Blenny mating?

[sabeypets]

This is brilliant. Thank you so much for taking the time to reply.
Was sold as a red wine scooter but I’m not entirely sure how to distinguish.
I’m woefully ill-equipped this time around, but have got an egg tumbler coming today which may help.
I can’t see above approx time to hatch, I have in a plastic container with an air stone inside the tank what I think are viable eggs. Clear, 1mm balls - But not sure. Any idea how long I should keep them? I heard they hatch within 24 hours

They should hatch within 24 hours, keep in a small plastic container in the dark, room temp, No air with the eggs, I don't use air with any positivity buoyant eggs. I Defiantly wouldn't use a tumbler, but If you do let us know how it worked out. The eggs I collected were Whitish, its possible you have a young pair learning to spawn and the clear ones didn't get fertilized. They may also viable and just a little different color than I have seen.

 

[dbaulch83]

Lol. Did exactly the opposite to this pretty much. Eye roll. What’s room temp where you are? Here it can vary between 18-21C this time of year. That ok? Seems cold

 

[dbaulch83]

So followed the advice… can you take a look at this? Ignore the brine as they were in there before I was told it was a bad idea but there seems to be something other than brine shrimp. Could it be scooter fry? Possible it’s larger brine but the shape and movement is different. If you think so.. what next? Need to get a tank I suppose?

 

[dbaulch83]

Ok. Back in the tank… hope it works Rotifiers on the way brine and phyto in there just now

 

[sabeypets]

They defiantly look like fish larvae, get some rotifers in there. Room temperature usually around 78F.

 

[Fungusamongus]

So awesome. Congratulations. What a beautiful mating dance they did. Thanks for sharing this experience.

 

[dbaulch83]

Thanks again! Yeah deffo little fishys! So difficult to find rotifers small enough (in the UK - anyone know?) but got some arriving today. In the end they did this dance nightly for a week so have lots of eggs (some hatched last night) so hoping the rotifers arrive in time. Hope it’s regular, throwing so much food in for these guys to keep them going

 

[Fungusamongus]

Maybe someone in the UK reef club knows more about local sourcing. Maybe tag someone you know in the group or post in a club thread. You got this!

 

[dbaulch83]

Ok. Rotifers in and the little ones went from being pretty still to going crazy. Posted a vid hope you can see. Excited!

 

[dbaulch83]

Any advice on feeding frequency?

 

[Rmckoy]

Wow !
following along to see them grow

 

[The WaterSide Fishing]

Awesome

 

[dbaulch83]

So something isn’t going to plan… need some advice. Still getting eggs so thankfully can keep trying new things. I have an isolation box in my tank with the holes covered with netting and a small piece of live rock in case they want to hide. I’m assuming as it’s in the tank I won’t need to do water changes and don’t need an air stone (let me know). There’s little flow in there. Fed Rotifers on the latest hatchlings but their numbers seem to dwindle. How often should I feed? Anything in the above that’s a red flag? They may just be hiding but doubt it. More eggs will hatch tomorrow…

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Fed Rotifers on the latest hatchlings but their numbers seem to dwindle.

As was mentioned in one of the links I shared, rotifers have almost not nutritional value for these larvae, and when fed just rotifers, the survival rates are ~3-5% by day 11-12 post hatch. If you want a decent survival rate, you need copepods (and the only small enough copepods regularly available on the market right now are Parvocalanus crassirostris).

In other words, it’s what you’re feeding that’s the problem, not necessarily how often. (Based on other fish that I’ve looked at in a bit more depth, though, I’d guess you’d get the best survival by feeding three times a day.)

 

[dbaulch83]

Ok. Need a filter, there are copepods in the mix but unsure of size. What about rotifer food perhaps? Worth a try I suppose. More eggs hatching this eve

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Ok. Need a filter, there are copepods in the mix but unsure of size. What about rotifer food perhaps? Worth a try I suppose. More eggs hatching this eve

Rotifers feed on phytoplankton like copepods do (though Parvocalanus crassirostris needs T-Iso [Isochrysis galbana] phytoplankton specifically). Phyto will not feed the fish larvae; the two foods I've seen used to successfully feed/rear these larvae are Parvocalanus crassirostris nauplii and some unidentified ciliates (some ciliates may be nutritionally appropriate while others may not be, and ciliates may be quite difficult to come by).

Parvocalanus crassirostris really is your best bet for raising these guys at this point.

 

[dbaulch83]

Working on it. Have a culture and filter on its way - have to hope for the best when it arrives - might not have a high proportion of nauplii. Still going with the rotifers as it’s all I have but will also try 80micron fry food. New hatchlings last night and the proportion of successful hatches seems higher with an air stone in there. Professional set up eh
Hope the mating continues… day 10 now. Although last night the female did not succumb to the males charms. He tried bless him.

 

[b1llvance]

Being in Europe you have access (I think.... not too sure how the whole Brexit thing works) to a copepod egg that can be hatched on demand just like Brine shrimp. Its from a company called Algova in Germany. The copepod is Acartia tonsa and they are sold by the million. The stage one nauplii are a touch larger than Parvocalanus naups but still very small at 50-80 microns. There are aquaculture facilities on your side of the pond having great success with it. And best of all it takes one of the things you have to culture from a food chain standpoint out of the equation. You definitely pay for the convenience but I think it would be worth it.

 

[dbaulch83]

Being in Europe you have access (I think.... not too sure how the whole Brexit thing works) to a copepod egg that can be hatched on demand just like Brine shrimp. Its from a company called Algova in Germany. The copepod is Acartia tonsa and they are sold by the million. The stage one nauplii are a touch larger than Parvocalanus naups but still very small at 50-80 microns. There are aquaculture facilities on your side of the pond having great success with it. And best of all it takes one of the things you have to culture from a food chain standpoint out of the equation. You definitely pay for the convenience but I think it would be worth it.

This is brill. Deffo a back up plan if filtering cope culture doesn’t work. Also trying a selection of prepared foods and mixing rots, copes and prepared to see what combination works best. They’re still at it every night. Eggs every night. If anyone in the UK close to Guildford would like to take some and have a go then feel free to message me

 

[dbaulch83]

Also upgraded the set up haha