Breeding Journal, Species: Pseudochromis cyanotaenia

Wow, this is happening quickly!  All but two of the larvae are now hugging the bottom.  Most of them are looking quite disoriented.  I think they are all settling.  Strangely, the two that are still swimming laps are two of the largest ones.  Another 24 hours should be very informative about what is happening.  I still haven't lost any of them yet.

Well, the last 24 hours have been a bit too exciting.
 
First, I had my first death in quite a while yesterday morning -- the smallest one had died, which was not a surprise.
 
Then, I noticed a HUGE outbreak of hydroid medusae in the BRT!!!!  Dozens and dozens of them.  Very tiny, but all over the place.  I have some very old Panacure granules (Expiration date back in 2011), and so I went ahead and dosed, but 24 hours later, I'm still seeing live, tiny medusae, so I think my Panacure is too old to be effective.  I've been pipetting them out whenever I see them, and as of this morning there are very, very few left, so maybe as long as I am diligent, I'll get this batch through.
 
Last night, there were only two larvae left that were wanting to do laps, but they both were acting strangely.  Unlike the past week, where they were doing fast, strong laps at the very outside edge of the BRT, these two were doing weak laps kinda around the standpipe, often bumping into the standpipe, and they were also swimming with a "list" to one side.
 
This morning I also found 3 of the largest larvae dead on the bottom.  Probably two of them were the two listers from last night.
 
The remaining fish have been close to impossible to see.  I know they are there, because they turn very white when they die, and are very easy to see.  The live Iso continues to keep the water quite "green".  I decided it was time for a water change and bottom vacuuming, and I did so, but wanted to find all the larvae first, so I removed the PVC caves, turned off the airstone, and let things settle for a few minutes.  To my surprize, what I found is three settled juveniles, and two more that are in the process of settling!  After the 4 deaths in the last 24 hours, this is two more fish than I thought I had!  These fish are very, very calm, though.  Just resting on the bottom, but they are aware if I approach with the airline when vacuuming.  After the bottom cleaning, I put the PVC back in, turned the airstone back on, and started dripping in clean replacement water.  We'll see what happens in the next day or two:  Either I'll have some settled juveniles that will probably make it, or else I'll lose them all.
 

I sympathize.  It must be the season.  I have them too, big time.

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It was the latter.  They all died on me yesterday.
 
Oh, well, at least I can honestly say that I have learned a great deal during this run.
 
There was another event for me with this species yesterday:  The parents had another successful spawn!  This time, even though they were clearly eager to spawn, I waited until about 1:00 PM to open the gate.  The female was in the male's PVC cave within just a few seconds this time.  I think that, on the day they are ready to spawn, if I give them the opportunity too early in the day, it spoils things, by frustrating the male, who then ends up getting angry, and he then "spooks" the female with his attitude.  Waiting a couple of more hours until she is really just about to "burst" seems to be the key.
 
Maybe I'll get another chance to try to improve my larviculture technique in a few days.
 
This avocation often is an exercise in slow, small improvement in the wake of repeated failure, isn't it?  When contemplating my marine breeding efforts, I am often reminded of the Thomas Edison quote, "I have not failed, I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."

Do you think they died because of the hydroids, or because of something else?

 
Certainly a great way to sum it up.

--Andy, the bucket man.
"Not to know the mandolin is to argue oneself unknown...." --Clara Lanza, 1886

Welcome to my life in science.

check out Kathy's Clowns, llc website:
http://kathysclowns.com
Captive bred clownfish and more
(Wholesale to the trade.)

 
Sorry to hear of your misfortune. I'm a little late getting caught up on your posts... But it sounds like you're making positive progress with each hatch so I think there's a lot to be said for that. Lots of good insights and details in here.
 
 

"If everything is going good, you've obviously overlooked something."- Martin Moe, Jr