Breeding Journal, Species: Synchiropus occidentalis

General
Species:  Synchiropus occidentalis
Social Structure:  Pair
Size of Individuals:  5cm both male and female
Age of Individuals:  Unknown
Date added to Tank:  01/22/2013

Broodstock Tank Details 
Size of Tank:  Breeding setup approx 1000L total.  Tank 380x610x390mm 67L 17.5US Gal 
Substrate Details:  Rocks, gravel, pots and pvc pipes 
Filtration Details:  Skimmer, UV, Macro Algae, Live Rock 
Water Changes:  100L Fortnight 
Water Temperature:  26.5C 
Lighting:  Power Compact 
Lighting Cycle:  7am to 7:45pm 
Other Tank Inhabitants:  Pair 1 - Skunk clowns, Pair 2 - Occy Pair  

Broodstock Feeding Details 
Food Types:  Spectrum Thera A+, Spectrum Salt H20 flakes, Enriched Brine Shrimp, Marine Green, Home Made Mash (prawn, pipi clam, white bait, squid, garlic, norrie etc). Occasional live brine shrimp.  Live rotifer, live amphipods and mysis, frozen mysis, small roe.
Feeding Schedule:  Morning and night.  Pellets followed 10 minutes later with frozen food. 
Pellets and larger frozen food are for other fish in tank.

Spawning Details
Date of First Spawn: 
Spawn Time of Day: 
Dates of Consecutive Spawns: 
Courtship Details: 
Egg Size: 
Egg Color: 
Egg Count: 

Hatch Details
Hatch Date: 
Hatch Time of Day: 
# Days after Spawn: 
Larvae Description:   
Consecutive Hatch Dates:     


Larval Tank Details
Temperature: 
Size of Larval Tank: 
Substrate Details: 
Other Tank Decor: 
Filtration Details: 
Lighting: 
Lighting Cycle: 
Water Changes: 

Larval Feeding Details
Food Types: 
Feeding Schedule: 

Metamorphosis/Settlement
Date of Settlement Start: 
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

(No Pictures or Videos in the Section Please)
Miscellaneous Information: 
Four fish were obtained.  One pair and one possible pair.
Pair 1 are inseparable and have spent their time at the LFS huddled together.  They were eating in the tank at the LFS.
Pair 2 seem to get along, though I am suspect if they are a pair.

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 Pair 1

 
Pair 2 Male front female back

 

Awesome!! Nice and fat too. Did you collect them yourself?

No I didn't catch them, they come from a very remote part of Western Australia.

There is some more info on reef builders about them and this batch being collected http://reefbuilders.com/2...t-australian-dragonet/

AWESOME, can't wait to see you tackle this! 

Nice! Good luck with them!

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

Beautiful fish, good luck.
 

Thanks for all the positive comments, everyone.
 
1 week in and both pairs are doing well, feeding well.
They are occasionally taking frozen food, but mostly hunting copepods, amphipods etc in the tanks.
 
I have lots of crushed rock about 1-1.5cm in piles to ensure that there is good amounts of food for them.
Each pair is in a different system to give maximum chances should there be some sort of issue.

What are your plans for egg collection and larval system, once they spawn?  Are your Bestiolina cultures up to speed?

I think these guys have 6-12 months growing ahead of them before I need to worry about collecting spawns etc.  Both pairs are on the small side.
 
In terms of collecting eggs, I have been working on a collection process with the tangs that is working ok.  Once I have it a it more refined, I was hoping that it would do the job.
 
In essence, its like a gutter on a fibreglass pool, whereby the tank water can gently lap over, this then drains to a central point. The eggs are then collected over mesh of an appropriate size for the eggs.
 
At the moment I am using two screens, one larger that will allow the eggs to pass, but keep out any debris (500-600um), then a finer egg collector at 50-75um to collect the eggs.
 
These are both large screens (20L salt bucket size) and only used during egg collection, so its a bit of a carry on, but lets me collect good volumes of floating eggs.  By keeping the water flow low, I haven't had any issues with the eggs failing to hatch, (if I collect them with a net made of the same material then back wash them, I am lucky to get 10% hatch with the tangs).
 
Im hoping to be able to use a similar process to collect the eggs.  I haven't really done much research into how others have collected mandarin eggs yet.
 
I should start reading though, so I know what to look our for in terms of their courting etc.
 
I have a pair of S.splendidus that will hopefully be ready to breed soon.  My hope is that I can learn from them whilst the S.occidentalis are growing.

Im hoping my last post was very wrong and these may be very good pictures.
 
A photo of the female from pair one on the day I picked her up

 
Some photos of her tonight

 

 

 

 
As you can see she if very, very fat.  Uncomfortable looking in fact.
For those that know, please tell me that this is her full of eggs.
 
Im concerned that this may be a bad thing.  She is eating very well and doesnt seem bothered, so Im hoping its a good thing.

Yes I would say that is her "hydrated, gravid, ripe"
 

How long is there likely to be between this point and spawn?

Normally in the evening just before lights out. It could be every evening.

great, thanks for the help.

Yes. Once they get into a rhythm and are eating lots of food the spawns will be every day.

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

Any news on these guys? I can't wat for them to reach the states.


Joe

There have been a few spawns now, but no hatches.
Every egg I have collected has not been fertalized as far as I can tell. They just go bad over two days or so.

I'm waiting on some taller tanks to be made to give them more room for spawning.
Once these are online, I'll put more focus into them.

Next time, when you collect the eggs, swish them around gently in the collecting vessel to increase contact between eggs and sperm.

I had a really bad experience a couple of days ago.

Went out to feed my broodstock in the garage and the rear door was open. This was odd as I keep it shut to keep the temperature up.
Every power point and light in the garage was turned off (except for one light that is difficult to find). This includes the air pumps, returns etc.

I have lost quite a few of my breeding pairs, including three WA mandarins, two pairs of regular mandarins and four varieties of clowns.

A few things were knocked over in the garage as well, so its obvious someone was in there.

I just dont understand why someone would do this.

Stay up to date with my breeding efforts:
Regal Tang RegalTangBreeding
Mccullochi Clownfish MccullochiClownfishBreeding 

Very sad to hear.
 

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

Wrong on every level. Sorry to hear that.

- Brandon AKA Jedi Knight

That's awful.  Some people just have to make trouble.  Sounds like you'll need to put in a security system.  Or a controller that can send you alarms.

Unbelievable. You have to wonder what would make a person do something like that.... Really sorry to hear.