Red Scooter Blenny / RSB (Synchiropus stellatus) Breeding Log!

[mwp]

Well, every night since the spawn there's been courtship...my larval tanks are full so for the most part I'm not making a huge effort to collect and hatch eggs. I may on the pair tonight...no qualms about trying to raise them with the GBG larvae...

There's at least one RSB larvae from our first hatch running around - pulled it out tonight and snapped some pictures - 97 hours post hatch.











Matt

[mwp]

Well, Renee and I just sat this evening and watched the RSB's dance. Shortly after the actinics turned off, the female burried herself without spawning. The male zoomed around the tank, looking for her. He even sat right on top of her, burried in the sand. Eventually he gave up...talk about one persistent fish.

I guess it's safe to say that rising doesn't always equate to spawning....she probably IS just appeasing him!

Matt

[mwp]

Well, courtship continues on a pretty much nightly basis, but having 2 larval tanks full of baby fish I haven't been focusing much on collecting eggs since our last hatch.

The BIG NEWS on our RSB pair is diet related. For at least a couple weeks now, I've noticed that the male RSB was chowing down on Formula 1 pellets. Well, now I've been able to determine that our FEMALE is taking them as well. I think the ability to add in a well-composed pellet component to the diet is key in keeping any fish in excellent condition - I'm looking forward to giving the RBSs another shot soon!

Matt

[mwp]

Some big news on the Mandarin front means big news on the RSB front too - Luis AM was instrumental in helping me get Arcatia tonsa into my zooplankton culture! That's a Calanoid (pelagic / free swimming) copepod - i.e. the type of pod needed to rear things like Flame Angels!

So, next time I try to rear a batch of RSBs, it's a whole new ballgame!!! Veteren's Day 2006 will be one of those pivotal moments that hopefully will forever change my Synchiropus projects (now I just have to figure out how to culture a LOT of them).

Matt

[mwp]

My bad, I believe it's Acartia tonsa, NOT Arcatia tonsa

[Sylvio]

Hallo Matt

Mit was willst du die Arcatia ziehen?

Schade das man bei uns in Deutschland keine Arcatia Eier bekommt.

MfG Sylvio

[mwp]

Sylvio, I can't translate your message.

Are you asking "where did I get Acartia tonsa", or ,"what difference do I hope to acheive with Acartia tonsa"?

Matt

[mwp]

So, could these be a partial "silver bullet" for Synchiropus culture? We'll surely see down the line! Rather than post it here, just check out the Acartia tonsa thread (includes QX5 pics).

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...hreadid=971491

Matt

[Sylvio]

Hallo Matt

Ich meine mit welchen Futter du die Acartia ernähren willst.

MfG Sylvio

[mwp]

Silvio,

T-Iso (Tahitian Isocrysis) to raise the Acartia tonsa, but they do better on a mixed diet, so I'll probably use some Tetraselmis as well.

T-ISO (Tahitian Isocrysis) zum des Acartia tonsa, aber sie verbessern auf einer Mischdiät, also ich anzuheben verwendet vermutlich irgendein Tetraselmis außerdem

FWIW,

Matt

[Luis A M]

Originally posted by Sylvio

Schade das man bei uns in Deutschland keine Arcatia Eier bekommt.

MfG Sylvio

But you can surely find them in the Nordsee!
I got my first A.tonsa eggs from Denmark,so you are closer!

[mwp]

So some disturbing news needs to be posted to the RSB thread. Our initial male has gone missing for the last few days. I'm afraid he may have jumped, which would stink because he's been a GREAT healthy male, chowing down on pellets and frozen and just a beautiful fish in general. I've found no traces of a corpse, and I've torn apart the back filter chambers (hoping maybe he just jumped into there); I've found no bodies outside of the aquarium either. Just simply vanished.

My only hope is that he's just burried himself and is taking an extended nap or something, but it's been a few days now and he's normally a very visible member of the community.

Looks like I'll be starting a search for a new male. So far we're having some "bad luck" with the RSBs...first female killled, first male vanished.

Matt

[Peter Schmiedel]

Luis,

can I have some more info on A.tonsa? Got any link? I am surprised how a cold water species (Nordsee) can live in warm larvae tanks.

@Matt / Sylvio
if you want I can translate for you - the programm translation reads kind of funny on both languages

[Luis A M]

Originally posted by Peter Schmiedel
Luis,

can I have some more info on A.tonsa? Got any link? I am surprised how a cold water species (Nordsee) can live in warm larvae tanks.

