classroom captive breeding project

[hobogato]

ok, so after some long thoughts about how to make my classroom setup and practices more environmentally friendly, i have decided to make it a captive breeding setup.

in case you have not seen it, here(link) (http://www.maast.org/forums/showthread.php?t=36516) is a link to the setup. in years past, student groups would be responsible for populating (using their own money for livestock) a tank, maintaining the tank and its livestock all year, and selling that livestock at the end of the year. this process proved environmentally (and economically) unfriendly. therefore, we will be shifting gears and trying something new.

we (the students and i) will be incorporating live food cultures like pyto, artemia, rotifers, and possibly mysis into the classroom as well as a grass shrimp colony in the large sump/fuge.

all of the large predator fish remaining in the large display tank will likely be donated to the SA zoo so we can establish a reef and start propagating corals as well.

so far on the list of propagation and breeding are the following

various soft corals and possibly stonies eventually
cuttlefish (S. bandensis)
seahorses (not sure, lots of research to do here)
clownfish
bangai cardinals

we have space for several more species, but have not researched what else we attempt.

[TexasTodd]

Holy cow! It looks like ORA!

Aptasia eating nudi's?

Have you asked the guys at SeaWorld....if you can still get in touch with them?

Todd

[Mr Cob]

Ace, that's awesome. I'll donate the 4 rotifer/brine shrimp acrylic tubes I have that you built, if you want them. I never used them. Trust me they are not easy to part with... but I have no use for them.

PM me if you want to pick them up.

[hobogato]

planning on having a chat with mark at seaworld very soon todd :)

thanks rob, i will make arrangements with you soon.

[Rychek]

Awesome! Once you get things going well and are looking for a challenge, try mandarins. ;)

Also, once you decide which corals you want to do, let us know. I'm willing to make a donation or two.

[Kristy]

Hi Ace,
Love this idea! This is very much the direction our interests have been going lately as well. Please post any donations that would be helpful during the start-up of this process and we'll see what we can do to help.

Also, would there be any possibility of having the live foods (phyto, artemia, rotifers, mysis, etc.) available for a hobbyist to purchase / trade at any point? I know there have been times when the availability of these live foods to the hobbyist might have made a big difference in the survival of a finicky fish. Just a thought to kick around, although I'm sure the logisitcs within your school setting are very tricky.

Please keep us posted about this exciting, worthwhile project. Wish you success!

[hobogato]

ok, so the zoo does not have space for the predator fish that i need to re-home, next i am trying seaworld. really looking forward to getting this going.....

[TexasTodd]

What are the fish?

[hobogato]

volitans lion - 5+"
panther grouper - 6"
velvet damsel - 3+"
spotted stonefish (from port a)- 7"
spotted pinfish (perch from port a) - 5"

[TexasTodd]

Can't someone in the club "donate" some money to take them off the school's hands?

Dude, I did NOT know we had stonefish!

Joshua might want the pinfish for the sharks. :)

Todd

[hobogato]

well, no dice with seaworld either, so i will now be listing them in the FS forum for free or donation.

that stonefish is the coolest one, but i cant keep him in the sump anymore since that will become a grass shrimp colony.

[TexasTodd]

Where's Don-N-SA when you need him! :)

[sampsonndelila]

How is te stone fish, do you think he will get along with my tank mates. Mostly Tangs and well lots of other less agressive fish.

[hobogato]

sorry carter, all the fish have found new homes.

[hobogato]

ok, after some cleaning by myself and some of the students, we are getting close to having the tanks in shape to add livestock.

this is the coral prop tank, once i get the lights working again, i can move the corals in that have been donated already.
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05314.jpg

some of the corals that have been donated - includes several frags of zoanthids, palys, shrooms and leathers
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05316.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05317.jpg

as you can see, we still have some algae to clean up after going all summer with little maintenance.

here are some pics of the system - notice we have cleaned the sand and rock out of the bottom tanks as they will function as nurseries for the fish/critters we hope to raise.
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05315.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05318.jpg

here is where we will be establishing a grass shrimp colony
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05319.jpg

some of these tanks will likely be used to establish a mysis colony and pod growing area

here is the first pair of fish coming in today with their anemone. hopefully we can get the clowns to start spawning and the anemone to start splitting so we can propagate them also

acclimating
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05320.jpg

in the tank
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05321.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05322.jpg

THANKS AGAIN BILL(mangroves, clowns, and anemone), JACK(corals), RYAN(corals), RICHARD(sand) AND VIET-TIN(sand) FOR YOUR DONATIONS!!!

