Damsels Had Babies

[jfjt7]

Sorry to put an urgent tag, but I don’t know what to do. About 2 years ago I bought 2 pink smith damsels. Earlier today I was doing matince and noticed that there were these 3 white blobs, after further investigation they turned out to be 3 patches of eggs. I have gotten some of the babies in a smaller tank where they won’t get eaten. But I don’t know how to raise the babies.

 

[fishguy242]

hi,really cool,lots of research ,be ready for them next time

 

[Cole.mormon]

You feed live brine shrimp

 

[Wolf89]

You feed live brine shrimp

That won't work. Waaaaaaaaay too big
These damsels 100% will not survive without months of work in preparation

 

[Cole.mormon]

Or tr y phytoplankton or copepods

 

[stanlalee]

Try oysterfeast and fine coral food 50-100 microns but as stated without knowing and associated research for raising fry your best bet is to be ready for next time. By the time you posted this they are probably well behind on feedings.

 

[Tired]

Look up how people raise baby clownfish. It's probably similar.

But yeah, I doubt you can get the right foods in time. Saltwater fish babies have VERY specific needs, and most haven't been captive-bred at all.

 

[jfjt7]

That won't work. Waaaaaaaaay too big
These damsels 100% will not survive without months of work in preparation

How often do these pink smith damsels breed? I want to be prepared next time.

 

[footgal]

You’ll want to start a rotifer and phyto culture pretty quick. I don’t know how often your fish will spawn but it takes a while to get both cultures running and stable. There’s lots of threads about making and maintaining these in the fish breeding forum.

Allow the babies to hatch out so you can see their approximate size. This will help you choose the correct rotifer strain. I’m guessing they will be very very small, smaller than clownfish just based on the parent size and egg size. This batch probably will not have a single survivor unfortunately. I recommend leaving the eggs where you found them so the newly hatched babies can at least make good coral food and won’t go to waste.

It sounds like you’re serious about breeding these, so I say go for it! You’ll be more prepared next time

 

[DeniseAndy]

Let them be for now to feed the corals and fish in the tank. Also, the parents can do their thing too. Successful breeding encouraged more.
Then, research, research, research. Oh, ask a lot of questions on breeder forums. Plan ahead. It is not a simple undertaking.
Good luck though. I see my lemon damsels spawn and the male guarding the eggs. I just smile, loving the fishies doing their thing.
And, in a week or so the fish will have a good, fresh meal.

 

[Dkmoo]

My clowns spawn a batch probably once a month. But I have neither the space or set up do anything about it so none ever survive. Its kinda like a much sadder and shorter version of finding nemo....

Best of luck to you if you plan to breed.

 

[jfjt7]

Update on the damsels. So after I posted this I took some copepods from my already existing colony and started to make a new one out of them, and on top of that some of my damsels have hatched and I have put them inside a fry tank that has a sponge filter. I have managed to keep the hatched babies alive for about 3 days so far but I don't know what might happen. All the babies are still doing good at the time of writing this.

 

[rjdasilva]

Do you have an update on the damsel fry?

 

[rjdasilva]

My damsels just had some fry for the second time in 4 months. First batch were probably consumed by them or my royal gramma.

 

[jfjt7]

Do you have an update on the damsel fry?

Most of them died after 8 days of being alive. I tried. But now my Banggai cardinals had babies, I knew because of the swollen mouth and the way it looked compared to the other cardinal.

 

[Tired]

Good news: cardinalfish babies are way easier to raise! They're born very large and non-planktonic, so all you need to do is make sure they get enough food. In some tanks, one or two may even survive to adulthood without any intervention at all. Many more will survive if you intentionally raise them, of course.