Breeding Journal DataSheet
This first post should be updated regularly to include new information as events take place or changes are made to your system
General Species: Elacatinus oceanops Social Structure: pair, other gobies present and not interferring
Size of Individuals: 1.5 inches long
Age of Individuals: unknown
Date added to Tank: 10/10/2009
Broodstock Tank Details Size of Tank: 8 gallons, quarantine tank
Substrate Details: bare, with 3/4 inch diameter PVC pipe piece
Filtration Details: overflow to bioball trickle, submerged foam pond filter, preinnoculated
Water Changes: 10% every 2 weeks
Water Temperature: 80
Lighting: ambient
Lighting Cycle: 14/10
Other Tank Inhabitants: 3 other E. oceanops
Broodstock Feeding Details Food Types: PE mysis, occasional bloodworms, enriched frozen brine shrimp, New spectrum small pellets.
Feeding Schedule: twice daily .
Broodstock will eat chunks that are bigger than their heads!
Spawning Details Date of First Spawn: 11/19/2009
Spawn Time of Day: morning
Dates of Consecutive Spawns: 11/28/2009, ...2/4/2010 first successfully raised
Courtship Details:Spawned inside a 3/4 diameter,
1.5 inch PVC pipe. Didn't look like a lot of eggs. Clear in color, eggs developed black eyes a couple of days before hatching. Male guarded and fanned the eggs. Later nests were larger and densely packed. Never witnessed a spawn. They happened between the evening feeding and the morning feeding.
Egg Size: tiny
Egg Color: transparent off white
Egg Count: hundred or so
Hatch Details Hatch Date: 11/25/2009,...,2/10/2010 first successfully raised
Hatch Time of Day: morning
# Days after Spawn: 6
Larvae Description: Second spawn: The gobies laid a really big nest. It was densely packed and covered an area about the size of a US quarter. The eggs are really small, so that's a lot of eggs. I tried the shaking method, and man was that fun! You shine a light on the eggs underwater, and the little swimmers just keep popping up. Unlike clownfish eggs, you can watch these guys hatch! Larvae dart around. Neon Gobies larvae have 3 bright spots when viewed from above; the eye, swim bladder and something on the caudal peduncle reflect light.
Larval Tank Details Temperature: 80
Size of Larval Tank: First attempt was a fishbowl kreisel submerged in a larger tank. There were many failed attempts. What worked for me was a black round tank 17 gallons, filled to 5 , sterilized with bleach and dechlorinated before larval addition, with a well screened central standpipe, draining to a bucket, sponge filter, small powerhead and UV.
Substrate Details: bare
Other Tank Decor: black
Filtration Details: a well screened central standpipe, sponge filter, and UV. Larvae are kept in a still tub with an airstone for a few days. After about a week, a slow circulation was started through the sump (bucket) using a choked-back powerhead in the bucket sump.
Lighting: 15 watt CFL 12 inches from water, under-cabinet light at night for the first few days
Lighting Cycle: 14/10
Water Changes: Water additions by drip only to fill the tank slooooowly to the overflow over many days. Top off to the bucket sump. Water changes were minimal and to the sump, so the larvae only experienced slow changes in water quality. It seems important not to do large water changes, as that coincided with larval death in the early attempts at raising these fish.
Larval Feeding Details Food Types: rotifers, rotifer diet. I start feeding nhbs at about a week and a half. I also sprinkle in just enough Otohime A to give them a taste, but I am never sure they are eating it. I also have them on a trickle recirculation and I filter the overflow through a plankton filter to capture the rotifers that go down the overflow. I really don't want rots in the UV filter. After a few weeks when I can see them eating the Oto, I stop the brine shrimp.
Feeding Schedule: continuos until Oto, then 4 x per day via auto feeder.
Metamorphosis/Settlement Date of Settlement Start: 3/10/2010
Days after Hatch: 30
Date of Settlement End: 3/14/2010
Description of Fry: black with neon blue stripes on both sides , larvae will stick to the sides of the tank frequently around time for metamorphosis.
Grow-Out Tank Details Temperature: 80
Size of Grow-Out Tank: 10 gallons
Substrate Details: none
Other Tank Decor: 3/4 sections of PVC pipe, hundreds of baby clownfish
Filtration Details: 100um filter bag, Bioballs, heater, broken UV
Lighting: ambient
Lighting Cycle: 14/10
Water Changes: 10% whenever
Size at Transfer: at least 1 inch
Age at Transfer: 6-8 weeks
Grow-Out Feeding Details Food Types: Otohime pellets
Feeding Schedule: 4 times daily from auto-feeder.
Additional Information Miscellaneous Information: You will be required to provide photographic evidence in this thread of each event submitted for the MBI Program.
If your thread does not contain these photos the MBI Committee will not be able to approve your reports.
<message edited by KathyL on Monday, November 14, 2011 6:32 PM>