[Mr Cob]

Looks great Ace!

[Texreefer]

looking good Ace

[JimD]

Sweet...

[Bill S]

Ace, let me know if you need some eggs - my other pair have them regularly. The anemone looks sad...

Jim, noticed your avatar earlier today. Very creative - cracks me up every time I see it.

[Rychek]

Glad to help Ace! I'm excited to see how things go this year. Success is only a few weeks/months away.

[hobogato]

anemone is much happier today :)

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/anemone_0001.jpg

[Bill S]

He's recovering - he/she spread over about 75% of the nano. Susan said "12 inches"...:wink_smile:

[lakers10]

hey ace how did u get the clowns to love the anemone

[mabel_photo6]

Wow, looks awesome! You're doing some good stuff!
I wish I could donate, but I live 2 1/2 hours away and I'm broke to drive up there. :( :(

[hobogato]

thanks mabel

mark, they were already hosting the anemone in the previous owner's tank. they will usually start doing that on their own when you put them in with the right anemone.

[hobogato]

wow!! just finished cutting up eggcrate covered with zoas, palys, kenya trees, gsp, and shrooms that pete (ping) gave me. some are staying with my tank at home, but about 60+ frags will be going to the school coral prop tank.

here are all of em (minus a few that fell into the tank when i knocked one of the containers over)
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05334.jpg
here are the ones going to the school
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05335.jpg

[lakers10]

oh ok whats the best anemone to put them with in your experience??

[hobogato]

rose bubble tip or green bubble tip. you will be better off if you get one that is a clone from someone's tank and your tank needs to be ready for one - imo, running at least 6 months.

[lakers10]

oh ok yeah well those anemone be ok i have only 65 coral life bulbs??

[hobogato]

mark, an anemone mas survive with those lights, but likely will not thrive.

today, we got the coral prop tank rockwork done, the students finished cleaning and arranging the small tanks, and they attached all of the frags from pete onto small pieces of liverock.

coral prop tank - once i get the lights running, we can move the frags in
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05348.jpg

dry rock that the student will break up to grow the frags on

gluing the frags
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05340.jpg

all the frags in the container (this took three class periods to complete, i just took pics each time they filled the transfer container. each rock has anywhere from 1 to 10 polyps or a single shroom or other coral.
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05342.jpghttp://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05343.jpghttp://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05344.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05345.jpghttp://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05346.jpghttp://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05347.jpg

here are all of the corals and frags we have so far
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05349.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05350.jpg

[lakers10]

thats nice

some wat amount of power do i need?

where did u get that LR from?

edit for ace lol

[hobogato]

here is a good read on bubble tips anemones

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/cnidaria/anthozoa/bubbletipanemones.htm

the rock was donated by several members a couple of years ago. some is texas holey rock, some is normal marine liverock and some is home made agrocrete.

thanks for the edit :wink_smile:

[lakers10]

no problem and yeah i want one like u w have in there

with all those big holes

[hobogato]

a trio of maroon clowns was just dropped off to me for the classroom. they are captive bred clowns from lindsay (third coast tropical). thanks again for the generous donation!

here they are in a 5 gallon bucket until i can get them up to the school tomorrow morning.
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05354.jpg

more pics tomorrow when i get them acclimated and in the tank at the school.

[hobogato]

ok, here are a few pics of the tanks now that the students and i got them all cleaned up. also, got the lights working on the coral prop tank and moved the frags in.

we are going to keep the new gsm clowns in one of the rearing tanks until they get a little bigger

here they are acclimating
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05358.jpg

i had to rig a cover on the drain to make sure they dont get washed away - still working on a more permanent fix
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05359.jpg

here they are in the tank (all three are visible in that pic )
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05364.jpg

here is each one
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05373.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05374.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05375.jpg

here is an update pic of the oscillaris pair and the rbta
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05363.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05371.jpg

the coral prop tank - the lights are 400w SE, 20K on the left and 10K on the right
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05360.jpg

the rest of the tanks all clean and shiny
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05361.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05362.jpg

[Third Coast Tropical]

nice pics....glad to see the GSMs colored back up....they are so cool!!! They have been eating flake food for awhile now...and there was defintely a pecking order, I am sure you will see that soon as well if you haven't already.....good luck

[Rychek]

Wow, the classroom is looking great! I'm very curious about this new direction. Keep the updates coming.

