feed them Octomine A and of course, they ate it! Yesterday only one or two wanted it... This morning more than half of them came to the top for food! So after everyone ate and I cleaned the bottom of the tank I added just a few BBS... The whole tank ate until they were ready to POP!
I think I will hold off on the Octomine B for just a day or two, to make sure everyone can eat it.

So, no more rotifers for the juvi's..... I can call them juvi's now because most of them have their first head stripe.... (hehe....)

I also added the seasoned sponge to the tank today. They all swam around it looking at it... some were even pecking at it.... LOL....

Even Ed is excited about the babies, he goes into the fish room all the time and tells me how big they are getting..... :lol:

Oh, this morning my male Banggai was on his 23rd day of holding they fry, I kind of helped him out, he had 18 fry with 17 survivors, one egg didn't develop at all. This was the first time I have experienced my male holding for 23 days... They all have a large yolk sack. I will take pictures of them tomorrow.

 

[AliciaP]

Very exciting stuff! I love reading about all of the breeders on here! I feel very ready (minus the actual goods and tank space) to take on babies if my clowns every get to it. Thank you for your info!

 

[saltyjo]

Congrats on the Banggai babies as well! You must be one busy lady with so many fry to look after, plus rotifer cultivating and brine shrimp hatching. Do you do your own algae as well? I really do miss all that fun and have been feeding my parent clowns 4-5 times a day trying to get them to spawn again. Post some pictures soon. : )
~Jo