Breeding the The Striped Blenny (Meiacanthus Grammistes)

[pdisner]

If anyone would like a few of these, maybe try to breed yourself, please send me a PM. They’re not an expensive fish, but worth every penny because they have a lot of personality and are very animated. The only fish to make me laugh out loud, literally haha!

 

[pdisner]

Thanks for sharing progress, things are looking good! Can you describe your larval raising setup? What kind of filtration do you use? What's the water change schedule?

Just realized I didn’t answer your question about filtration, so heres the story on that! I started off by using A 10 gallon tank and would start off with around 5 gallons. I would add about a gallon a day. I would also incorporate the green water technique, using rotifers and copepods. I soon found out that it was difficult to keep good water quality after about a week. It’s also very difficult to siphon the bottom of these tanks without siphoning up a lot of larvae. You always check after taking water out to make sure that there is no larvae. They are difficult to spot so you have to look carefully. I soon grew weary ofTrying to keep my ammonia down and my nitrates. In One of the books I have, the Author goes into detail on how to DIY larval rearing system with central circulation. After getting the general concept, I pieced together a really great system. After cycling with the addition of nitrifying beneficial bacteria to break down ammonia and nitrates my water was very stable having no ammonia and very little nitrates. This is what I recommend, especially if you’re raising more than one specified of larvae. It is set up and works on the concept of a regular
Tank and sump. Here’s how I approached it:
For the tank I chose to go with a feed 20-30 gal feed tub that I picked up from a local tack and feed store. They can be purchased online as well. Normally used for feeding smaller horses, goats etc. these are usually stackable, wash very well and are very light. They are practically indestructible. I pay $12 apiece for these and they come in different sizes as well. I plan to buy a smaller one for my shrimp Zoea because they worked so well. You see, The reason that they work so well is because of the rounded corners Allowing the water flow to work for you. The round corners also prevent the wire VA from running into walls and hurting themselves leading to mortality. The water circulation is incredible and is a huge difference from a 10 gallon tank.
I’ve then plumbed The outflow with 1 inch PVC pipe, using a bulkhead. This ran down into this used HOB wet/dry hybrid sump. I found this at my LFS, which someone brought in for trade. Perfect timing as this was a great addition and worked perfectly in the space that I had. Inside, I used chaeto and dragons breath to help mop up extra nitrates that the bacteria don’t take up. The water then flows through a filter pad, runs over plastic balls for the wet/dry filtration. Under the water and continually submerged are ceramic balls which have a ton of surface area (i can’t rember name brand). Finally I used a 200gph utility pump to get it back up into the tub.
While I still needed to do the same amount of water changes, it significantly helped keep things stable. I also noticed that I had to add a lot more rotifers or slow the flow down using a ball valve.

The plastic tubing and valves I found at Ace Hardware. The plastic valve and connectors wet about 4$ each which was pricey, but perfect for low flow applications. The sponge that covers the outflow was taken from a sponge filter. It fits over the 1” outflow perfectly. I added another sponge on top of this as a safety precaution.
Well, I hope at least one person will learn and take away something from this. We should all learn from each other and take the best ideas from each person. That’s how I learn and apply.

 

[Larry L]

Just realized I didn’t answer your question about filtration, so heres the story on that!

Thanks for all the info, Paul, very interesting!

 

[reef lover]

Theyre so cute!! Good job!

 

[pdisner]

Thanks for all the info, Paul, very interesting!

My pleasure showing off my little baby fish. I really geek out on aquaculture [emoji851]. For my next post on the breeding forum, I will be trying to raise yellow clown goby larvae. I’ve been able to get them to spawn but can’t raise the larvae past a couple days. This means that theyre not eating. I’ve ordered a smaller species of rotifer and should be here this week. Here’s a pic of the eggs that the parents are laying every week! They take around for days to incubate and as you can see from the picture, they will turn silver as the eyes develop On the embryo. This is a sure sign that a hatch is eminent.

 

[pdisner]

This is the momma clown goby. She is already working on a new batch of eggs. Check out that belly!

