Ruby Red Dragonet Breeding Journal

Well I have done 3 trials and I think 2 days is their starvation period which I'm alittle surprised because Mandarins is closer to 4 from the literature I've read.
 
It's going about the same. They are spawning but I haven't got my pod population up yet. I'm actually excited because my LFS says the Algagen is releasing two new pods that are detrivores but have small pelagic larva. I hope to get them next week. That would really make keeping the pods a lot simpler.

With school now in I don't have as much time but I hope to get the pods up so I can try some more.
 
Liz I am still watching also. I watched a tv special on blue fin tuna. Lots of the same issues. Accept they had trouble getting them to spawn even.

Shelley
 
uh yeah, ......about that...

sorry kiz, but i guess i gotta splain mself.
dkuhlmann, it's a bit of a story, so here goes.
i had a one gallon reef vase that had a clown gobie in it. i had him for about a year and fed him single pellets. he saw a whole menagerie of poor little things i thought he'd like to keep him company. most of then he abused. then one hot day he got taken out.
his name was gogo and he was my little puppy that was really happy to see me come home after a tough day at work. i keep him in a vial of alcohol and use his namesake as my avatar.
i know it seems kinda gross or even psychotic, but i think of it as honouring a lost pet.
he was my favourite fish i think i ever owned.
 
I think that's awesome! I was trying to make out the picture and thought it looked like a clown goby but the test tube kinda threw me.
 
They continue to spawn. My pods have finally started to build and I just got some more psuedo pods. I also now have a tetra culture. I haven't gotten a t-iso going but I have been buying phycopure copepod blend every two weeks from my LFS. I'm not paying much because I'm trading in stuff like some zoas and macro algae. I'm soon going to trade in my banggai babies if he'll take them. This week I'm going to take him some captain america polyps and maybe some Diseased (that's their name not their condition). He's usually fairly generous on the trade items. I also have some fire and ice that are nice looking.

I'm waiting on new ones from Algagen via my LFS I think they are the below he hasn't told me their names but that algagen says they are easier to raise and are for breeders so from their website.

Euterpina: small pelagic nauplii. Grows in substantial numbers, ubiquitous. It has been used successfully in breeding efforts. Great for reef tanks.

Nitokra lucustris: can be produced in large numbers. Has been studied extensively by Dr. Adelaide Rhodes. Easy to culture. May be a candidate to be raised on paste. Great for reef tanks.

Apocylops panamensis: We got this from Jim W. who has had great success working with it in his breeding endeavors…thank you Jim! He has raised this on paste. We do see very hi-production densities. Small nauplii and adult are visible with the eye but still…. Coming soon as AlgaGen PODSTM Apocyclops.

I told him I'd take one of each.

I also have a very interesting thing going on in my main tank. I have like a new copepod that just showed up. At least I think it is a pod and I think it is good. I'll have to try to get one on the microscope but they stick to the glass really well and I"m having trouble catching one. small numbers so far.
 
They continue to spawn. My pods have finally started to build and I just got some more psuedo pods. I also now have a tetra culture. I haven't gotten a t-iso going but I have been buying phycopure copepod blend every two weeks from my LFS. I'm not paying much because I'm trading in stuff like some zoas and macro algae. I'm soon going to trade in my banggai babies if he'll take them. This week I'm going to take him some captain america polyps and maybe some Diseased (that's their name not their condition). He's usually fairly generous on the trade items. I also have some fire and ice that are nice looking.

I'm waiting on new ones from Algagen via my LFS I think they are the below he hasn't told me their names but that algagen says they are easier to raise and are for breeders so from their website.

Euterpina: small pelagic nauplii. Grows in substantial numbers, ubiquitous. It has been used successfully in breeding efforts. Great for reef tanks.

Nitokra lucustris: can be produced in large numbers. Has been studied extensively by Dr. Adelaide Rhodes. Easy to culture. May be a candidate to be raised on paste. Great for reef tanks.

