Too many babies!

[Lifes A Beach]

Alot of action going on in this house! :eek1: My original black/white & orange/white ocellaris pair are keeping in their usual rhythm of spawning every 10-11 days, so they are tending a clutch that was laid on Saturday. THEN, a friend of mine has a pair of gold-striped maroons that laid eggs on a small rock that could be easily removed, so he gave that to me last Thursday night and I've been tending those eggs in my nursery tank with TLC and they finally hatched last night (Tuesday). It's a nice hatch and I'm really hoping I can keep them going! THEN, I got a second pair of nice ocellaris on May 10th that had been spawning, but once I placed them in their new home, I knew it would take a while for them to adjust. This afternoon when I passed by their tank, they're laying eggs! It's a nice big clutch too for their first spawn after getting them a month ago! WHEW....I'm tired already!

I got a nice big delivery of new rotifers yesterday to be sure I can keep up with all these babies. I figured it was time to start new cultures and I certainly can't afford to be low on rotifers at this stage of the game.

Must be something in the water... :love2:

--Barbara

[skippy2]

lol well good luck. I would love to see some pics.
It took my pair of false percs 5 yrs. to start laying eggs. 6 days after laying her eggs, the female died. :(

[FB]

I was considering getting another pair. The problem is I have no idea what kind of demand I am going to get for my fish once I start to sell them. Their are probably 25 stores within 60KM of me.

Anyway good luck with all your fish!:cool:

[Lifes A Beach]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12728560#post12728560 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by skippy2
It took my pair of false percs 5 yrs. to start laying eggs.

I had my first pair for 4 years before they started laying eggs. For 6 months now they spawn like clockwork! I'll post some pics soon.

--Barbara

[Lifes A Beach]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12728623#post12728623 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by FB
I was considering getting another pair. The problem is I have no idea what kind of demand I am going to get for my fish once I start to sell them. Their are probably 25 stores within 60KM of me.

FB, if you have 25 stores in your area, that's great! You just need to find out who else is selling in your area. Then, there is always the internet buyers!

A member of our local marine club was tearing down his tank and selling his pair and the anemone so I got the "package" since he wanted the pair that he raised for 4 years to stay with their host. I never had a carpet anemone before and this one is huge! And beautiful! Hope all goes well.

--Barbara

[agsansoo]

All right ... I will have company raising maroons ! Do a good job so you can show me what I'm doing wrong. As for the carpet anemone. It needs lots of light ! rkelman has one, I'm sure he can help you.

[dazed]

WOW!! my head starting spinning reading & thinking about all of the things to do lol.
and i agree with agsansoo carpet anemones need allot of light but i am sure you already know that. I look forward to learning along the way as well.
do you have any pictures of the new anemone.

[bunkerboy]

check out www.mofib.com It is a good site, and there are wholesalers there who will buy your babies. Andy

[Lifes A Beach]

Here's pictures of the new pair, anemone, and eggs!

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee277/prideprops/IMG_7957.jpg

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee277/prideprops/IMG_8008.jpg

--Barbara

[Lifes A Beach]

Here's a picture of the Gold Striped Maroon fry that hatched 3 days ago.

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee277/prideprops/IMG_7931.jpg

--Barbara

[shutiny]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12743690#post12743690 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Lifes A Beach
Here's pictures of the new pair, anemone, and eggs!

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee277/prideprops/IMG_7957.jpg

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee277/prideprops/IMG_8008.jpg

--Barbara

Is that H.magnifica in a 20g tank? Kudos to you, what a nice and healthy one!

[rkelman]

"Is that H.magnifica in a 20g tank?"

Its not really in a 20 is it? Its a beautiful mag. They are one of the harder nems to keep Barbara. Lots of light is the main thing. But they do need a larger tank and stable parameters. I have a Haddoni and I feed it now only every couple of weeks because I don't want it to grow too fast. You are very lucky to get one all ready acclimated to aquarium life. Good luck with it. Nice pair too.

[Lifes A Beach]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12743920#post12743920 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by shutiny
Is that H.magnifica in a 20g tank? Kudos to you, what a nice and healthy one!

Yep, it's in a 20-gal. with 55-watt PC lighting for a month now. I didn't have room in my main tank for it so I figured my frag tank was okay for now. It gets really good circulation on that side of the tank. The eggs are actually just under the anemone and I had to push the edges aside in order to get a picture of the eggs.

If anyone has suggestions on what to do with the "magnifica" please post. This is my first and I've read limited info about them. Is there anything special they like to eat? How often?

--Barbara

[billsreef]

Feed the anemone small pieces of silversides ;)

[Lifes A Beach]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12745218#post12745218 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by billsreef
Feed the anemone small pieces of silversides ;)

Bill, how often should I feed? Thanks!

