Breeding Journal, Species: Elacatinus oceanops

General
Species:  Elacatinus oceanops (neon gobby)
Social Structure:  single pair

Size of Individuals:  2" - 2 1/4"
Age of Individuals:  unsure
Date added to Tank:  September 2010

Broodstock Tank Details
Size of Tank:  20 gallon long
Substrate Details:  bare bottom
Filtration Details:  flow-through (sump with skimmer, micron sock, UV)
Water Changes:  Weekly 10%
Water Temperature:  80-82
Lighting:  T5
Lighting Cycle:  14 hrs on/ 10 hrs off
Other Tank Inhabitants:  a pair of assessors and a clownfish

Broodstock Feeding Details
Food Types:  frozen mysis & homemade 'mush' and otihime pellets
Feeding Schedule:  at least 2 x day

Spawning Details
Date of First Spawn:  1-13?; I found them on 1-17-2011 and they already developed the black eye spots
Spawn Time of Day:  Unsure
Dates of Consecutive Spawns:  1-20-2011, 1-28, (they spawn the day after I remove their previous nest) 
Courtship Details:  always together; sometimes rub up against one another
Egg Size:  tiny - much smaller than percula eggs (2mm per literature) 
Egg Color:  transparent at first and then black eye spot develops several days later
Egg Count:  100+

Hatch Details
Hatch Date:  1-19 & 1-20, 1-27 
Hatch Time of Day:  evening of the 6-7th day. As I place them into the hatching tank, they begin to hatch! Maybe the bright light and movement of the water stimulates them?
# Days after Spawn: 6 - 7 
Larvae Description:  very small and difficult to see in the green water; they swim with peculiar jerking movements.


Larval Tank Details
Temperature:  79-80
Size of Larval Tank:  20 gallon high
Substrate Details:  bare bottom
Other Tank Decor:  sponge filter
Filtration Details:  sponge filter
Lighting:  normal output floresent about 14" from top of water
Lighting Cycle:  14 hrs on, 10 hrs off
Water Changes:  slowly vacuum bottom every 3-4 day

Larval Feeding Details
Food Types:  rotifers and copepods
Feeding Schedule:  constant

Metamorphosis/Settlement
Date of Settlement Start:  2-11-11
Days after Hatch:  22 days
Date of Settlement End:  2-20-11 (5-8 days all settled)
Description of Fry:  Identicle to adults but still very small. They swim/jerk around less.

Grow-Out Tank Details
Temperature:  78-80 f
Size of Grow-Out Tank:  40 gallon breeder
Substrate Details:  bare bottom for easier scraping/cleaning
Other Tank Decor:  sometimes macro algae
Filtration Details:  flow through system part of my 380 gallon growout; sump, skimmer, UV and micron sock sometimes
Lighting:  T5
Lighting Cycle:  14 hrs on/10 hrs off
Water Changes:  weekly scraping/vacuuming; around 5-8%
Size at Transfer:  1" or after settlement
Age at Transfer:  30-45 days post hatch

Grow-Out Feeding Details
Food Types:  otihime, new life spectrum pellets, thawed mysis & homemade mush
Feeding Schedule:  at least 3 times per day

Additional Information
Miscellaneous Information(NO PHOTOS OR VIDEO): 



You will be required to provide photographic or video 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. PHOTOS AND VIDEO S MUST BE PLACED IN ADDITIONAL POSTS, NEVER IN THE FIRST POST IN A JOURNAL.

Doni Marie~

Adults
 

 

Doni Marie~

Male tending the egg mass

 

Doni Marie~

Awesome!  Great pics too!

Doni can you tell us a bit about your broodstock setup? Maybe some pics?

Chad Penney - MBI Council
Agis quod Adis

Thanks Arc Katana
 
Chad - their broodstock set up is one of 6 x 20 gallon long tanks; all plumbed together sharing a 55 gallon sump (skimmer, micron sock and UV).
I did find a photo but I can't post it... lol ... it was taken when the system had a horrible plankton bloom and the water was GREEN in every tank  I plugged the UV in and it cleared up in 2 days.

Doni Marie~

Sounds like it's time fora new picture
 
I'd love to see how you have everything setup. Personally how people setup there entire system is an important part of the whole process..

Chad Penney - MBI Council
Agis quod Adis

Too cool!

Will you please describe the foods you're offering the broodstock in more detail?
 
It looks like the eggs were laid on the inside of a PVC pipe with a cap on the end.  Is it 3/4" diameter?  How long?  Does the cap have holes drilled in the end?
 
I've read that neon goby larvae require many more rotifers than clowns.  Has this been your experience also?
 
Thanks very much for sharing your journal.   I'll be following along closely.  Good luck!

Nothing fancy.. just 6 x 20 gallon longs plumbed together.

The very top left tank is not there right now.

