Fish hatching event in my 720 gallon tank - What could they be? Has this happened in your tank?

[AlexG]

Will you tell me what kind of scope set up you have with your cell phone? Brand? Megapixals? I have been looking for something that I can use to do really close up, pretty much near microscopic, photos of details on certain coral specimens.

Thanks

AmScope Cordless LED Stereo Microscope 20x-40x-80x Model: SE306R-PZ-LED, some petri dishes, and a Gosky Universal Cell Phone Adapter Mount. I have a Samsung Galaxy S8+ that has a 12 Megapixel camera.

 

[MixedFruitBasket]

AmScope Cordless LED Stereo Microscope 20x-40x-80x Model: SE306R-PZ-LED, some petri dishes, and a Gosky Universal Cell Phone Adapter Mount. I have a Samsung Galaxy S8+ that has a 12 Megapixel camera.

So are you using the cellphone as your "camera" on this? If so how? Just have it look through the eyepiece?

 

[AlexG]

So are you using the cellphone as your "camera" on this? If so how? Just have it look through the eyepiece?

Yes my cellphone is acting as my microscope camera . The mount for the cell phone allows you to get your camera over the eye piece and stabilized. This setup has allowed me to take pictures and video easily. I have even been on livestreams where I was streaming the microscope view online. The only drawback is not being able to easily utilize the eye piece so i normally view through the cell phone screen when its attached. On the first page of this thread post #9 there is a picture of my microscope setup with the cell phone mounted on the microscope.

 

[Salty Lemon]

Do you have a separate tank to put the babies in so you can trade/sell when they get older? Otherwise, I'm afraid they would be lunch. Are we placing bets on any of this? My money will be on pseudochromis. This is really cool, btw.

 

[AlexG]

Do you have a separate tank to put the babies in so you can trade/sell when they get older? Otherwise, I'm afraid they would be lunch. Are we placing bets on any of this? My money will be on pseudochromis. This is really cool, btw.

At this time I don't have a separate tank or the time to try and raise these fish. I would agree that it is unlikely that they would naturally survive in my system to maturity on their own. I believe they are pseudochromis though based on the hatching location. If I am able to get the frequency of hatches down I might try to put some larval traps in place and attempt to raise these fish but I would first need to establish some cultures of phytoplankton and rotifers/or other small live foods.

 

[sfin52]

My guess would be the chromis. My bluegreen chromis breed in my 180. Look for eggs on a vertical surface. Mine lay them on the side of the glass.

Same. I have yet to see any that hatch or grown. I'm guessing all the other fish and coral eat them

 

[mort]

At this time I don't have a separate tank or the time to try and raise these fish. I would agree that it is unlikely that they would naturally survive in my system to maturity on their own. I believe they are pseudochromis though based on the hatching location. If I am able to get the frequency of hatches down I might try to put some larval traps in place and attempt to raise these fish but I would first need to establish some cultures of phytoplankton and rotifers/or other small live foods.

As much as it pains me to say so it would only be good to raise them from an educational point of view. I bred the more friendly dotty species and still had a hard time shifting them and that would be a much harder prospect with a species that's renowned for its feistiness and cheapness.
I'm all for captive breeding and think it's so rewarding to raise something but if you do I'd only try to raise a few so you aren't stuck with 50+.

 

[AlexG]

As much as it pains me to say so it would only be good to raise them from an educational point of view. I bred the more friendly dotty species and still had a hard time shifting them and that would be a much harder prospect with a species that's renowned for its feistiness and cheapness.
I'm all for captive breeding and think it's so rewarding to raise something but if you do I'd only try to raise a few so you aren't stuck with 50+.

Agreed. They are evil little fish that is why they are in my big tank because I know they can handle being around larger aggressive fish. If I did manage to raise them one day it would be more for educational purposes.

 

[mort]

Agreed. They are evil little fish that is why they are in my big tank because I know they can handle being around larger aggressive fish.

It's a case of right fish in the right place. I'd love to see more people keeping them in similar setups as they are beautiful.
If I had them I'd also try and raise them which is what got me in to trouble with over 500 dottybacks at one point.

I'm hoping you get more video as it's the first time I've ever seen them hatching.

 

[AlexG]

It's a case of right fish in the right place. I'd love to see more people keeping them in similar setups as they are beautiful.
If I had them I'd also try and raise them which is what got me in to trouble with over 500 dottybacks at one point.

I'm hoping you get more video as it's the first time I've ever seen them hatching.

I will definitely try to capture this on camera again. Its easy to have the camera on standby with a tripod. I just need to determine what nights to watch for them which at this point will be random luck. I will watch to see if this hole in the rocks starts to get a visitor on a regular basis as that might be a sign to watch for a hatching event.

 

[najer]

This is great, try and catch some and pop them in the refugium!