Breeding Challenge- discussion

[damer]

ok here we go.

the winner of the poll, although it was a small poll was Gobiodon sp.

do we want to actually decide on a species or leave it open? im not fussed either way.

Competition? if we make it a competition we need to make it known to the the PC&S team that we are, and maybe i could ask for some sponsors for prizes.

could also be a good chance for those that import different food to give it us to try it out.

anything else you can think of?

start looking for broodstock.

according to Matthew Wittenrich's book, a 5-10 gallon bare tank is fine, and they will spawn in small pots.

Could we choose a "runner up" from the three with 14% of the poll? Those fang blennies seem pretty popular.

i think having a second species will defeat the purpose. this is just my opinion though. maybe we wan see how we do this time, and next time make a 2 categories ie fish and seahorses/pipes

once everyone finds out how hard this is probably going to be, maybe next time they will vote for something easier

[PaulG]

the decision on the species for the challenge was decided by poll (yeah yeah even though there wasn't that many respondents).... therefor we should stick to that.

There is nothing stopping anyonw from doing another species if they so wish, they will still get teh guidance & advice from all concerned.

I don't feel there is sufficient ppl to warrant a seconds species at this time anyway.

Its a bit late to be making a comp out of it, that should of been arranged BEFORE the voting process got underway, possible there could of been more interested ppl then.

reeflections have several yellow coral gobies available okinawa<sp>?

[Dr DBW]

Gobiodon

[Hunts25]

Sounds good. How long is the challenge going to run for.

I read somewhere last night that meta is around day 33 and colour doesn't come in till around day 40!!

I like the idea of leaving it open to all the varients I think I may try a pair of the big ones citrinus and okinawae or histrio

[Dave]

Meta at 40 days for this guy, Witt had 33 days
http://www.marinebreeder.org/phpbb/view ... =182&t=496

Leave it open I reckon, some people might not have good access to broodstock past okinawae.

I think there are more people like me who didn't vote because they couldn't guarantee participation for each of the poll options. 21 votes, a few drop out, a few jump onboard, hopefully that means 20 participants?

I don't care about a prize, but if a sponsor wants to offer us a deal on broodstock or supplies that could be good. And a little forum badge for participation would be cool.

This has made my weekend. Such a nerd

[Chris]

I am prepared to get some dead acro skeletons for people, I think for a species as tricky as this i think standardising some things might create better value to information collected.

Christian

[Hunts25]

Well maybe we should start by listing things that should be recorded. I'll start with a few ideas..

When pair was introduced
What they are fed
How often are they fed
Any co occupants in the tank
Temperature of broodstock tank
How big is the tank
Frequency of spawning
Size of pair at spawning
Period between spawning and hatching

Initial Food
Temperature (of larvae tank)
Current personal record for larval survival
Greenwater method
Larval tank (I always use fish bowels achieves the same thing as black round tubs without using all the space)
Time taken for larvae to eat brine
Any antibiotics or other meds used
Water change routine

Information similar to this should be put into the first post and updated as time goes on much like in tank journals

I know it's a competition but I think the sharing of information between people may be key to our success with this species.

I am wanting to try some wild plankton. Anyone have any resources on best methods to collect?

[Dave]

I've never kept coral gobies or any kind of goby before so I've been searching (instead of working)

This might be of use to people in a similar situation to me:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-10/hcs3/index.php

I cant decide between histrio or okinawae now

[PaulG]

Hunts25,

There will be a standard Breeders Log header to be utilised, this will be posted up once a few more of the formalities are sorted & an actual start date is posted.

[damer]

Hunts25,

There will be a standard Breeders Log header to be utilised, this will be posted up once a few more of the formalities are sorted & an actual start date is posted.

thats right.

i am woking most of the weekend at this stage so unfortunately wont be able to put any time into it until wednesday, but i dont think there should be anything to stop people trying to get their fish now and starting.

[Mr Miagi]

Sweet, just made up my lids, so in the fish go! Two G. histrio are my first breeding attempt.

[NiCd]

Ok Does anybody know where in sydney has some of these little guys at the moment ?