[mabel_photo6]

That's insane... looks awesome!!!!!!!

[Crazyeyes]

Looks very amazing and almost as if you class room is a LFS lol.

[snfkotara]

Ace
Are you looking for anymore pairs of fish to breed I want to donate something or more coral?

[hobogato]

yes sherry, we are working on a list of what fish we will have in the program now and any donations are welcome :)

Ace
Are you looking for anymore pairs of fish to breed I want to donate something or more coral?

[Third Coast Tropical]

How are the babies?

[hobogato]

they are doing very well - i would swear they look a little bigger already

[Third Coast Tropical]

LOL....I said that every week when I would come back from SA...over the course of the last month I had them their maroon coloration began to get a lot bolder as well....

Thanks for taking them...looks as if they are in good hands....

[hobogato]

ok, most of our critters came in today, so here is what we have in the program now:

here they are drip acclimating
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05531.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05532.jpg

one potter's angel (the 2nd one didnt make it :( )
a pair of tessellated blennies

a pair of flame angels
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05538.jpg

a pair of royal gramma
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05540.jpg

a pair of fire shrimp
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05541.jpg

a pair of skunk cleaner shrimp
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05544.jpg

a pair of rainbow pseudochromis
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05539.jpg

a pair of bangai cardinals
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05534.jpg

a pair of green mandarins (i counted over 50 pods on the front glass of the tank they went into)
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05537.jpg

[hobogato]

cant forget about the oscillaris pair and their rbta
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05415.jpg

the gsm clowns and their gbta
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05413.jpg

and the 10 cuttle eggs
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05546.jpg

still to be added are jawfish(6 in the coral prop tank) dwarf seahorses and pipefish

[Rychek]

Wow, you've got a good selection going there.

[Kristy]

SO EXCITING!!!

How do you encourage them to breed? (Besides the mood lighting, Barry White music, etc).

Do you have any recommended reading on this for me? Really eager to see how this goes.

[Rychek]

Kristy/Mike, this is a book I plan to get at some point: http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Illustrated-Breeders-Marine-Aquarium/dp/1890087718/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256263626&sr=8-1

Lots of good info in there.

[hobogato]

two bits to report today....

1. everyone made it thru the first night in the system without any problems

2. with exception of the mandarins, everyone ate frozen food this morning!! started them off with brine and mysis and will add more variety next week.

also, the tesselated blennies have destroyed the nice even sand bed in their tank to make all kinds of burrows and hiding places - i wonder if this means they are trying to set up a happy home...

[msmith619]

How do you know your flame angels and royal grammas are a pair? I know how to sex the mandarins and the shrimp are no problem. Were the pairs collected as pairs or did you put 2 together and have a 'let's wait and see' attempt?

[hobogato]

the students that researched those fish found info that said to just put two different sized fish together that they will form a pair, so that is what we are trying.

[hobogato]

we have 6 baby cuttles!!!!! pics coming soon :D

[Europhyllia]

OMG! That's so exciting. Happy Birthday baby cuttles!!!!

[txav8r]

Thats great news Ace! Can't wait to see the pics

[Rychek]

Sweet! Can't wait for pics!

[Bill S]

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z157/bstreep/ThisThreadIsWorthless.jpg

[corkyGramma]

Ace, would you say other kinds of clowns are quite cumbersome to pair up? for example, clarkiÃ*

[hobogato]

not sure yvonne, i have only tried pink skunks, percs, oscillaris and gsm. all of those were fairly easy.

here are the pics - i snapped them as we moved the babies to their new net breeder

in a glass holding bowl
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05569.jpg
closer
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05571.jpg

plastic transfer dish - relatively easy to use and little stress on the babies, although one did ink a bit because i moved a little too fast.
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05575.jpg
closer
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05576.jpg

couple of buddies in the new net breeder - notice the net is inside out to keep them from getting tangled in the seam
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05577.jpg
thru the glass pic
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05580.jpg

all six after they settled in under the chaeto (i carefully moved it to take the pic from above)
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05584.jpg

[Europhyllia]

Wow. They're tiny! Congrats :)

[Hamp]

wow, those are cool. what are you feeding them?

