accidentally breeding yellow tail damsels. . .

[MoshJosh]

Over the last couple nights I have been staying up late trying to catch the hatching. . . It took until about 1:30 this morning, but it finally happened. I had a very successful harvest, thanks mostly to me realizing my Reef Diaper was great at catching larvae.

Here are some pictures of the "nursery", the water in the larvae tank is a bit cloudy cause I just fed. . . the "tanks" on the right are my roti cultures:

 

[djf91]

If Rotifers don’t work I would try the Apocyclops. The adults will be too big but the nauplii should be the right size. If none of these work you made need to use Parvocalanus copepod nauplii.

 

[MoshJosh]

If Rotifers don’t work I would try the Apocyclops. The adults will be too big but the nauplii should be the right size. If none of these work you made need to use Parvocalanus copepod nauplii.

Thanks for the info!!! I am sort of banking on the roti at the moment cause I don't have room for more cultures hahaha but if this doesn't work out I may try your suggestions (or if I have more room). I do plan to hatch LBB once they are a bit bigger. . . not sure what day after hatch that should be???

 

[djf91]

Try mbisite. There are multiple threads on there about Chrysiptera.

It’s too bad the old MOFIB site is gone, as I think Luis from Brazil was able to get these to settlement on “S” strain rotifers.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

not sure what day after hatch that should be???

The paper I linked started feeding BBS on day 19 post hatch.

 

[MoshJosh]

And they are all dead. . . think I only had larvae for about 3 days. . . but I am going to change my methods a bit and keep trying. Think I will continue with my current rotifer, as the study @ISpeakForTheSeas linked seemed to use only L type roti for the first feeds with decent success. I will try a black bucket or fully blacked out tank. I ill use a more gentle airflow. MAYBE try to put some live rock in the rearing tank. . .

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

And they are all dead. . . think I only had larvae for about 3 days. . . but I am going to change my methods a bit and keep trying. Think I will continue with my current rotifer, as the study @ISpeakForTheSeas linked seemed to use only L type roti for the first feeds with decent success. I will try a black bucket or fully blacked out tank. I ill use a more gentle airflow. MAYBE try to put some live rock in the rearing tank. . .

Just curious, have you been enriching the rots with Selcon?

Either way, hopefully the changes you're looking to try will help.

 

[MoshJosh]

No, was using RG complete

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

No, was using RG complete

RG Complete looks like a really solid product, but I’d wonder if it’s providing enough of the right fatty acids (RG complete has 64 mg/g HUFA’s while Selcon - which was used in the study I referenced - has 200 mg/g HUFA’s). I don’t know for sure if it would help at this point, but it may be worth a shot.

That said, copepods would definitely be worth a shot too, as they’re often more nutritious for fish larvae than rotifers (and, based on the odd/unnatural conditions needed to rear these fish in the study I referenced, something in the rearing methodology of this fish needs a major overhaul; personally, I’d guess it’s likely light intensity/spectrum related rather than just diet related though).

 

[MoshJosh]

RG Complete looks like a really solid product, but I’d wonder if it’s providing enough of the right fatty acids (RG complete has 64 mg/g HUFA’s while Selcon - which was used in the study I referenced - has 200 mg/g HUFA’s). I don’t know for sure if it would help at this point, but it may be worth a shot.

That said, copepods would definitely be worth a shot too, as they’re often more nutritious for fish larvae than rotifers (and, based on the odd/unnatural conditions needed to rear these fish in the study I referenced, something in the rearing methodology of this fish needs a major overhaul; personally, I’d guess it’s likely light intensity/spectrum related rather than just diet related though).

Yeah, I saw in the study. They had the best survival rate with a 24 hour photo. Still, if I recall, it was only 25%. Any good source of pods that are small enough? Could I buy apex pods to culture?

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Yeah, I saw in the study. They had the best survival rate with a 24 hour photo. Still, if I recall, it was only 25%. Any good source of pods that are small enough? Could I buy apex pods to culture?

Apex pods would probably (but not guaranteeably) be too large for a first food: 1st instar nauplii for Apocyclops panamensis are ~65-70 microns from what I've read, and - based off of the larval info of closely related species - I'd guess (based on gape size and estimated approximate preferred feed size) that these larvae would probably need closer to 40-50 microns at first feeding. At this point, the only pod with small enough nauplii that I'm aware of that is available to hobbyists is Parvocalanus crassirostris.

"most marine fish larvae consume prey that are only 20% of their total gape."**
...
[unfurl=true]https://www.academia.edu/62986388/S...feeding_in_the_gobiid_fish_Priolepis_nocturna[/URL]

You can find Parvocalanus pods for sale at a couple of the really big name shops (see below); most other shops seem to either source from one of them, only sell to vendors, or have spotty availability.

Nanno Pods

Copepod cultures available for nanno tanks up to 20 gallons in size. Aquacultured Copepods for sale with all free shipping no minimum.

www.aquaculturenurseryfarms.com

Parvocalanus crassirostris Copepods

photo by Jim Welsh 2K Adult Parvocalanus crassirostris Copepods. Parvocalanus crassirostris is a small, pelagic calanoid copepod. Adults are in the 200 to 400 µm range. NOTE: DUE TO THEIR HIGHLY SENSITIVE FEEDING MECHANISMS, THESE ANIMALS WILL ONLY ACCEPT LIVE ALGAE. Before you plan to...

reedmariculture.com

 

[MoshJosh]

Apex pods would probably (but not guaranteeably) be too large for a first food: 1st instar nauplii for Apocyclops panamensis are ~65-70 microns from what I've read, and - based off of the larval info of closely related species - I'd guess (based on gape size and estimated approximate preferred feed size) that these larvae would probably need closer to 40-50 microns at first feeding. At this point, the only pod with small enough nauplii that I'm aware of that is available to hobbyists is Parvocalanus crassirostris.

