Yellow clown goby spawned

[Avelino Alicea]

My yellow clown gobies just spawned. Someone ate some of the eggs overnight, but there's still a fair amount left.

I'm curious if there's a way to safely collect the eggs to move to a hatchery so nobody eats them before they hatch? I was reading about making an egg tumbler or something, but want to make sure that at least I can collect the eggs without damaging them as they're so tiny. I have many other fish in the tank, along with snails and pesky bristleworms that I haven't been able to get rid of due to they large numbers, so I want to make sure the eggs can safely hatch, even if they're not able to survive.

I can worry about the rearing when/if I can collect the eggs.

I also don't want to disrupt the spawning cycle.

 

[KingTideCorals]

How cool! Such a fun thing to see!

Not too much of a breeder! I am sure someone from #reefsquad can help you out!

 

[ichthyogeek]

Interesting! I haven't really heard of many people working with yellow clown gobies, but here're a couple of answers to your questions:

Typically, when serious breeders want to remove the eggs from the broodstock tank, they'll try to get the broodstock to lay their eggs on something removable, like PVC, slate tile, etc. In this case, it looks like your YCG laid on the tank wall...not exactly something you can remove from the tank lol.

In cases like these, the breeder typically will wait until hatch night (the night that the eggs are most likely to hatch based on the species and when the eggs are laid), and use a larval trap to remove the newly hatched fish larvae from the tank.

I do not believe that you can simply scrape the eggs off of the glass and into something like an egg tumbler. If I remember correctly, saltwater demersal spawning species require a hard surface to push against in order to hatch.

Finally, I recommend that you look into buying two books: The Plankton Culture Manual (Hoff & Snell), and The Complete Illustrated Guide to Breeding Marine Fishes (Wittenrich). They're good reads, not too dense, and can put you on the right track to rearing the larvae.

 

[Avelino Alicea]

Interesting! I haven't really heard of many people working with yellow clown gobies, but here're a couple of answers to your questions:

Typically, when serious breeders want to remove the eggs from the broodstock tank, they'll try to get the broodstock to lay their eggs on something removable, like PVC, slate tile, etc. In this case, it looks like your YCG laid on the tank wall...not exactly something you can remove from the tank lol.

In cases like these, the breeder typically will wait until hatch night (the night that the eggs are most likely to hatch based on the species and when the eggs are laid), and use a larval trap to remove the newly hatched fish larvae from the tank.

I do not believe that you can simply scrape the eggs off of the glass and into something like an egg tumbler. If I remember correctly, saltwater demersal spawning species require a hard surface to push against in order to hatch.

Finally, I recommend that you look into buying two books: The Plankton Culture Manual (Hoff & Snell), and The Complete Illustrated Guide to Breeding Marine Fishes (Wittenrich). They're good reads, not too dense, and can put you on the right track to rearing the larvae.

Awesome recommendations. Thanks!

 

[taricha]

you'll want to read this account, or other similar ones.

http://www.mbisite.org/Forums/tm.aspx?&m=94944&mpage=1

getting the eggs is the least difficult part of breeding such a tiny fish fry. :p

 

[Paul B]

They should spawn every couple of weeks. You are lucky, mine always spawn on acropora and eventually kill the entire colony. You can see her eggs above her here. I make a suction device that works with bubbles and it sucks the babies up into a container as soon as they hatch. You position the suction hose right over the eggs. I use that for all spawns of any fish. I think there is a picture of it in my book if someone wants to post it. (I don't have a picture of the thing handy)



Here is a newborn clown gobi.

 

[Avelino Alicea]

They should spawn every couple of weeks. You are lucky, mine always spawn on acropora and eventually kill the entire colony. You can see her eggs above her here. I make a suction device that works with bubbles and it sucks the babies up into a container as soon as they hatch. You position the suction hose right over the eggs. I use that for all spawns of any fish. I think there is a picture of it in my book if someone wants to post it. (I don't have a picture of the thing handy)



Here is a newborn clown gobi.

Oh wow, yeah, I see the eggs. Someone had posted a very short video of the fry as soon as they hatched. I'm looking forward to it either way. I Ned to invest in those books. I'm super excited.

 

[Paul B]

I'm super excited.

So is your gobi. :D

 

[Avelino Alicea]

Update: All of the eggs are gone. Someone ate the last of them overnight. I'm not overly concerned as I know the fish will continue to spawn. I just have to keep a close watch to try and get the next fry to at least hatch.

 

[Avelino Alicea]

Second batch. Today is supposed to be hatch day. Impatiently waiting. This should be day 4. Hard to focus with a regular phone, but.....

 

[Avelino Alicea]

Seven days later, here they are. There was no way I could catch them all considering I wasn't home.