[hobogato]

they wont eat for the first 2 or 3 days after hatching, then they will get live mysis. asap they will be trained onto frozen mysis.

[ErikH]

Where are you getting live mysis from if you don't mind me asking? They look very cool. Let me know, maybe I could drop in and record some video of them eating!!!

[hobogato]

i ordered them from a place in louisiana. i am hoping to get them to establish some colonies in the system here so i wont ever have to buy them again. i also have phyto disks, brine cysts and rotifer cysts on the way. should be getting all of those cultures up and running soon.

[Hamp]

Might be good to get some copepods and anthropods in there with them. Are the mysis cannibalistic? I think that I heard that somewhere. I saw a mysis rearing system online a while back that had several treys stacked with screen on the drains of different sized mesh to separate the young. Looked fairly uncomplicated.

[txav8r]

I saw a mysis rearing system online a while back that had several treys stacked with screen on the drains of different sized mesh to separate the young. Looked fairly uncomplicated.


Yeah Ace. You might want one of those. Now if you could just find someone that could build one...
LOL

[hobogato]

for the time being, i will be separating them into small groups into several tanks in the system. i will screen the drains so they cant escape. the ultimate goal is a separate mysis culture setup once i get the phyto/rotifer/brine cultures up and running. i will also put some of these mysis in my home tank to try to establish a colony there.

[hobogato]

well, mixed news this morning. last week, the two smallest hatchling cuttles died and this morning only the largest two of the initial 6 were still alive. at least one of them is eating tho, since i put in several live mysis on friday and none are left now.

also, three of the remaining four eggs hatched this weekend, so hopefully they will all make it.

[Big_Pun]

good luck hope the rest make it

[txav8r]

Thanks for the update Ace. Hope they make it!

[Third Coast Tropical]

Any new picks of my babies?....Curious to see what they look like now.....They were cool and I was always amazed by them..I am sure the kiddoes keep good care of them...

[hobogato]

no pics lately, but they have grown some. i will get some pics next week since i will be going in daily to feed and check on everyone.

[nubz]

sounds like a good setup!

[Third Coast Tropical]

I want to see some new pics of those GSM's when you get a chance....Want to see how they are growing. Looking at 5 months old on the 4th of January I believe. I had a great hatch last nite, and am hurting on the inside because I had to let them go due to no rotifers. Contacting Reed Mariculture soon to get some, be ready for next time. Was all ready to raise this batch and was about to head to UT on Sunday for rotifers before I found out their culture crashed over the holidays. It hurt, so many larvae and not a thing I could do. I am about to start rolling again though. Let me know if you want to go in on the order. And, when you have time,...updated pics. Thanks.
TCT

[hobogato]

sorry to hear that lindsay. i was about to start a rotifer culture in the classroom, but two of my four phyto cultures crashed. once i restart those with drain off from the remaining two and all have a week or two to repopulate, i will start one or two rotifer cultures. the two clowns that paired are continuing to grow pretty fast, but the outcast hasnt grown as fast so i need to move it to a different tank. i will try to get some pics tomorrow when i go up to feed them.

[hobogato]

here are some pics lindsay - quick little buggers when i have the camera out

all three eating mysid shrimp
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05828.jpg

the pair
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05831.jpg

each of the bigger two (didnt get a decent shot of the little wiggler)
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05825.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05836.jpg

[Third Coast Tropical]

Wow....nice fish. Is the little one a mis-bar? Do the other 2 pick on it non-stop?....I would think it might be better to pull him out and separate it when and if you have a chance/time. What is the size of the biggest...3/4"? Thanks for posting this.

[hobogato]

they dont pick on him at all, they just wont let him close to their rock. i am planning to move all of them in January, the pair will go to one tank and the little guy will get his own tank for now. i think his stripes are normal, but now that you ask, i am not sure. i will have to take a closer look tomorrow.

[hobogato]

just got back from feeding the school critters and cleaning the lone cuttle's net breeder. it was really mad at me and inked a lot :)

also dropped off the salt water acclimated black mollies from johne, they will be food makers for this cuttle and the other three i have coming in this week.

the tesselated blennies have rearranged their tank changed into their dimorphic colors again and the dark blue one is really fat - probably gravid.

also, the female skunk cleaner is very gravid.

didnt have the camera with me today - will try to get some pics tomorrow.....

