Breeding Journal, Species: Synchiropus stellatus "Red Scooter Blenny"

Author Message
mPedersen
  • Total Posts : 3450
  • Reward points : 1376
  • Joined: 2/27/2009
  • Location: Duluth, MN, US
Breeding Journal, Species: Synchiropus stellatus "Red Scooter Blenny" - Monday, February 1, 2010 12:17 AM
Breeding Journal DataSheet for Synchiropus stellatus


General
Species: Synchiropus stellatus
Social Structure: non-pairing, non-monogamous, pair spawners
Size of Individuals: I kept multiples
Age of Individuals: always unknown (wild caught fish)
Date added to Tank: the first RSB's I bought were in May of 2006.

Broodstock Tank Details
Size of Tank: 24 gallon nanocubes
Substrate Details: live sand     
Filtration Details: stock filtration with a Remora C skimmer
Water Changes: 25% weekly
Water Temperature: 78-82F
Lighting: Metal Halide
Lighting Cycle: 12 hours on, on timer
Other Tank Inhabitants: too numerous to mention

Broodstock Feeding Details
Food Types: Frozen Enriched Adult Brine Shrimp, Frozen Mysis, Pellet foods (Formula 1, small pellet, is the most readily accepted)
Feeding Schedule: multiple feedings per day

Spawning Details
Date of First Spawn: 10/29/2006
Spawn Time of Day: 11:05 PM
Dates of Consecutive Spawns: not fully recorded, but assuming they spawn frequently like all other Dragonettes
Courtship Details: at dusk, male displays dorsal fin to female, pair goes though multiple spawing ascents before finally release eggs at the apex of a rise.
Egg Size: 0.8 mm
Egg Color: clear
Egg Count: maybe 100?

Hatch Details
Hatch Date: 10/30/2006
Hatch Time of Day: afternoon
# Days after Spawn: less than 1
Larve Description: prolarvae, no eyes, gut, mouth etc..


Larval Tank Details
Temperature: 82F
Size of Larval Tank: probably a 10 gallon
Substrate Details: none
Other Tank Decor: none
Filtration Details: none
Lighting: standard 10 gallon strip light
Lighting Cycle: probably 18 hours on, on timer
Water Changes: none

Larval Feeding Details
Food Types: rotifers
Feeding Schedule: greenwater technique (constant)

Metamorphosis/Settlement
Date of Settlement Start: N/A at this time...
Days after Hatch:
Date of Settlement End:
Description of Fry:

Grow-Out Tank Details
Temperature:
Size of Grow-Out Tank:
Substrate Details:
Other Tank Decor:
Filtration Details:
Lighting:
Lighting Cycle:
Water Changes:
Size at Transfer:
Age at Transfer

Grow-Out Feeding Details
Food Types:
Feeding Schedule:

Additional Information
Miscellaneous Information:

Red Scooters have been one of my most accident-prone fish...I've lost multiples due to jumping.  People usually don't think of "mandarins" and "scooters" as jumpers, but the reality is that when HEALTHY and paired, they are prone to leap from the tank during these spawning rises.  Needless to say, it took me a while to make the connection between disappearing Dragonettes and the fact that I had an open-topped tank.  Lesson learned.  COVER YOUR DRAGONETTE BREEDING TANKS!

I spent a fair amount of time playing around with Red Scooter Blennies.  I have multiple threads to reference:

Pair RSBs on Reef Central - http://www.reefcentral.co...howthread.php?t=841804
My First Breeding Log for Red Scooters, on Reef Central - http://www.reefcentral.co...s=&threadid=960292
My second Breeding Log for Red Scooters, on MOFIB - http://www.marinebreeder....ic.php?f=176&t=989

Some highlighted pictures from the various efforts:

One of our first female Red Scooters


One of the first male Red Scooters


Courtship...


Spawning rise


0 hours post spawn at 60X


0 hours post spawn at 200X


0 hours post hatch at 60X


66 hours post hatch at 60X


97 hours post hatch at 60X



 

<message edited by mPedersen on Tuesday, February 16, 2010 11:33 PM>

mPedersen
  • Total Posts : 3450
  • Reward points : 1376
  • Joined: 2/27/2009
  • Location: Duluth, MN, US
Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Synchiropus stellatus "Red Scooter Blenny" - Wednesday, February 17, 2010 12:09 AM
Updated this one with all sorts of pix.  So far,the ultimate end story has a tragic end...female jumped even with eggcrate on the top of the tank.  Then we moved, and well, Red Scooters (and regular Scooters) like to bury themselves when scared...so I neglected to sift through the sand, totally forgot about the male in the move, and basically killed him during the drive.  I'll literally have to start over from scratch if I ever circle back to these!

Fishtal
  • Total Posts : 5467
  • Reward points : 2908
  • Joined: 8/31/2006
  • Location: Waterford, MI, US
Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Synchiropus stellatus "Red Scooter Blenny" - Wednesday, February 17, 2010 12:14 AM
That just bumms me out...
http://www.fishtalpropagations.com/#!home/mainPage
"Making captive breeding easier."

Umm_fish?
  • Total Posts : 2835
  • Reward points : 953
  • Joined: 11/4/2009
  • Location: Boulder, CO, US
Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Synchiropus stellatus "Red Scooter Blenny" - Wednesday, February 17, 2010 11:24 PM
That is too bad. They really are pretty little fish. I wonder why they don't get as much attention as the green mandarins?
--Andy, the bucket man.
"Not to know the mandolin is to argue oneself unknown...." --Clara Lanza, 1886

mPedersen
  • Total Posts : 3450
  • Reward points : 1376
  • Joined: 2/27/2009
  • Location: Duluth, MN, US
Re:Breeding Journal, Species: Synchiropus stellatus "Red Scooter Blenny" - Thursday, February 18, 2010 11:37 AM
Andy, they retail for more too, so out of the 4 main Dragonette species, they have the most potential for sales.  When you think about what the import too, they tend to be smaller than say your typical market sized mandarin.  All in all, RSBs are my best pick for breeding of a Dragonette species.