My Larval fish traps make collecting invertebrate and fish larvae much easier. I've made and sold over 50 of these traps around the world in the last two years. could have sold more, but these traps are hand made and time consuming. lately I've improved the design of my traps, and developed better techniques for building them faster. If anyone is interested in breeding marine ornamental fish or invertebrates, you may need one of these larval fish traps. Traps can be sent anywhere in the world, and only cost 30$ USD plus shipping.
interested in buying one? contact me on Mofib (http://www.marinebreeder.org/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=232&t=7104) or email me at Vossen_2012@yahoo.com
The traps operate using an air lift to pull water into the trap. Larval fish and invertebrates are typically attracted to light when they are born, so they will come to the trap by means of the LED flashlight. When the larvae reach the LED flashlight, the air lift will suck them into the trap. Larvae are held in the holding section of the trap until your able to move them to the rearing tank. No more staying up till 2 AM waiting for your fish to hatch and collecting them by hand!
I got lucky enough to get involved in the opportunity to raise some onyx percula this week. The clownfish are kept at the Augsburg college, which is over an hours drive from where I live. After work today, I grabbed a cooler, bags, bucket with cover, and 5 gallons of new saltwater. I siphoned out 5 gallons of water into the bucket, and bagged up the tile, which the eggs were on. The bucket of water (with cover) went into the trunk, while the cooler (cover off) with the tile of eggs in a bag sat in the passenger seat next to me on the way home. It was late and dark out so I turned on all the lights in the car to ensure the eggs didn’t hatch on the way home.
After getting home, I added the 5 gallons of water to a 10 gallon tank that I use for rearing clownfish. The bag with the clownfish eggs was then floated for 15 minutes. After removing the tile from the bag, I put it in a shallow dish of tank water and took some photos under the microscope. A few eggs detached from the tile, and I was able to get a good photo of the egg from the side. .
UPDATE April 8th. Eggs did not hatch, and were taken over by fungus during the night.
I’ve spawned neon gobies about a year ago. Unfortunately my female passed away before I was able to raise some of her babies. This pair of gobies was just two random fish bought from the local fish store and I got lucky enough to get a pair. I currently have a pair of sharknose gobies, however I cant confirm if they are spawning at all. I’ve found no eggs, yet they have been together for months.
I have only tried once to raise peppermint shrimp, and succeeded with raising 5 total shrimp. I did a bit of research before attempting the shrimp by reading How to Raise & Train Your Peppermint Shrimp, 2nd Edition. This book has been a valuable reference tool while raising peppermint shrimp. I know raising 5 shrimp is not impressive, however it was my first try and those 5 shrimp survived a tank crash, as I was using the water from my reef tank to do water changes on them.
The aquarium I used was very basic. I had a 10-gallon aquarium, with all the sides painted black except the front. For water movement, I had an air stone in the corner. The larval shrimp were fed 2-3 times per day, with frozen foods such as cyclopeeze, brine shrimp, and mysis shrimp. For the first few weeks, cyclopeeze was the main food, and brine shrimp was fed a few times a week. After the shrimp grew, they were fed brine shrimp and mysis shrimp. It was easy to feed them large food items because they would carry it around and chew on it, sometimes up to 5 larval shrimp pulling on the same brine shrimp. Another advantage of using frozen foods was that the shrimp would often pick up the left over food off the bottom of the tank. Water changes were a daily chore, starting with a siphoning of the bottom to remove uneaten food. If algae growth was present on the bottom or sides, I would scrape algae first before siphoning. The greatest challenge is not siphoning up a larval shrimp that you’ve been working 50+ days on. I used a rigid air hose and flexible silicone air hose to do the siphoning. Water was dripped back into the larval tank from above. I used old tank water from my reef as new water for the larval tank.
still in the larva catcher. that "mass" just left of the center is all peppermint shrimp.
03-02-2008
03-19-2008
04-08-2008
this picture shows the pleopod buds that are forming on the tail
. This book has been a valuable reference tool while raising peppermint shrimp. I know raising 5 shrimp is not impressive, however it was my first try and those 5 shrimp survived a tank crash, as I was using the water from my reef tank to do water changes on them. 