[Kristy]

Definitely gonna need pics of the tesselated blenny update.

Thanks for the new term... did not know the word "gravid" ! :)

[hobogato]

ok, got some pics of the blennies and their eggs, as well as the gravid cleaner shrimp

not so good pic of both blennies
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05913.jpg

just the female - she only turns this color when nesting, gravid, and just after laying eggs
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05914.jpg

the eggs (layer of gray specs on the inside wall of the lower right barnacle) - dont have cultures of rotifers yet, so we will not be collecting this batch of larvae
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05916.jpg

gravid cleaner shrimp - there are two

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05918.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05919.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05922.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05920.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05923.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05924.jpg

[Europhyllia]

Very cool. When it's time for the kids to go to school we'll be sure to move into your district! :D

[hobogato]

here are some cruddy pics of the three yellow headed jawfish in the coral prop tank

these two share a home under a large rock at one end of the tank
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05901.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05902.jpg

this one has his own cave under another rock half way down the tank
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05903.jpg

[Third Coast Tropical]

Ace, how long is the incubation period on the blenny eggs. I am going to get rotifers on thursday (if all goes as planned) and will be keeping a culture until my clowns are weaned off of them or it crashes,...if I have extra to begin with or my culture takes off, I will hook you up. My hatch should occur Saturday nite and I'll use them for 4-5 days. Do you have a dissecting microscope available to use?

[hobogato]

i am not sure what the gestation is, and i am not sure exactly what day they were laid. what are you feeding your rotifers?

[Third Coast Tropical]

ill be feeding paste (Nanno)

[hobogato]

good eyes! yes, the little one only has the top half of its middle stripe :)


...Is the little one a mis-bar?...


on another note, the blennie laid more eggs in the other bottom barnacle yesterday.

[nubz]

cool i have two mollie millers who are probalbly about to breed, the female turned a darker green and only lets one male get close to her barnacle. she bites my hand if i gt near, and she constantly cleans her barnacle. im gonna see what happens.

[hobogato]

very cool nubz.

well, thought i would post pics of the phyto setup as we finally split out into the last of the seven cultures we want to keep.

here are the four we had running before the split, the one second from the right has been a little slow starting, so we did not mess with it today
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05961.jpg

we took half of each of the other three cultures and started three new cultures.
here it is without the light across the front
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05963.jpg

here it is as it normally sits
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05964.jpg

also got some baby cuttles in today. they are tiiny but look healthy.
here they are drip aclimating
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC05960.jpg

[Europhyllia]

Oh my goodness. I expected them to be way bigger! Make sure the mollys don't eat the cuttles! lol

[Third Coast Tropical]

Ace,
You may want to cover those openings (the mouth of the 3 liter bottles) in your culture with foil to prevent any type of contamination....could be a cause of previous crashes. Just a suggestion. Let me know about the artemia and rotifers. I am guessing you're in CC so tomorrow is probably not good for you.
TCT

[BSJF]

Love the yellow headed jawfish. Your students are so lucky!

[hobogato]

sad morning. two of the three new baby cuttles that came in last week died between Sunday and this morning. also, the hatchling that was doing great and was about the size of a dime died over the same time period. everything else in the entire system looks good.

[Europhyllia]

Oh no! How is the control group in your tank doing?

[hobogato]

they seem to be doing well

[Kristy]

Sorry to hear... must be very disappointing.

[Europhyllia]

I wonder what the difference is (why the classroom ones perished and the home ones are doing well). Sorry to hear about your losses.

[Third Coast Tropical]

Ace...Update on the maroons?....Do you still have all 3? Are they still in the same tank?...Size?

[hobogato]

most of the classroom critters are doing well. i did move the maroons to two separate tanks because the smallest of the three was getting hassled. unfortunately, not long after moving them, we had a very cold weekend and lost power at the school for about 6 hours. during that time, the water temperature in the entire system dropped slightly below 70 degrees, and there were a few casualties. we lost the last few cuttle hatchlings i had at the time, one of the pipefish and the smallest maroon clown. i have intentionally not posted this because i wanted to break the news to you in person lindsay, but that never happened. i am very sorry we lost that little one.