I was also surprised .My Danish A.tonsa originally cultured at 15º were doing fine at 25º!.You just can´t do that with other cold water calanoids.
But J.Stottrup,the researcher working with them,wasn´t surprised at all.She suspected that A.tonsa is a tropical species that adapted to live in cold water.
In fact,this remarkable copepod is cosmopolitan and can be found in most coastal-estuarine waters of the world.It thrives at a wide range of temperatures and salinities.

[mwp]

I gotta say, they're not as "difficult" to culture as Luis kinda made it sound like at first...I now have 2 2L cultures going and will probably split off to start a third. They're just like culturing tiggerpods, in that they may bloom, crash, bloom, but as time goes on they seem to be reaching a more "stable" population. Of course, I'm feeding mostly T-Iso, with an occasional smattering of Tetraselmis. Almost have them at full strength saltwater now.

Matt

[Luis A M]

Originally posted by mwp
I gotta say, they're not as "difficult" to culture as Luis kinda made it sound like at first...Matt

Did I

[mwp]

Maybe just the very strict suggestions / protocols...I've just found that I've already strayed away and they're still doing well.

Matt

[Luis A M]

Originally posted by mwp
Maybe just the very strict suggestions / protocols...I've just found that I've already strayed away and they're still doing well.

Matt

Well,protocols are strict,like kitchen recipes So many oz of butter,bake so many minutes.If you follow it,you get a fine cake.But if you´re a good chef,you can stray away and eventually improve the cake

[Sylvio]

Hallo Peter

Bei einer sinnvollen Ãœbersetzung streiken die Programme.

A.tonsa gibt es schon als Eier in Dänemark aber sie sind fast nicht bezahlbar.

Ein Freund hat sie schon von dort bezogen.
Aber ohne die richtige Alge sind die nicht zu kultivieren.

MfG Sylvio

[mwp]

12-14-06 - This evening, I've added a new male Red Scooter Blenny. He's maybe 0.5" larger than the female...much smaller that our male that disappeared. The moment he went into the tank there was some pretty aggressive quarrelling..mouths open, all fins flaired (except dorsal fins). I turned the lights out after 15 minutes...the male is currently trying to make nice with the female, but I can't tell if she's with the program or not....the male is screaming up and down in the water column, almost as if to try to court, but it could also be simply the desire to ESCAPE the female!

I'll keep you all posted as warranted!

Matt

[mwp]

12-15-06 - still a lot of agression between the established RSB female and the NEW male. Not sure how this is all going to unfold. Doesn't appear to be much physical damage...but there is a fair amount of chasing going on.

FWIW,

Matt

[mwp]

12-29-06Haven't been paying too much attention to the RSB's lately, but it's worth mentioning that the aggression towards male #2 subsided a few days after introduction, and upon returning from our recent holiday away it appears that the two fish are now getting along without any issues. The male is still skinny..he takes frozen foods (brine, mysis) but hasn't really figured out the "feeding bowl" yet.

FWIW,

Matt

[mwp]

1-1-07 - This evening I sat and watched what is in essence our 2nd pair of Red Scooter Blennies (well actually watching the pairs of Mandarins, but the Scooters share the tank with Mandarin Pair #2). I'm happy to say that while still skinny, our #2 male RSB took down a few Formula 1 pellets this evening. Hopefully as the weeks go by he'll continue to feed well and put weight on.

I was surprised that despite his still emaciated condition, he's not above courting the female. I was further surprised that she's actually in fairly rotund condition...not necessarily spawning condition as I've come to recognize it in the Mandarins, but definitely on the plump side. She was thinner when I last recorded a spawn. Despite her apparent good condition, she had NO interest in the male's advances.

I gotta say I really miss our First Male...the dorsal fin on this younger male is hardly as impressive (considering he's small, barely larger than the female, whereas male #1 was probably 2.5 times as long and at least 4-6 times as massive as the female). I remember reading information that suggests that female Mandarins prefer to spawn with the largest males available. If this holds true to RSBs, then technically my choice for a replacement mate was a step down. I still have no clue what happened to our first male, and I haven't ever found a body (I suspect he inadvertently jumped and maybe our cat ate the evidence?).

FWIW,

Matt

[mwp]

1-3-07 - again sat and kinda watched...noticed more preliminary courtship but no dancing, and in the end nothing else came of it. I think it's gonna take some time yet.

Matt

[mwp]

1-7-07 - Since 9:45 PM central the RSB's have been dancing away...got vids, got pics...looks like it didn't take all that long to go from hating each other to a compatible couple The pump is off, the overhead MH is off, I'm leaving the abient room lights on for now so I can keep an eye on the tank (had to replace the fixture with a new one, so at the moment, no moonlights...). Worst case nothing will happen, best case, it'll be the first RSB spawn in a long time!

Matt