 

[pdisner]

Theyre so cute!! Good job!

Aren’t they adorable?! I could sit and watch them eat forever. Their antics are even more amusing. Their spawning dance is really something to watch.

 

[lapin]

This is the momma clown goby. She is already working on a new batch of eggs. Check out that belly!

How did you find get a pair of these. When I have more than 1 yellow, only one is usually left after a few weeks.

 

[pdisner]

These are actually very easy to pair and breed believe or not. Just get two that seem like they tolerate each other. You’ll see them follow each other around. Buying separately can be done but not a guarantee that they’ll bond. With gobies they’ll change sex eventually, sit if like clownfish, but not completely. I believe that they can change back from what I’ve read.

 

[pdisner]

How did you find get a pair of these. When I have more than 1 yellow, only one is usually left after a few weeks.

So what happens exactly?

 

[pdisner]

Just want to show off one my AWESOME copepod cultures. They seem like they are a lot more prolific than I remember. I sourced my Tigriopus Californicus Copepods rom Reed. Chad must be juicing them with something because I’m seeing a lot better density. I’ve changed a few things that I never had done before like adding a clip on light, when before I was using ambient lighting only. I also added a heater to keep around 78. But I started with a small amount and in the course of 3 weeks, I’ve had enough to spread amongst all my tanks, start another culture and feed nauplii to larvae and juveniles. It’s a satisfying hobby. Here’s the video:

 

[pdisner]

This is one of the harvests that I was able to collect using a homemade airlift. It’s made from specific sizes of aquaculture mesh based on the size of zooplankton you’re tryin to gather. These are handy for breeding because it’s an easy way I harvest JUST the nauplii. It’s a great tool to have.

This same airlift technique can be applied to may diiferent DIY contraptions. I also have made a larvae or zoea (baby shrimp) collector.

I’m starting to breed mandarins now because I’ve got a solid system for the Copepods down that’s yikes great results. I am thinking up a plan to make a pelagic egg collector. If anyone has any tips on this I would welcome your input. Otherwise...I have a pdf article that cover the airlift tech in great detail and has instructions on some projects. They can all be adapted for your own needs quite easily. Just something that I thought would be as useful to everyone else here as it has for me.

 

[Larry L]

Hey Paul, nice collector design - where do you get your meshes from?

 

[pdisner]

How did you find get a pair of these. When I have more than 1 yellow, only one is usually left after a few weeks.

So if you want to breed clown gobies, I would suggest starting with a bigger species like the citrons or even the green clown goby may be a little bigger but not sure. I’ve tried many times and can hatch nearly all of them each time. The problem is they start dying off at sound day3 which leads me to believe that rotifers, even the smaller strain size, are way too big for mouth gape. The longest Ive ever kept them alive has been 5 days post hatch.
I have parvocalanus on my list to try next. They are hard to culture, at least for me. It involves growing live Isochrysis as a food source, which is notoriously harder to grow than other strains like Nannochloropsis.

 

[pdisner]

Hey Paul, nice collector design - where do you get your meshes from?

It’s hard to find, isn’t it? Well I don’t rembember exactly off hand. I’ll keep my eye open because I need to order some different sizes (smaller). I’m tryin to isolate some Apocyclopse nauplii and they’re a lot smaller. I thought i had enough of the correct size. Anyhow, I ended up having to order bulk only because I was in a hurry. I’m sure if you search some of the aquaculture supply houses like Florida Aquafarms or brineshrimpdirect.com for two examples. I personally like Fla. Aquafarms as they have pretty much everything you’d need, I just don’t remember seeing it there.
Of course if it’s just a small amount I can mail you some no big deal.
I’m not a business or anything like that and I don’t want to get talked to by any moderator, but I have a bunch that I can SHARE in different sizes. Just fits in reg envelope. What sizes did you need? I’ve got What are u thinking of building? JEEZ, I hope I’m not breaking any rules by offering....lol.

 

[Larry L]

I wasn't looking for anything in particular right now, just curious, but thanks!

