Breeding Journal, Species: Pterapogon kauderni

General
Species:  Pterapogon kauderni
Social Structure: group  male/Female pair
Size of Individuals:  3"
Age of Individuals: unknown                
Date added to Tank: March 1, 2014 

Broodstock Tank Details
Size of Tank:  360 gallon
Substrate Details:  crushed coral
Filtration Details:  Live Rock, Skimmer, UV Sterlizer, Filter Sock
Water Changes:  once every couple of months
Water Temperature: 78 F                
Lighting:  Metal Halide, T-5s
Lighting Cycle:  8 hours on, 16 hours off
Other Tank Inhabitants:  Wrasses, Tangs, Clowns, Cardinals, Scooter Blennies

Broodstock Feeding Details
Food Types:  Frozen Brineshrimp, Mysis, and Krill
Feeding Schedule:  Twice Daily

Spawning Details
Date of First Spawn:  7-1-14
Spawn Time of Day: Late evening                
Dates of Consecutive Spawns: 7-1-14, 11-16-14,                
Courtship Details:  Male and female swim side by side.
Egg Size:  unknown, can't observe  
Egg Color:  light orange
Egg Count: unknown, can't observe 

Hatch Details
Hatch Date:  12-8-14      
Hatch Time of Day:  late evening
# Days after Spawn:  22 
Larvae Description:     Miniature of parent           
Consecutive Hatch Dates:    12-8-14,   1-11-15,      


Larval Tank Details
Temperature:  78F
Size of Larval Tank:  5 gallon
Substrate Details:  none
Other Tank Decor:  zip tie Urchin
Filtration Details:  Sponge filter
Lighting:  Ambient light
Lighting Cycle:  Ambient light
Water Changes:  50% daily

Larval Feeding Details
Food Types:  Newly Hatched Baby Brineshrimp
Feeding Schedule:  4 times daily

Metamorphosis/Settlement
Date of Settlement Start:  12-8-14      
Days after Hatch:  0
Date of Settlement End:  12-8-14      
Description of Fry:  Miniature of adult

Grow-Out Tank Details
Temperature:  78 F
Size of Grow-Out Tank:  5 gallon
Substrate Details:  none
Other Tank Decor:  zip tie Urchin
Filtration Details:  Sponge Filter
Lighting:  Ambient Light
Lighting Cycle:  Ambient Light
Water Changes:  50 % daily
Size at Transfer:  1/4"
Age at Transfer:  day 1

Grow-Out Feeding Details
Food Types: live Brineshrimp (all different sizes), Pellets        
Feeding Schedule:  4 times Daily

Additional Information

(No Pictures or Videos in the Section Please)
Miscellaneous Information: 



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He had another 22 more today. I put then in the same tank with their 1 month old siblings. Hopefully this will work??? 

Interesting to see the babies all in the black zip tie "urchin" and none in the white one. Do they hang out in the white one at all?

Yes, that is interesting. They did hang out in the white one, but preferred the black one so much more that I made another black one and took the white one out.

Keeping clutches together may make it a challenge for the younger ones to compete with the older sibs for enough food. May also make it harder to wean the older ones onto other foods if you have to keep feeding bbs for the youngsters. That said, it sounds like you have a nice productive pair of parents. Time to set up about a half dozen growout tanks!! Keep up the great work!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ken

Thanks for the reply Ken. Keeping them together has worked out well, I'm training them all on to pellets now. I have put a lot of time and effort in to these through the years and now finally success. But to get there I put 18 into my tank all at once, and Tonight 7 males are holding eggs, not bad 14 out of 18 paired off  (makes me wonder do they change sex or did I get really lucky?). I can tell each pair apart as they each have their own little "territory" in the tank. 

Another successful night 60 plus more babies!

More babies tonight, that is over 100 just in the last week!

Wow!  Now you have to start searching out buyers!  How many broodstock pairs do you have?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ken

I have 20 adults, and 8 of them are males that have held.
Another 35ish more babies tonight. Still 2 more males holding with about 1 more week.

Wow - that is a lot of babies !! Are all the adults in the same tank?

There are 18 in the tank together and one pair in the sump. 

Neat to see the "big tank" setup working out so well!

Thanks Matt
I have been unsuccessful with pairs in smaller tanks for years. It has been really neat watching them school when not spawning, and as soon as two pair off
(Male holding) they leave the school and hang out in there own "quite" little space. This project has been tons more successful than I thought it would be. I have well over 200 babies right now, and am already selling the oldest ones.

Congratulations, your persistence has really paid off ! Whats next?

Jake
We are all in this together

Thanks Jake,
Whats next? I have seahorses, dottybacks, shrimp, and maroon clowns.

 
I'll be waiting to see how its going. I am right in the middle of a move ! It will be several weeks before I even put water into my tanks.  If it all goes well I hope to do that a week from the weekend. So your projects are the best 'show' I have.
This shall change.
 

Jake
We are all in this together

Still getting a couple hundred of these a month.
  I have learned that a diet of NHBB for too long results in some kind of "Scare to death syndrome". Where they swim fast and erratically ramming in to others causing them to do the same thing, them stiffen up and sink to the bottom of the tank. Sometimes they recover sometimes they don't. I now feed pellets from day 1. 
  I also mixed 3 (over 100) different broods two weeks apart in age, about two weeks ago in a 10 gallon tank. I caught the biggest one snacking on one of the smallest, so they aren't against eating each other.
 
 

I have experienced the "Scare to death syndrome" with kauderni as well (also with ocellaris clowns when I took too long getting them weaned off of brine nauplii).  With the kauderni it was almost like a race to get them off of brine nauplii and onto something else before it started.  I used frozen cyclop-eeze until they could take frozen mysis.  I never could get them to take anything else.  They would suck in pellets and then spit them out.  You say yours eat pellets?!  What kind of pellets if you don't mind my asking?  

 
TDO, I start them on B1.

thanks!