[Third Coast Tropical]

lol...no problem....it happens ..."fish die"...Where do all the critters go in the summer break?

[hobogato]

they stay there - the system runs year round. the custodians help me feed them so i dont have to go up to the school every day, but i have to go up and check on them often.

[hobogato]

thanks again for the coral donation this weekend lindsay - i will try to get some pics once i get them placed and they are open and happy

[Third Coast Tropical]

no problem...hope they gave the students something else to talk about/work with for awhile...and thank you for taking them, I have so much space now.....its amazing!!!

[ErikH]

Maybe in the off season you can get us in there to check it out? :D

[hobogato]

actually erik, may's meeting will be in my classroom ;)

[Europhyllia]

actually erik, may's meeting will be in my classroom ;)
Very cool!

[hobogato]

well, it has been quite a while since i have posted an update, but we have some exciting stuff going on...

we just received a donation of red drum eggs and rotifers this past weekend from UTMSI in Port A. we have set up three tanks to raise the reds, one in my room and one in each of the other environmental teachers' classrooms. we have about 10,000 newly hatched larvae in each tank now that will likely start eating rotifers tomorrow. they will cannibalize and reduce their own numbers considerably, so this should be an interesting first attempt.

here they are in the bucket monday morning (there were actually 80 ml of eggs in here - about 80,000 eggs)
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC07282.jpg

here are the new rotifers
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC07284.jpg

here are the 10 ml of eggs that went into the tank in my room (you can see that some had already hatched in the beaker)
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC07288.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC07285.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC07287.jpg

here are the phyto cultures i got from florida aquafarms
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC07295.jpg

culture tubes and bottles all clean and ready
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC07296.jpg

here they are with the cultures just added
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/2010-12-15_09-03-09_196.jpg

with the lights in place
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/2010-12-15_09-08-04_20.jpg

rotifer cultures (one of my tubes leaked so i have one in a bucket temporarily)
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/2010-12-14_16-13-46_409.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/2010-12-14_16-13-59_596.jpg

redfish larvae in their rearing tank (this is today)
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/2010-12-14_16-14-57_140.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/2010-12-14_09-01-37_906.jpg

a short video
fkmTkkwMges

[Europhyllia]

very cool!

[Third Coast Tropical]

Awwww...looks so familiar

[hobogato]

i bet it does :)

here are some pics of the red drum larvae at four days after hatch using a scope - all taken on 12/16/10

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/CapA4bmp.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/CapA7bmp.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/CapA8bmp.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/CapA3bmp.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/CapA0bmp.jpg

here is a compilation of some short video clips - these are the larvae that are just starting to swim. there were others that were zooming around already. also, right at the end, is a clip of the rotifers from the culture we are keeping to feed them.

Cctdy5eETe0

[Europhyllia]

The kids must be so excited! That's a lot of larvae. What's the typical survival rate?

[hobogato]

just to clarify, the last little bit of the video was rotifers, not redfish larvae. the numbers of reds have dropped considerably, but there are still more than we will be able to raise in the tank. we are not sure what to expect this time, hoping for 30 or so fish by the time we have to move them to a larger tank. they are also actively eating the rotis now, fun to watch :)

[txg8gxp]

Thats really cool.

[tiger_eyed1]

Ace,

I moved the coffee cup to the 10g nurse tank last night as I saw the eyes were silver and reflective. I replaced the cup with a new one and the parents took right to it. I woke up to find maybe 7 fry swimming (100+/- eggs still in cup). I fed them some rotifers and will see how many hatch/make it when I get off work. Hope to have more eggs in a few days.

[hobogato]

very cool, we can take what ever you would like to give us

[kkiel02]

Wow I didnt see this. Very cool. What are the plans once they get big? Sea World? I also wonder how the growth rates will compare to those in nature? Keep us updated.

[hobogato]

well kevin, unfortunately that is not something we have to worry about for this batch. in two of the three tanks we set up, none of the babies remain and only a handfull are alive in the third. once those are large enough to move to another tank, we will try a new batch in all three tanks.

i think we started with too little water and too many larvae on this batch, so we will be changing things up a bit on the next batch.

the intent is to change them over to fresh water when they get bigger and move them to large tanks outside. still working on the specifics of what we will do with them long term...