I’m tryin to isolate some Apocyclops nauplii and they’re a lot smaller.

Chad at @Reef Nutrition told me he uses 90 micron screen on the intake, which will catch both the nauplii and the feces, and then 41 micron on the harvest container, then rinse in the harvest container to flush the feces out.

 

[pdisner]

I wasn't looking for anything in particular right now, just curious, but thanks!



Chad at @Reef Nutrition told me he uses 90 micron screen on the intake, which will catch both the nauplii and the feces, and then 41 micron on the harvest container, then rinse in the harvest container to flush the feces out.

Yes. He’s given me a pdf on that if you want me to share it with you if he didn’t already. It gave me some other ideas.

 

[pdisner]

Tonight is going to be a busy one. I’ve got blennies hatching all over the place, haha. Hopefully my clownfish will start spawning soon and I can work on larvae from a different species.

In the video, you’ll see that there is different sizes. The larger ones are a few days older. This is because I put a full tube of eggs that are ready to hatch into the larval rearing tub.

It takes 8 days for incubation and will hatch on the 8th night. If you look closely you can see the eyes peeking out. You can’t really tell in the pic but the eyes are actually golden in color. It’s so neat.
As soon as I transferred the eggs and placed them into a larval rearing system they almost immediately began to hatch. Never saw that before. Usually they hatch after lights out.
The larval tub drains into a sump and really keeps the ammonia and nitrates in check. There’s plenty of surface area for nitrification. I’ve got plastic bio balls and pourous balls made from soft stone. It is simply a horse feed tub I bought from a feed store which I plumbed with 1” pvc and a bulkhead. I slip a sponge from a sponge filter for the inside to keep everything where it’s supposed to be. It works just like a regular tank with a sump.

One problem with this system is that it will filter out your zooplankton if you don’t have the right sponge or aquaculture mesh over your output going to sump. It does a pretty good job keeping most of plankton in the tub if you’ve got it set up correctly.
Tonight, I have had to add more Rotifers to the tub.

Here’s a microscopic view of a rotifer in case anyone didn’t know what they look like. The big bugs are copepods. I also use copepods especially for difficult to raise larvae. They are the best first foods to use, if the larvae will accept it. Most larvae love Copepods, but sometimes can be to big for their mouth. That’s why the nauplii should be separated out and used vs adult.

Here’s my Tigriopus culture. They are one of the bigger species of Copepods. I feed the adults to my mandarin broodstock.

I use the greenwater method, just like how clownfish are raised. Keeping microalgae and nutrients available to the rotifers keeps them packed with the right nutrients. There are a few products out there for enriching your larval live food. It is highly critical that the larvae get the correct amount of nutrients for proper development. So by using the microalgae based enrichment, all the essentials are passed on to the fish when you feed them Rotifers that have been eating the enrichment all along. I use RG Complete (RotiGrow) from Reef Nutrition and is used by most Marine Ornamental Breeders. It’s got everything you need in one convenient bottle. It’s concentrated microalgae plus nutrients and other additives. This is also what I have been feeding my copepods and rotifers with. It works great.

 

[Surfzone]

Have you tried putting in a range of adult and naups and let the adults breed in the larval tank ?

 

[pdisner]

Have you tried putting in a range of adult and naups and let the adults breed in the larval tank ?

Well the culture buckets have really nasty water in there. Larvae require pristine water to survive. I’m going to explain as I go. So please read my posts carefully as there’s a lot of information that I’m trying to get that across to everyone concerned.
The nauplii should only be used, for good reason. Adults have a stringer exoskeleton and can be kind of rough on the larve’s digestive system. Nauplii are a lot slower than adults, thus easier to catch and consume.
Larvae will go after the adults and peck at them, from my observation. The larvae will go after the larger prey before attempting to catch & eat nauplii. This wastes energy/calories and could wear them down to the point of fatality.
Copepod Nauplii is a lot smaller and more tender than adults. If you are raising fish or other, try to use Copepods in your feeding regimens. The nutritional value is outstanding. Studies have shown that copepods even shorten the larval period and improve mortality rates.