Salt Babies

SaltBabies · May 25, 2018

So I'm working on breeding several species. I'm at different levels with each. I could create a thread for each one but I think I'll keep just one as an online journal. I'm a hobbyist that enjoys breeding not a breeder. The main difference is all my fish are in large mixed tanks not small individual tanks which can make the eggs/spawn challenging.

The steps to breeding seem to be

Obtaining stock (individually or if you are lucky as a pair) Since I"m not in with any of the importers or wholesalers I don't have much access to pairs
Getting stock stabilized hopefully on prepared food
Getting stock conditioned, fat healthy with enough energy to produce eggs.
Pairing stock, making male and female pairs of the right maturity
Getting stock to spawn
Catching the spawn or eggs
Catching the larva
Providing the right food / environment for the larva
Getting them to settlement and metamorphosis
Growing them out
Switching to prepared food
Finding a place to sell/get rid of your babies.

Species I'm currently working with/on
Hippocampus erectus (seahorses) - Have babies, I'm well past settlement/metamorphosis and 60 days post hatch.
They are on prepared foods and I'm working on growing them out the largest is currently 2 1/2"

Ruby Reds - Have a mated pair, have obtained eggs, eggs have hatched to larva, working on culturing the food they need. 2 years or so ago got larva to 14 days with the beginning of color change to red.

Dragonface pipefish - Have 3 but not sure if they are the same species or if I have a boy and girl. I think I have 2 girls and a boy but the boy I believe is a different species compared to the girls. They are stable and eating prepared foods.

Yasha Gobies - Bought as a pair, stable eating prepared foods. Waiting for spawn.....

Tangaroa Gobies - have a trio that are stable eating prepared foods. Have seem some encouraging shimmies and shakes. Waiting for spawn.

Davinchi Clowns - Paired. Stable. Waiting for eggs, probably need to up the food or something.

Pink skunk clowns - Paired. Stable. Waiting for eggs, but tank needs work.

Blue line pipefish - just got 2 which I believe are opposite sexes. Unfortunately I think the boy is smaller then the girl so she may decide to kill him. They are hanging out together and look like they like each other. Right now they are in quarantine haven't even attempted prepared foods but will start that this weekend.

Mandarins - Have a female that I have on prepared foods. Just got a male, need to get him healthy and stable and on prepared foods. I think he is big enough to attract her attention.

nautical_nathaniel · May 25, 2018

Neat! I'm hoping to breed some of my fish someday, specifically my Randall's Goby. I also would like to come up with a system for aquaculturing flame shrimp on a hobbyist scale. Following along to see how your experience goes

SaltBabies · May 25, 2018

Yes Fire shrimp are on my list of want to do. I am also currently working with opau shrimp. I have them and some look saddled waiting for the berries. But due to low reproductive rate they are just for me and treats for my fish for now.

SaltBabies · May 25, 2018

Well things change quick around here. The male mandarin I picked up yesterday is now dead. No real reason. Checked the quarantine ammonia was ok and I use prime. He wasn't fat but not starvation skinny. He had a small white spot that looked like a small infection where he was speared. But none of it looked too bad. Unfortunately I need a large male to go with my female or I'd just get a biota male but they are way too small for my girl. Think I'll put together a LA order. I want some fire shrimp too. Can't wait to rehab the 125 so I can stock it, LOL. Really torn on bigger peaceful tank with seahorses and such or one with an anemone for my pink skunks and some long nose hawk fish and maybe some of the smaller anthias or flasher wrasses. Either is going to need a barnacle blenny wall (well maybe only in the peaceful tank).

SaltBabies · May 26, 2018

Well things move even quicker than I thought they would. My hubby decided for his birthday he wanted a bonded pair of Dracula Gobies for his tank so since the shipping was free....
Went a little crazy
Ordered
2 fire shrimp (hermaphrodite)
4 Red striped goby
2 catalina goby (hermaphrodite)
3 exquisite firefish

Even more sure now that the blue strip pipefish are boy and girl. Though the boy is the smaller of the two. His belly was concave but he's already fill back out some. I'm still give them live brine and copepods to get him back to somewhat healthy then I'll transition to mysid. The girl was eating mysid at the store so hopefully she won't be hard to get back on it.

SaltBabies · May 30, 2018

The boy pipefish didn't make it. No idea why he was eating and pooping and the ammonia was low and I used prime. sigh.

The other fish came today except the red striped gobies. The fire fish hid in a cave for a while but scarfed a few baby brine from the feeder. At least two ate frozen mysid at dinner time. The catalina gobies were a little skinny. One hunted baby brine with gusto (he'll probably find the feeder eventually these were just escapees). One fire shrimp played with fire (also known as Waldo the great seahorse hunter) he stroked her, I sure this was him trying to set up a cleaning station. She pretty much ignored him. The other shrimp is hiding (or eaten LOL but probably hiding).

My hubby put the dracula goby pair in his cube. They quickly split and the male found a long lost randalli pistol shrimp. The shrimp who found a goby at once came out and started digging a cave. Unfortunately that tank already has a tiger shrimp pair that were supposed to go with the draculas so he dug the randalli out before the tiger figured out he was there. Now the gobies are hiding. No eating at dinner time.

jefra · May 31, 2018

I've heard catalina gobies breed like crazy in the right subtropical tank. They're a beautiful fish and wish they did okay in our tropical temperature reefs.