[tiger_eyed1]

We have a fresh batch of eggs. You want to wait till day 6 or do you have a way to keep a gentle flow over them. Either way, the class can have this batch. I still have 8-10 out of maybe 15 that hatched Sunday night. They are very hard to see :ph34r:

10622106251062310624

[Europhyllia]

Marcus, what are they? (eggs of course. lol. but from what fish/animal?)

[hobogato]

i think it would be better to wait if that is ok with you. thanks marcus!

[Kristy]

Marcus, what are they? (eggs of course. lol. but from what fish/animal?)

They are teeny, tiny clownfish fry. Got to see them in person a couple nights ago. Marcus has a really nice pair of clowns the he has somehow "trained" to lay eggs inside a coffee mug. They are mixed coloration, where the male is black and white and the female is orange and white with the black edgings.

[Europhyllia]

what well behaved clowns!

[tiger_eyed1]

Yea, I drew some circles on the side of the tank and nicely asked the fry to swim inside. They didn't mind. The parents were a different story. The male clown and I had a yo-momma joke contest. The winning joke was, Yo momma's stripes are so irregular that when she goes to the grocery store she rings up "no sale". Ba Boom, Ching.
10627

10626

[hobogato]

thanks again marcus!

no hatches yet, but they are really wiggling in there, so i think they will hatch today.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC07404.jpg

also, we have nine redfish growing strong in glen's room. none of them in my room or janeen's room made it, but we are going to try to start a new batch in all three classrooms some time in february.

here are some cruddy pics

this screened off area is about 12"x15" for a size reference
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC07401.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC07392.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC07380.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC07386.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC07382.jpg

[hobogato]

also, by monday we will have seven 2 liter phyto cultures in each of the three classrooms. we currently have two rotifer cultures in my classroom and two in glen's classroom - hopefully we will get some going in janeen's classroom next week. in my class, we are running two artemia hatcheries and 5 artemia grow out tanks to keep them up to 9 days old. hopefully we can get the same artemia setup going in both of the other classrooms soon as well.

[Mr Cob]

awesome Ace! Some cute little dudes.

[tiger_eyed1]

What is that floating on the water in pic 2 & 4? Brine or microbubbles?

[tiger_eyed1]

Glad I could help. It's fun to watch them. But after a few minutes you go cross eyed. I read that it can take 6-8 days for them to hatch. I think today would be day 7. I'm going to have to get me some fancy coffee cups for nests.
It appears that at day 7 metamorphoses began.
Their body shape started to change to look more like clowns. They know that the coffee filter means fresh food and swim to it when I shake it off in the water.
On day 8 a few started to do the clown dance for a few seconds.
Last night day 9, all 13 are randomly doing the clown dance and hanging out in groups.
The biggest thing is they now have a slight orange/chocolate color and 1 stripe just behind the head.

[hobogato]

What is that floating on the water in pic 2 & 4? Brine or microbubbles?

yep, artemia

thanks for the update on yours as well

[tiger_eyed1]

Are you enriching the brine?
Are you adding any suppliments to the fry tank?
Do you have a heater in your brine hatchery?

[hobogato]

Are you enriching the brine?

well, i am feeding them live phyto and phyto paste


Are you adding any suppliments to the fry tank?

just a little live phyto


Do you have a heater in your brine hatchery?

no heater, so they take a little longer to hatch

[hobogato]

we have four baby clownfish scooting around the tank today - hopefully the rest will hatch overnight :)

[Europhyllia]

Happy Birthday little clownfish. :)

[tiger_eyed1]

Yea!!!
I hope the class is ready for three times a day feeding and daily partial water changes for the next month.

I read on another board that some people have found success/benefits by adding 1/2 dose of Kent Marine Coral-Vite. It makes since because fish also need trace elements. I just wonder if the risk outweighs the benefits with the fry. I purchased some at AD last night along with some fresh brine eggs. I think I'll split my batch and try it on only one. If they survive, I’ll use it on the next hatch.

[hobogato]

well, none of the other eggs hatched, and i could only find two little ones today. they seem to be eating the rotis tho, so hopefully they will make it.

[tiger_eyed1]

Until ace kicks me off his thread, i'll hitch hike over here. Starting your own thread is so much work. I just took these pics while cleaning the tank.

Thanks Ace, Mike, Kristy, & Allen for your help.