--Barbara

[shutiny]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12745169#post12745169 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Lifes A Beach
Yep, it's in a 20-gal. with 55-watt PC lighting for a month now. I didn't have room in my main tank for it so I figured my frag tank was okay for now. It gets really good circulation on that side of the tank. The eggs are actually just under the anemone and I had to push the edges aside in order to get a picture of the eggs.

If anyone has suggestions on what to do with the "magnifica" please post. This is my first and I've read limited info about them. Is there anything special they like to eat? How often?

--Barbara

In my experiences, H.mag produces more metabolic wastes than any other large hosting anemones, except mertensii. It would be good if you could connect the 20g with another larger system or find away to increase your system volume to offset the bio load.
Ritteri can live in non metal halide tanks, and I have had seen ones that live up to a year in T5/VHO, but suffers a lot along the way before their demise. Was it in a metal halide tank before you got it? How long has it been in captive?
I believe, H.mag is more adopted to /depended on photosynthesis as its main subsistence than other methods of nutritional in takes(such as filtration), more so than the Stichodacyla genus. Feeding seems to help the carpets more than ritteris in general.

[rkelman]

Under PC's I'd feed it a couple silversides twice a week. Its only going to be in that tank short term I hope. I wish I lived closer I'd house it for you :)

[billsreef]

Two to three times a week should suffice.

[agsansoo]

I would feed him raw uncooked shrimp, from the grocery store fish dept.. it's more meaty then silversides. That's a really nice anemone !

Lighting:
For a good starter MH light fixture, you can get an Odyssea 24" for $179. I was part for the Odyssea thread here on RC.
24" fixture (http://www.aquatraders.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=337)
I have the 36" fixture. You could also just get a MH pendant and e-ballast for around $250.

[Lifes A Beach]

Thanks for the info from everyone! Regarding the lighting and the size of the tank for the anemone, if it's been in my 20 gal. tank with pc lighting for a month now and it's still doing great, wouldn't it be okay just to keep it there with no modifications? I do regular water changes to keep the water quality in check.

And thanks for the info on feeding. I'll pick up some silversides and shrimp as a variety in feeding. So far the anemone is getting whatever I feed the ocellaris pair: live adult brine, mysis, pellets, and Rod's (I give the nem the bigger pieces in that blend). I keep my saltwater feeder shrimp in that tank also (for my seahorse food) and I'm sure the nem has made a meal or two on them too!

--Barbara

[rkelman]

Long term it will slowly degrade / lose its color in that tank / lighting Barbara.

[ReidiLoverLinds]

What kind of seahorses do you have barbara?? I didn't realize you had seahorses!!! I love seahorses!! SEAHORSES!

[Lifes A Beach]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12755823#post12755823 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ReidiLoverLinds
What kind of seahorses do you have barbara?? I didn't realize you had seahorses!!! I love seahorses!! SEAHORSES!

Reidi, yes I have seahorses too! I have H. erectus, 2 males. I had a mated pair a few years ago and they were having babies every 2 weeks. I tried raising them too (my motherly instinct again) but only had one alive for 5 weeks. I didn't know about rotifers back then. I lost that pair while I was on a trip. I replaced them with 2 males so no more babies. I have my hands full now with the clownfish fry!

Thanks for all your help with rotifer advice. It was the key to getting my numbers up and growth success.

--Barbara

[Bret61081]

Barbara, the GSM laid eggs again but this time on the glass! no idea when they are gonna hatch or i would say come get them too!!

[Lifes A Beach]

Brett, thanks for the offer...I'll be in touch with you. Your gsm babies are doing great! They're starting their 10th day and will probably start them on bbs in the next day or so. These fry are definitely bigger than the ocellaris fry in the beginning so they get a good healthy head start on life! I'll post more pics soon.

--Barbara

[agsansoo]

So they are bigger than ocellaris fry ? I alway thought they were smaller ! Yes we need pictures. :D

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t257/agsansoo/48732needpics.gif

[Lifes A Beach]

Here's an update of what's been going on with all the babies.

The gold striped maroon babies are now a month old. I have 13 that have made it. I thought the numbers would be higher on this batch since the fry seemed bigger when they hatched. The mother of this clutch was huge (much bigger than my original ocellaris female that's been spawning). I don't know if that has anything to do with how big the fry will be when they hatch. Here's a few pics of them (got your message Andy lol):

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee277/prideprops/IMG_8124.jpg

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee277/prideprops/IMG_8115.jpg

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee277/prideprops/IMG_8125.jpg

--Barbara
:fish1:

[Lifes A Beach]

My original pair (male black/white and female orange/white) are keeping with their regiment of spawning every 10-11 days. They laid eggs again last night, a nice big clutch. The last batch of eggs hatched this past Wed. night (8th night after spawn) and another great hatch. They were scheduled to hatch Tues. night but the last few clutches have been hatching over 2 nights so I decided that when the lights went out in the main tank where the eggs are that I would keep the moon lights on all night to see if that would stall the hatch by one night. It worked! Wed night when the lights went off, I removed the tile and placed it in the nursery tank. An hour later, almost all the eggs had hatched.