Doni Marie~

I try to feed a variety of foods including pellets and frozen. New Life Spectrum pellets, frozen: brine, mysis, mysids, bloodworms, homemade mush, nutramar, etc.. just about any frozen stuff my LFS sells.
The PVC is larger than 3/4"... 2" I think? I don't know the length... maybe 6-8 " or so. Yes, there are holes drilled into the endcaps to allow some water flow.
I am not qualified to answer any questions regarding the fry requirements as I have not yet succeeded in raising any.
This is my first go.

Doni Marie~

Only a few of the eggs hatched. I need to research that a bit more... I tried using the clownfish aerating method but it didn't work too well. Maybe 10-20 hatched?
 
Here is a video I took yesterday of one of the fry.

Doni Marie~

There are around a dozen doing good still
Since there are so few, I don't have to add rotifers to the water which is nice. 
 
Tonight I added the 2nd spawn to the same nursery tank. As I did, the eggs started hatching! It was cool to watch.  

Doni Marie~

So you're doing 2 batches in the same larval tank, 12 day age difference?

Yes.  Utilizing a 20 gallon rearing tank for only 10-12 fry is not practical so I added the next batch to it.

Doni Marie~

CLICK to watch the video.
Taken today. It is very difficult to video these little guys.

Doni Marie~

Cool video
 
Like the setup- simple, and all in one stand- accessible without taking up too much floor space.
 
How are the babies doing? Do you notice a difference between the 2 hatches in the same tank? (too young I assume to have any differences... but do you think there will be bullying problems in a few weeks as they grow?)

Michelle  
 

So far so good. There are a LOT of fry and impossible to count.
I can easily tell the older from the younger. The older are about 3 x larger but still look exactly the same (clear with 3 reflective spots). They also swim much better. They can swim accross the tank easily while the younger ones still 'jerk' about.

Doni Marie~

Good job. I've always wanted to do these but I've had tons of problems getting a compatible pair.

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

Just get several and put them together. You'll get a few pairs

Doni Marie~

Today I noticed one has settled at 22 days post hatch.
 

Doni Marie~

Nice job! 

Congratulations!!!

Thanks!
There are about 10 now that have settled and look just like minature adults. They are soooo cute!
I still have the younger ones that should begin settling in a week or so!
It will be neat to see a tank full of young neons

Doni Marie~

What type of copepods are you feeding?

http://www.fishtalpropagations.com/#!home/mainPage
"Making captive breeding easier."

Apocyclops panamensis and another unknown copepod.  I should try to get an ID on the unknown....

Doni Marie~

I took some photos of them today
30 days post hatch!!
 

Doni Marie~

Very cool! How many do you have total from this batch?
 
I'd like to try these again. My first attempt didn't go well since I got unhealthy specimens.  Can you offer any suggestions on getting a M/F pair? Witt was kinda vague on how to tell the sexes apart.
 
Also, I understand that these fish have a relatively short life span. Have you run into that problem yet? 

http://www.fishtalpropagations.com/#!home/mainPage
"Making captive breeding easier."

This is actually two batches; one with a dozen initially and the second with over 100.  I only have 20-25 that are post settlement.  Once they settled, they become very territorial and kept all the non-settled younger fry in the corner. I lost many each night to starvation (I think).
 
You should try again Tal. Purchase 4-6 and place them in a small tank (maybe 10-15 gallon) and watch for aggression. Remove any that are getting chased. You'll end up with a pair.  Put the remaining together and repeat. 
 
I've read that they do not live long either   I've not lost my breeders yet. I think they were young when I got them because they have certainly grown.

Doni Marie~

I probably will try again when budget allows and I can find nice specimens. I really want to work with yellow Assessors though so that's eating up my budget at the moment.

http://www.fishtalpropagations.com/#!home/mainPage
"Making captive breeding easier."

Unfortunately they all just fought and killed each other.

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

I am surprised how well mine get along. There are about 30 (were 50+ before I sold some) or so in a 40 gallon breeder filled with red macro algae and about 100-120 clownfish juveniles.  Some appear gravid now that they are matured!

Doni Marie~

They're still getting along well in the 40 gallon. Very little chasing if any.
They are around 4.5 months post settlement now and some are almost as large as their parents.

Doni Marie~

Stunning Doni great work.

Thank you Duck. Nice avatar!

Doni Marie~

nice pictures of a worthy accomplishment!

I should keep better records.  I gave one of the gobies that stopped breeding to a friend last year. She still has it. We thought it would die in year two, of old age, but it's still keeping on.  I raised a few batches of neons from its brothers and sisters, but none of my babies grew up to spawn for me, and I tried with several pairs.  I wonder if they were all one gender, or the cues to switch to the other gender were not there with fish from the same nest….just guessing.
 
I am trying again with a fresh batch of neons from ORA.  Nice fish.

Thanks!
Interesting theory Kathy about them not pairing up from the same spawn. I'll try to pair up a few of mine and see if they spawn.

Doni Marie~

did they?
 

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