Breeding Journal, Species: Ecsenius bicolor

General
Species:  Ecsenius bicolor
Social Structure:  pair
Size of Individuals: ~2.5 inches 
Age of Individuals:  Unknown, wildcaught
Date added to Tank:  Early May 2014

Broodstock Tank Details
Size of Tank:  20 gallon high attached to a 200+ gallon system
Substrate Details:  None
Filtration Details:  Live rock, live sand, bioballs, protein skimmer
Water Changes:  As needed
Water Temperature:  ~80F
Lighting:  Fluorescent strip light
Lighting Cycle:  6AM-9PM
Other Tank Inhabitants:  Amphiprion clarkii pair

Broodstock Feeding Details
Food Types:  Frozen mash, pellets, live blackworms, mysis, enriched brine shrimp
Feeding Schedule:  At least twice a day

Spawning Details
Date of First Spawn:  Unknown, eggs first noticed 5-12-2014 
Spawn Time of Day:  Unknown
Dates of Consecutive Spawns:  5-12-2014, 5-21-2014, 5-24-2014 
Courtship Details:  Female hovers mid-water column and male will dart out of his den, charge at the female, then dash away while doing an exaggerated "bob-and-weave" swim
Egg Size:  ~1mm, but not measured
Egg Color:  Yellowish-clear when first laid, darken as eyes develop
Egg Count:  Not able to count due to location (90 degree elbow) but estimate hundreds

Hatch Details
Hatch Date:  5-27-2014
Hatch Time of Day:  After lights out
# Days after Spawn:  6 or 7
Larvae Description:  Black, large pectoral fins, large head that makes them look bullet shaped, ~3mm with the general appearance of something between a dottyback and clownfish larva.
Consecutive Hatch Dates:      

Larval Tank Details
Temperature:  ~80F
Size of Larval Tank:  17 gallon BRT
Substrate Details:  None
Other Tank Decor:  None
Filtration Details:  None
Lighting:  Fluorescent strip light
Lighting Cycle: 
Water Changes: 

Larval Feeding Details
Food Types:  Mainly L strain rots (with a strain possibly mixed in as well), few Apocyclops may be present as well
Feeding Schedule:  Constant

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: 



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Here is the female looking a bit plump.  I suspect they started spawning about this time (up to a week ago)

 
Here is the male in his PVC cave.  This is NOT the cave they spawn in

Notice his tail is darker/black on the top and bottom edge.  The female does not have this, as you can sort of see in this picture:

(the female is the one swimming up, the male is in the PVC)

Last night I noticed some eggs in one of the 90 degree elbows, and I only thought to check because suddenly the female was noticeably skinnier. The ones I first noticed were clearly several days old already since eye spots/pigment were already developing.  Then I noticed a boatload of newer eggs that were still clear/yellowish.  

 
I pulled them and put them in the fish bowl orb with 1 gallon of broodstock water and 1 gallon of new ASW and put a piece of rigid airline tubing down into the elbow and set it to bubbling.  


 
Some of the newer eggs are laid within the area of the older eggs.  I think they ran out of room in the PVC elbow!  In any case, there was no hatch last night, but I'm hoping tonight there will be one.  They look nearly ready.

I think the set up I had wasn't great to induce a hatch.  I'm guessing they are overdue at this point.  This morning I gently rubbed the airline tube against the eggs and some larvae popped out, so I think they should have hatched Tuesday night.  There are the newer eggs and I will probably try the "agitating with the rigid tubing" trick again to get them to hatch better.  
 
For the few that hatched, I added some S rots and live Iso.  If there are any still alive tonight I will try to get some pics.

Found a larva


Look at those fins! It's just the cutest little thing

I never got a good hatch. I even tried scraping eggs off and tumbling and didn't get a good hatch. For the next nest I think I will use the snagger and let them hatch in the broodstock tank. The female is looking very plump, so the next spawn should be soon, if it hasn't already happened. I'll have to check the PVC pieces tonight.

This morning the female was noticeably thinner. The last time I saw her last night, she still looked rather plump. So perhaps they spawned promptly at lights on this morning. I poked around in the PVC tubes and found that they had spawned in an elbow piece again and once again, there was a nest of eggs that are several days older and also the new nest/eggs. So they seem to spawn at least twice within a few days. I may add a capped PVC den so they stay out of the elbow (hopefully. I will put a snagger in there to collect the larvae rather than try to artificially hatch them again.


You can't see the new eggs because they are on the inside top of the PVC.

Hatch last night caught in the snagger. Not huge, and it's possible some hatched the night before and I didn't notice. Perhaps 50 or so were caught. I put them in the fish bowl orb with broodstock water, rotifers, live Iso, RGComplete and rigid airline for aeration.

Well, most are dead. Maybe all of them even, I haven't checked since about midday. My guess is that it's mainly due to transfer loss or an environmental problem. There should be another hatch soon, and they spawned yesterday (morning, I believe, but they keep spawning in that elbow so it will be difficult to artficially incubate/hatch the eggs. I will probably pull the elbow tomorrow regardless, and in that way force them to spawn somewhere else (that is hopefully easier to aerate the eggs). Tonight I'll be running the snagger.

I pulled the PVC elbow today to try to artificially hatch again.  I used a piece of rigid tubing and an airstone.  The rigid airline is holding the airstone on the bottom of the elbow.  The elbow is (was?) with one outlet pointing up.   So the air goes out the side and up and out the top as well.  (I hope that sort of explains it).  In any case, hopefully all the eggs are getting some flow.  I'm not sure when they are supposed to hatch, so I will be on watch for a few days probably.  I didn't sterilize the eggs because I didn't have time today.  Perhaps next time I will do that as well.  
 
Hopefully now they will spawn in a better spot since all the 90 degree elbows are gone.

Hatch last night! And they larvae look pretty good, I think.



Not the best pics, but it's all I had time for this morning. I will try to get close-up pics tonight sometime. They look so goofy to me with their giant pectoral fins

I put some live Iso, RGComplete, and L strain rotifers (that may also have some Apocyclops and S strain rotifers in it as well since I just took from the container I tried them in last time). They are in a BRT with 4-5 gallons of water for now.

Pulled a couple for pics this evening. I *think* that's good in the gut, but I'm not quite certain what an empty gut looks like, so...




The rotifers seemed thin tonight so I added more and also more live Iso. There are some dead ones on the bottom, but still plenty that are alive and cruising (sort of awkwardly) around.

great !!
 

tu quoqué mi filii ........argggghh !!

Any updates?!

Great journal, I am following with interest! I have a pair of Ecsenius Midas that have been spawning since May 2013. I wrote a journal here on it. Tried many times with different foods including s- rotifers and couldn't get healthy looking larvae past day 8, losing some everyday. They are still spawning but I've noticed less larvae hatching and they're not as strong and large as before. Possibly broodstock diet. I'd love to hear updates?

Any updates sham peach? Are they still spawning?

Sorry, typeO, Shannpeach.