[KirTracid]

I've got the tank cycled and ready, now I just need to find my fishies. Unfortunately I don't think my son will give his/mine up unless I buy him a royal gramma. hahahahah. I think I'll start again.
I really like leaving the bred open to sugestion.
What about mixing breeds, do they show aggression? I was thinking okinawae & histrio in the same tank. 30 litre tank though so abit unsure. I've never done much work with them, under than the SS nipper I gave to my son (g.okinawae)
I really like leaving the species open. I think the easier and cheaper it is to maintain and buy livestock the new newbies will be willing to give it a go.
They're very easy fish to raise for a novice and I think anyone can give this a go without needing a giant tank.

[Tone]

This is a great initiative ... I'll be following with interest. My clowns spawn constantly but the fry are just fish food in my tank.

Tone

[Chris]

Kirsty personally i would not try to have 2 pairs in a tank as they are a fairly nasty fish with others and other species.

If you were really keen to have 2 specie sin a 3ft tanks, i would suggest 2 clearly defined acro/pocillo colonies one at each end with bugger all in between.

The aggression may also deter spawning.

Christian

[damer]

They're very easy fish to raise for a novice and I think anyone can give this a go without needing a giant tank.

are you sure you have the right species kirsty?

sure, anyone can give it a go, but with the minimum literature available, they are far from easy to raise. 30 -4o days to met is a long time.

[KirTracid]

Sorry, I should've worder that better. I'm not talking about the young, I'm talking about actual juvenile/adult fish. Generally you get them, they're not too hard to get feeding. That's what I'm talking about, I should've been more specific considering it's a breeding thread =)
I understand how hard the larvae are to get to meta with their little mouths & long larvael stage, but that wasn't what I was referring to.
More that they're an easy adult fish to case for and pair and attempt to get to spawn, without factoring in the larvae.

[Chantelle]

Ive currently got a okinawae & histrio in the same tank without any problems and added both months apart. Did have 2 okinawaes and one histrio but I lost one of the okinawaes within a week of adding. During that short week though there was about 24 hours of mild agression only between the okinawaes but after this they slept together and followed each other. Hoping that when I find another there wont be too much of a problem... otherwise Ill try to remove him for the moment until I can add him and another one at the same time to the tank.

[Chris]

During that short week though there was about 24 hours of mild agression only between the okinawaes but after this they slept together and followed each other.

Just so everyone knows this is probably due to the best thing about pairing this genus.

They sex change any which way, ie Bi-directional sex change.

So what does this mean, if you put 2 fish together, they will become a pair, males can turn female and females can turn male, generally based on size, with the male being the bigger fish.

I do suspect they are pair forming fish so harems are very unlikely[/code]

[Dr DBW]

This might be of use to people in a similar situation to me:

Also, check out the links in the Reefpedia that I pointed out above, there are some very interesting articles linked from there. And if anyone finds some others, please add them.

[Hunts25]

Anyone considering wild plankton for this?? Are there any good methods for collection that anyone knows?

[Majestic Aquariums]

Great initiative guys, we wish everybody the best success, it would be great to see more aqua cultured fish in the hobby.

Anyone considering wild plankton for this?? Are there any good methods for collection that anyone knows?

The only place I have see that carry the gear to do this is

http://www.entosupplies.com.au/?path=1_2_4_46

Not cheapest practice though, unless you regularly go out fishing and dont mind a bit of drag.

[damer]

Well, here we have it,

our own little forum- another one to look at

i will do some work on a proforma later today (fingers crossed).

we have had an offer that will suit people in Sydney, so hold off on buying fish for now. ill hopefully get to that later today as well.



damien

[Hunts25]

Sounds good damien

[abbott75]

Ok, does anyone know if they're best kept in pair or groups? And if it is groups, odd or even numbers?


Adam

[Hunts25]

They definately pair up. I think Rod the Reefer had 3 or 4 pairs in one tank. All of different species though

[PaulG]

FYI

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/ ... 230804.htm

[ganymede100]

All the best guys in your quests.

I was another who didn't go in the pole as I didn't like some of the choices.

Will follow with interest. Looks like a tricky little beast to get past meta from looking at MOFIB.

Hands already full trying to breed clowns,
Mike

[PaulG]

Hows that going Mike? any spawns as yet?

[ganymede100]

Hi Paul,

No nothing yet. Need to get the Tom Jones music piping into the fishroom. Have two likely pairs that I keep watch on but most of the others are too young at this stage. Happy with the set-up now and weather proofing during the heatwaves passed the test so I won't need a chiller(yeah).

Cheers,
Mike