Onyx Clownfish

4/7/2010

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.

Neon Gobies

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.

For anyone who's interested in spawning and rearing cleaner gobies, i would suggest reading The Complete Illustrated Breeder's Guide to Marine Aquarium Fishes

peppermint shrimp

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

05-17-2008

first 3 shrimp to settlement!