You can find Parvocalanus pods for sale at a couple of the really big name shops (see below); most other shops seem to either source from one of them, only sell to vendors, or have spotty availability.

Nanno Pods

Copepod cultures available for nanno tanks up to 20 gallons in size. Aquacultured Copepods for sale with all free shipping no minimum.

www.aquaculturenurseryfarms.com

Parvocalanus crassirostris Copepods

photo by Jim Welsh 2K Adult Parvocalanus crassirostris Copepods. Parvocalanus crassirostris is a small, pelagic calanoid copepod. Adults are in the 200 to 400 µm range. NOTE: DUE TO THEIR HIGHLY SENSITIVE FEEDING MECHANISMS, THESE ANIMALS WILL ONLY ACCEPT LIVE ALGAE. Before you plan to...

reedmariculture.com

Well looks like they have another clutch (not sure that is the correct term) or eggs, based on appearance I anticipate hatching tonight or tomorrow. I wont be able to culture pods before them, so will have to give Roti another try. @ISpeakForTheSeas you mentioned spectrum earlier, if I set up a controllable light what spectrum are you thinking?

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

@ISpeakForTheSeas you mentioned spectrum earlier, if I set up a controllable light what spectrum are you thinking?

I'm not entirely sure to be honest, but - at least for your C. parasema broodstock - something with blue and green lighting.

I need to do some more digging into this area (particularly with regards to the larvae rather than the broodstock), but green (~530nm) and blue (~450nm) light were found to encourage ovarian maturation for both C. parasema and C. cyanea, and red (~630nm) light was found to be even more effective than green and blue for C. cyanea, but less effective for C. parasema. White lighting was - interestingly - found to be ineffective at promoting ovarian maturation in either. Low to moderate intensity lighting was the most effective for C. parasema.*

For the larvae, though, I'd be tempted to play around with blue and green, full spectrum (white), and red heavy lighting settings separately, and then to play around with the intensity for each too. Based on the fact that they needed a 24 hour lighting period for the larvae to reach settlement in the study I linked earlier, I'd guess the larvae may need higher intensity lighting than the broodstock do, but I can't verify that at this point.

*Sources:
Light-emitting diode spectral sensitivity relationship with reproductive parameters and ovarian maturation in yellowtail damselfish, Chrysiptera parasema

Light-emitting diode spectral sensitivity relationship with reproductive parameters and ovarian maturation in yellowtail damselfish, Chrysiptera parasema

The present study investigated the effects of exposure to different light spectra and intensities on ovarian maturation in yellowtail damselfish, Chry…

www.sciencedirect.com

The stimulatory effects of long wavelengths of light on the ovarian development in the tropical damselfish, Chrysiptera cyanea

The stimulatory effects of long wavelengths of light on the ovarian development in the tropical damselfish, Chrysiptera cyanea

The sapphire devil, Chrysiptera cyanea, were reared for 45days during the non-reproductive season (September) under LD14:10 at four different waveleng…

www.sciencedirect.com

 

[MoshJosh]

At it again:

 

[MoshJosh]

So I tried a blacked out container and blue spectrum lighting. . . and think they all died again.

I also tried adding to the buckets microbiome by shaking my cycled filter media around in it. The hope was maybe add some microscopic food (maybe a dumb idea but had nothing to lose really). This clearly did not increase my survival rate. . . but it has led to me culturing what I assume are tropical mysis shrimp. . . so there's that I guess.

 

[MoshJosh]

Apex pods would probably (but not guaranteeably) be too large for a first food: 1st instar nauplii for Apocyclops panamensis are ~65-70 microns from what I've read, and - based off of the larval info of closely related species - I'd guess (based on gape size and estimated approximate preferred feed size) that these larvae would probably need closer to 40-50 microns at first feeding. At this point, the only pod with small enough nauplii that I'm aware of that is available to hobbyists is Parvocalanus crassirostris.

You can find Parvocalanus pods for sale at a couple of the really big name shops (see below); most other shops seem to either source from one of them, only sell to vendors, or have spotty availability.

Nanno Pods

Copepod cultures available for nanno tanks up to 20 gallons in size. Aquacultured Copepods for sale with all free shipping no minimum.

www.aquaculturenurseryfarms.com

Parvocalanus crassirostris Copepods

photo by Jim Welsh 2K Adult Parvocalanus crassirostris Copepods. Parvocalanus crassirostris is a small, pelagic calanoid copepod. Adults are in the 200 to 400 µm range. NOTE: DUE TO THEIR HIGHLY SENSITIVE FEEDING MECHANISMS, THESE ANIMALS WILL ONLY ACCEPT LIVE ALGAE. Before you plan to...

reedmariculture.com

They also eat phyto or prepared pod food?

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

They also eat phyto or prepared pod food?

They eat Isochrysis galbana (T-Iso) phyto.