Apocylops panamensis: We got this from Jim W. who has had great success working with it in his breeding endeavors"¦thank you Jim! He has raised this on paste. We do see very hi-production densities. Small nauplii and adult are visible with the eye but still"¦. Coming soon as AlgaGen PODSTM Apocyclops.

I told him I'd take one of each.

I also have a very interesting thing going on in my main tank. I have like a new copepod that just showed up. At least I think it is a pod and I think it is good. I'll have to try to get one on the microscope but they stick to the glass really well and I"m having trouble catching one. small numbers so far.
excellent info kiz. thanks. i'll be trying to get some of these to try out.

i've gotta hit up my lfs for some trades.
 
Just wanted to say this is all above my head, but this is one of the most fascinating threads I have read online (of anything and everything I have read fish and non fish related).

Thanks so much for sharing everything~ it's truly fascinating.
 
Hi there,
I just have a quick question and I hope you didn't cover it already in the prior posts.

I have one male who is displaying to my female. her tummy is quite plump and round but she doesn't seem interested in returning the male's attention. In fact, he has started chasing her a bit and nipping at her! :(

Is that normal? Should I look to get some more females?

sarah
 
From what I've read this is normal. If she doesan't want to spawn he'll harass her til she does. I can say this hasn't worked with my Mandarins though.
 
So here we go again. I have some ( small numbers of the two above). I have some parvo's 25K adults and 20k nauplii. I have three jars of eggs or larva. With the oldest being larva on 10-4-15 pm and the latest becoming larva last night. I think the oldest are definately hunting copepods they are fairly active.
 
So the jar from the 4th only has two larva I can see and the pods are low. I think lack of nutrition. The hatched sun and not many pods til Tuesday.

The Monday batch still has several larvae and when I added more pods this evening they appeared to be more lively. I got a batch from Tuesday that I dumped in a catch all jar I don't think it has enough pods though. Hard to see in.

I got more eggs this evening so I'll have to see what I can do with them tomorrow.

IF they make it a week then I think I can put in some tisbe pods. My current population of those is rising. If they don't go to larvae they'll go in the tank.
 
Great thread , sounds like a lot of hard work. Your write up about keeping dragonets was great information .

I practice alot of the same methods described on page 5 for keeping my rrd and p.mandarin and have made great use of a home made feeder based on the referenced threads on reef central.

I am not surprised to see the evidence that a rrd has a shorter starvation time than a mandarin. My ruby red will inhale fresh hatched bbs from his feeder while the mandarin is slow and methodical. Indicating to me the rrd may burn more energy running around when compared to a mandarin .

My mandarin will eat and actively hunt frozen mysis, while the ruby red will spit aside frozen mysis.

I will be checking back to hear the results of the pod cultures.
 
Great thread , sounds like a lot of hard work. Your write up about keeping dragonets was great information .

I practice alot of the same methods described on page 5 for keeping my rrd and p.mandarin and have made great use of a home made feeder based on the referenced threads on reef central.

I am not surprised to see the evidence that a rrd has a shorter starvation time than a mandarin. My ruby red will inhale fresh hatched bbs from his feeder while the mandarin is slow and methodical. Indicating to me the rrd may burn more energy running around when compared to a mandarin .

My mandarin will eat and actively hunt frozen mysis, while the ruby red will spit aside frozen mysis.

I will be checking back to hear the results of the pod cultures.

Yeah my RR tank has some pods in there but my RR boy will literally swim up to the top of the rock and wait for the brine. Then when it gets within about an inch or two he'll swim out to eat it. He doesn't show as much interest in mysid but I think of the brine as just a top off. He's grown so much since I first got him in April. The girls wait for the brine to fall to the floor for the most part.
 
Ok so I have a batch at 4.5 days post hatch so past stavation time I have another batch that I'm testing starvation time on to try to confirm the time.

I only have about 5 larva so not a lot but that's a good thing because they eat so many copepods. They are currently in a 32 oz glass jar and I'm changing out 3/4 cup of water with new copepod water each day. This week end I'm going to try changing some out for new water and try to do an ammonia test.
 
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