I did have a slight setback with one of my hatches of March 10th. I had a few of the juvis die. To this point, I did not have any die after meta. With a little help from a friend (thanks, Bill!) I found that the ph in the tank was very low. After some adjustments to bring the ph back up, all are doing fine again. I learned that I cannot take for granted a little debris in the bottom of the tank. Daily cleanings are a must.

As for the pair and the giagantic anemone - they are spawning like clockwork also. And the anemone still looks beautiful. Now, no one yell at me but it's still in the 20-gal. tank under pc lighting and doing great. To everyone that sent pm's about the anemone, I'm keeping it!! If it splits, I'll let you know. There is another clutch of eggs now on the rock under the anemone and scheduled to hatch tomorrow night. I've noticed with this pair (compared to my first pair) that the male is not as attentive to the eggs. But, I guess with the good flow in that tank, the eggs stay aerated and hatch 100%. Since they hatch in the 20-gal tank, I have to scoop the fry. The last hatch I was up until 3 am to get them. Having the clutch on a tile is so much easier. But, with all that is going on, the night of the hatch is the best of all!!!

--Barbara
:fish1:

[Lifes A Beach]

I have also made a few additions to my parent family. I acquired a pair of black & white ocellaris and a pair of gold striped maroons. I have them temporarily housed in seperate 20-gal. tanks until I get my garage project under way. That will mean another move for them so I'm not sure when I'll see eggs, I'm sure it will be a while before they get settled.

Another reefer has a pair of Banggai Cardinals that spit out its babies and got in touch with me to see if I could "save" them. So, now I have 4 1-day old cardinals I'm raising too. I'm getting the reputation of being the fish rescue camp here. How can you say "no" ??? (lovin' it!)

--Barbara
:fish1:

[rkelman]

Great job Barbara. I wish mine would start laying again.. I feel left out lol.

[FB]

Looks good. Keep up the great work.

I couple of the fish in the last pic look very skinny. What are you currently feeding them. I find that when my fish look like that they have a higher rate of starving if even one feed is missed. This is why I have really increased my bbs feedings. They start to put some weight on and seem a lot more resilient.

FB

[rrcg50]

can someone explain what bbs. i know they eat phyto and rotifer but what is bbs

[rrcg50]

oh forget about that last post. baby brine shrimp

[Reefman79]

LOL ^ Rich you ok ?

[Lifes A Beach]

I had read in other posts that some breeders were skipping the bbs and going right to dry food. So, I decided to try keeping them on rotifers a little while longer (since my rotifer cultures are doing so well) and then starting them on Otohime A. I think this may have affected their growth and their mortality rate. I think that I will not skip the bbs portion of their feedings. I also tried this with my second pair's hatch and didn't have as good a survival rate as I have with those that have been on bbs.

So, the bbs hatcheries are going again strong and will continue using the bbs as their second stage of food source. Otohime A has worked out very well as their third stage of food source. I'll stick with that!

--Barbara
:fish1:

[rkelman]

I think its what works for the individual. I've been given the advice to skip BBS and go to Otohime as BBS are known to cause shock deaths ect. I think I'll stick with BBS for a few days at least as well.

[billsreef]

Keep the BBS going and use the Otohime as a supplement several times a day ;)

[agsansoo]

Thanks for the pictures Barbara ! Great to see someone raising maroons besides me. Sounds like you have your hands full. LOL

[Lifes A Beach]

Here's some pictures of the Banggai Cardinal fry. I just can't get over how cute they are!!! In the first picture, it looks like they're posing for the picture (actually I think they're looking for me to feed them!).

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee277/prideprops/IMG_8144.jpg

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee277/prideprops/IMG_8141.jpg

Barbara
:fish1:

[agsansoo]

Great photos. They seem to be say, "Hey we're down here, feed us". By the way what are you feeding them ?

[Lifes A Beach]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12943181#post12943181 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by agsansoo
Great photos. They seem to be say, "Hey we're down here, feed us". By the way what are you feeding them ?

For now, I'm feeding them rotifers and they are aggressive eaters. Since I have the cardinals housed in a netted breeding basket in my reef tank, the corals are very happy with all the extra rotifers coming their way! I was feeding everyone else some cyclopeeze last night and squirted a little in their basket and they went after it. I have to do some reading to find out what their eating regiment is. I guess bbs is next.

--Barbara
:fish1:

[Lifes A Beach]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12938750#post12938750 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by billsreef
Keep the BBS going and use the Otohime as a supplement several times a day ;)

Good idea!!! Thanks!

--Barbara
:fish1: