Back after 7 months

[agsansoo]

Big surprise yesterday ! I came home from work and noticed eggs. My maroons stoped laying eggs for 7 months. Not really sure why, though I think it's because it's been warmer here in So Cal lately. It's about time these two started breeding again. Now the big mission, to try to keep these fry alive. My last 5 attempts were not successful.

[heap]

best of luck...i couldn't get any maroons to live beyond 3 days until i strained smaller and smaller rots into S-strainish cultures. dunno if you're having similar problems, but it'd be worth a try.

[da1jewfish]

doesn't look like very many eggs... especially since marroons can lay up to 1200. What are feeding the breeders?

[agsansoo]

heap, what is S-strainish cultures ? Your right, I had very few live past day three ! I had one go to about day 7.

da1, That's because the anemone is covering most of the eggs.

[Evansbr]

You may have had problems with prey density or water quality on the babies.. we've been able to get a couple hundred per nest just on L-strain rots.

[agsansoo]

Where do you guys get your rotifer from ? Reed Mariculture messed up my order ...

[Evansbr]

actually, reed.... also you could try Florida Aqua Farms or Sachs...
I haven't actually bought rots in about a year as I just have cultures going.. no one local has rots for you??

[agsansoo]

Originally posted by Evansbr
actually, reed.... also you could try Florida Aqua Farms or Sachs...
I haven't actually bought rots in about a year as I just have cultures going.. no one local has rots for you??

I'll check on the local forum ... Do you have a link for Sachs ?

[heap]

Originally posted by agsansoo
heap, what is S-strainish cultures ? Your right, I had very few live past day three ! I had one go to about day 7.

da1, That's because the anemone is covering most of the eggs.

it's a smaller strain. you can start with larger rotifers, and filtering cultures down to smaller and smaller sizes, or just buy s strain to start with.

i wouldn't say L's are what's keeping you from going past day 3 or anything...can't even say with any certainty that's what my problem was...i just know i offered them smaller food, and they lived.

their reputation for dealing w/ problems if you have any is absolute crap, but saltwaterfish.com sells s strain rots - smaller than i could get by filtering down L strains.

[agsansoo]

Thanks heap. Tried to order from saltwater.com but they have a minimum !
" For Live Goods orders a minimum order amount of $79.00". Not sure I want to buy $80 worth of rot's.

[Evansbr]

also look at Reeffrontiers.com toward the bottom there is a sponsor-- essential live feeds.. she sells s-strain rots, and alot of other feeds. So you dont have a problem keeping rots?
All our babies get only L-strain. how do you collect the babies?
you may have more survivors on S-strain, but we can get a couple hundred per nest on GSM. and for Sachs- just do a yahoo search. its sachs aquaculture. could be poor larval quality from the get go. or poor feeding of the rots?

[agsansoo]

Originally posted by Evansbr
also look at Reeffrontiers.com toward the bottom there is a sponsor-- essential live feeds.. she sells s-strain rots, and alot of other feeds. So you dont have a problem keeping rots?
All our babies get only L-strain. how do you collect the babies?
you may have more survivors on S-strain, but we can get a couple hundred per nest on GSM. and for Sachs- just do a yahoo search. its sachs aquaculture. could be poor larval quality from the get go. or poor feeding of the rots?

Thanks for the link, even though it seems she only sells copepods. I emailed her anyways.
I really don't have a problem with keeping rotifers. Just after my clowns stop laying egg for months, I let the culture crash. Not sure what I was doing wrong the first five attempts. The larval tank was crawling with rotifer. I will keep trying until I get it right !

[Evansbr]

http://www.oceanreefaquatics.com/
talk to Mario.. he stocks s-strain and can probably get them shipped to you... He is ORA on the sponsor list at reeffrontiers.com
He is great and has some real good sources for about anything.
tell him Brian from Portland sent you....

[Evansbr]

also when you had the rots in the larval tank were you feeding greenwater to the rots? Rots after a few hours are worthless as feed to larva if not fed.

[agsansoo]

Originally posted by Evansbr
also when you had the rots in the larval tank were you feeding greenwater to the rots? Rots after a few hours are worthless as feed to larva if not fed.

OK ... That's good to know. I wasn't feeding the rots once I placed them in the larval tank. I saw them swimming with the larvae. Will keep them well feed next time.

[Evansbr]

well there is definately one problem that will make a huge difference... starving rots are useless rots. I would recommend using live nanno in the larval tank, it helps feed rots, and helps keep the water quality up as it doesn't foul the water like dead nanno.

[agsansoo]

I was using dead nanno (Roti-Diet from reed).
I called Mario, and he's in the process of hooking me up with what I need. Thanks ! Yes, I told him Brian sent me. He remembered you guys (clown buyers) from Portland.

[heap]

Originally posted by Evansbr
well there is definately one problem that will make a huge difference... starving rots are useless rots. I would recommend using live nanno in the larval tank, it helps feed rots, and helps keep the water quality up as it doesn't foul the water like dead nanno.

yah, i can second that.

i got bored and did a couple of clutches split in two for comparisons sake. i didn't get out the beakers and the lab coat, so i realize it isn't a great experiment or anything, but it was enough of a difference that i stopped using algae paste to feed the rots in the larval tank. averaged over 4 clutches split in two, the larval tank that was fed live phtyo had a 20% greater survival rate than the larval tank fed paste.

the reproduction rates of the rotifer cultures themselves was much higher w/ the paste, so i still use it...just not in the larval tank.

again, not saying is anything other than another anecdote for the pile, but i've had the same experience.

[Evansbr]

I drove 6 hours round trip to visit Mario's store.. and I must admit it was well worth it. He has an amazing selection. two species of live pods... stocks s-strain rots.... and when I had questions on the pods he called a marine biologist for me to talk to... on a weekend!!! I tried to talk him into moving the store to Portland but he wouldn't budge.
now the next question of why you had no luck, what was your water additions, tank cleaning, filtering like in the larval tank??

[agsansoo]

Water addition was 1/2 to 1 gallon from my display tank. Tank cleaning was once a day after evening feeding. As for filtration, I used a sponge filter.

[Lifes A Beach]

You can get s-strain from SeaHorseSource.com and they're really nice people to deal with. I feed my rots Instant Algae Nanno 3600 from Reed Mariculture and have no problems keeping my fry fed. It's alot easier than growing phyto.

[Evansbr]

was that water addition per day? I wait a couple of days. then on day 3 I add slowly a gallon to the tank. I add every day. also cleaning waits till about day 3 unless real bad. I start with 10 gallon tanks with enough water to cover eggs. I have a songe filter that I keep in the sump so its seeded. then on about day 7 or so I put it in the tank and give it real low air. slowly turning up the sponge filter as they can handle it.

[agsansoo]

Yeah that was per day. Thanks for all the help. It looks like I won't have things ready for this batch of eggs. I couldn't get live rotifers in time to ship before the weekend. Fry should hatch out on Monday or Tuesday night.

[agsansoo]

Update:
Clutch number seven were laid on Thursday. So I've been busy trying to get everything ready this time. Starter kit from e-bay arrived today, and is setup. This shipment was smaller then I thought it would be. I know ...It's a starter kit. More rotifers should arrive tomorrow from Seahorsesource.com. Two batches of s-strain rotifers and live algae starter cultures and a bottle of dead algae just in case.

[agsansoo]

These should hatch out on Wed. night.