Ruby Red Dragonet Breeding Journal

Yea I need a feeder. But right now hatch brine shrimp everyday is more than I can do with everything else. I actually went back to MBI and looked at my old thread there that I set up for breeding Mandarins. And one of the pictures of the eggs was definitely fertile. I didn't know it then but now that I have watched the Ruby's egg develop I can tell the picture was about 45 minutes to 1.5 hours after spawn. So at least at some point he was fertile. As soon as summer gets here (June 3rd for me) I'm going to have to put more effort into his nutrition and maybe move them to a taller tank.
 
Seems like he is fertile then. That is great to hear. I will have to pick your head when I get ready to try this for myself. Not sure if I can let my potential babies go to anyone without doing back ground checks first though.

Shelley
 
5 days post hatch. I can't tell if they are eating enough. There does seem to be hunting going on but I can't tell if they have full bellies. At 5 days they have to be eating something. I had one die with their mouth open. Is this a sign of anything like sudden fright?
 
Sudden fright? I have not heard this before. But there is alot I have never heard before. Have you been able to locate other people's information on feeding these tiny babies?

Shelley
 
Sudden fright is something I read about over in the clownfish forum. Without proper nutrition then sometimes the larvae just die when scared. It seems mostly to be related to feeding only brine shrimp. I have read alot about feeding Mandarins though most of the info I have access to doesn't come right out and say everything they did. I haven't found anyone who has done the ruby reds. My googling maybe not the best. I have read Matt Pederson's mandarin breeding journal which was here on reef central. I've read some from MBI . I don't have all the links handy but here's one to Wittenrich's article
http://en.microcosmaquariumexplorer.com/wiki/Breeding_the_Green_Mandarin

At the bottom he says now they are in the book. He mean figuratively because I bought his breeders book and they aren't literally in the book.

Here's another
http://www.tfhmagazine.com/saltwater-reef/feature-articles/breeding-mandarins-full-article.htm

Here's one with lots of links at the bottom. I've read quite a few of those.
http://www.marinebreeder.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=128
 
Day 6. I am definately noticing they are hunting more when I add insuforia from my plankton tank. I need to try to do that more often I guess. I think I'm down to about 5 larvae. It can be hard to tell in the large jar. I also think they are going to spawn tonight. Girl #2 looks fat. Side note my cardinals still holding too.
 
Great work with these! Hoping my pair will spawn someday. I seem to remember reading that Witt found that scooter blennies took ciliates as first food. Wonder if Ruby Reds will need something super small like that.
 
Spawn #9 (both girls I think) 5/23
Spawn #8 hatched and returned to parent tank just to see if that works.

There is one larva in the main jar (maybe more) that now has white ring in their eyes this is the furthest development I've seen so far. This should be day 7 which I reached with the last batch but they didn't seem to be as developed. I wonder if having the light on 24/7 has made them develop faster? Jar had a least 2 hydroids which I tried to siphon out. I replace 1/4 of the water today with fresh. I have been adding insuforia from my plankton tank 2x daily lately. Next batch I'll be doing that more often. I will be loading some microscope pictures soon and will love any input on what the heck is in my insuforia. I'll also be isolating (maybe) some of the more interesting looking things to try to grow in larger more reliable numbers for future larva raising. I tested the ammonia Friday or Saturday and less than 0.25 ppm I credit that to the greenwater and lights 24/7. I don't have any air going into this jar which is why I'm doing 24/7 on the lights.

Ken - I definately think they need something smaller than the copepod naupuli.

side note Cardinal is still holding (expecting June 8th). If he lasts I'll start another thread for that adventure. Still have 2 glass shrimp babies.
 
That is sad. But the white around the eyes is encouraging. I think concentrating on a food source might be the best route right now to go. I know next to nothing about what direction to look in though. I just know how depressed I would be to lose the little guys. Looking forward to your photos. :wave:

Shelley
 
don't worry about it kiz. seven days is good in my books.
you've inspired me to adopt a few of your methods.
i think you're definitely on the right track with the infusoria.
scope pix would be cool.
 
Yea. I will try to scope soon. They have spawned a few more times. last hatch I didn't have enough water for how many eggs and the large group must have fowled it. They spawn last night and the night before but right now I've got something (I think a cold) that has me in survival mode. I have coughed so much my diaphram hurts. So I'm just trying to keep the parents fed and live to play another day.
 
Kiz I hope you feel better soon. There will be new spawns ready for you when you are ready to try again. Hot tea and rest.

Shelley
 
Yep I now feel mostly better. I need a day or two to get my feet under my new job. They haven't spawn in about 4 days. It's like they know I"m not ready. My husband thinks it is more likely that the salinity got a little high as that tank doesn't have an ATO. I am aiming for Friday to get back to the scope and play with my insufora and try to save some of my cultures.
 
Glad you are on the mend. Best of luck with the cultures. I will check in on your progress later.

Shelley
 
Liz I feed my fish a mixture of clams and oysters. Fresh then frozen and chopped. Then I freeze the mixture into small cubes. Then I chop them up again as I use them. My male mandarin is eating them!

Shelley
 
Code4 said:
Liz I feed my fish a mixture of clams and oysters. Fresh then frozen and chopped. Then I freeze the mixture into small cubes. Then I chop them up again as I use them. My male mandarin is eating them!

Shelley
Click to expand...

Congratz Shelley. I know when I saw them eating something other than copepods I was happy because I knew that even if my copepod population crashed they wouldn't starve.
 
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