13 fry were born on 1/5/2011. Still feeding rotifers, added baby brine last week.
10759107621076110760

[Europhyllia]

Great job Marcus! You got the magic touch. lol (or just the yummier rotifers?)

[alexdmg]

Wow, that classroom setup is amazing. I wish I had a class like that when I was growing up.

-Alex

[hobogato]

no problem marcus, i need to get your cup and bucket back to you.

unfortunately, none of the four that hatched survived - lost the last one over the weekend. i think it was too much movement and disruption just before hatching that delayed the hatch. hopefully the larvae catcher will work well for lorraine.

[hobogato]

ok, so a small update.

we still have two of the baby red drum from the first batch. they are just shy of an inch and way to fast to get a pic. we also have one baby clown from the batch i got from lorraine a couple of weeks ago. i think it is about to start getting stripes. i think we lost the others because the nutrition was lacking in our rotifers.

best pic i could get
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/IMG_9552.jpg

[Europhyllia]

he's pretty orange ;)

[LittleReef]

Ace -- this is too cool... SO awesome. I wish I had a teacher like you here in Austin.

[BSJF]

The little orphan is looking good.

[BSJF]

Ace, did you separate out the mysis from the clown fish? If so how did you do that?

[hobogato]

nope, they just went away. either the clowns started eating them or they died and were removed when i siphoned the bottom during water changes.

[Kristy]

i think we lost the others because the nutrition was lacking in our rotifers.

Hey Ace, I've been meaning to share with you a tip I picked up at DallasMas' Next Wave. When I was chatting with Randy Reed (Reef Nutrition) he gave me a flyer for a new product to feed to rotifers ("RotiGrow") and said it would be way better nutritionally than what I was feeding. Then, Matt Pedersen happened to mention during his discussion about setting up a good fish breeding room that he has seen DRAMATIC improvement in survival rates and good morphology, etc. since he began feeding this RotiGrow product to his rotifers.

It's not cheap, but Randy estimated that the 1Liter size would last me about two years at my current consumption rate (can be frozen).
http://www.reed-store.com/shop.cfm/RotiGrow/RotiGrow-Growout-Feeds/ROTIGROW-PLUS-LITER/

[hobogato]

thanks, i will have to see if the we can get some.

[hobogato]

our little clown is one month old - here is a cruddy pic. it will be interesting to see how his stripes end up.

11232

[alton]

That is one tough dude. You should name him Aao "A-OH" for against all odds. Because of him more will follow, congrats to you and Loraine.

[BSJF]

Awe, he has the little round circle on his face like his daddy! Does he have any second stripe at all?

[hobogato]

RIP little clown.

a careless act of someone in my room resulted in the death of the baby clown. the heater was unplugged at some point yesterday and the temperature was down to 70 degrees by this morning.

[Europhyllia]

Wow. So sorry. I bet that person unplugging it feels terrible too :(
Probably a really good lesson for whomever.

[hobogato]

moved about 40 small frags from home to the school coral tank, as well as the maxima clam and linkia. it really looks nice, and it will be great to have coral to propigate next year. i will take some pics when things are settled in.

[hobogato]

just getting things going again. we have already established our nano phyto cultures and rotifers. we have iso phyto cultures that arent starting up as easily as we hoped. also we now have about 20 one day old clowns that lorraine donated.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/2011-10-10_07-31-46_323.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/2011-10-10_07-26-46_638.jpg

they are already zooming around eating up rotifers

zjqHzTyt5Jo

[alton]

Looks great Ace

[Kristy]

Class clowns.... ha ha, great title on the video! Wishing you the best of luck with these guys. What a lucky group of students!

[hobogato]

day 5, so i gave the baby clowns their first meal of newly hatched baby brine - they seemed very interested and seemed to eat some. there are about 10 that made it.

[Paraletho]

First let me commend you on being a Texas teacher and passing on your knowledge and love of science, not an easy job with todays financial situation. I am on the school board of Sabine Pass Ind School District a small school system in the southeastern corner of the state. We are a small school that has been ravaged by hurricanes in the last few years. Notably Rita and Ike. After Rita we had our Auditorium rebuilt by the Home Makeover crew only to have it completely destroyed by Ike 3 years later. But with the help of FEMA, Corporate partners like Exxon Mobil, Phillips Conoco, and Sempra Energy, and an outstanding administrative team we have come back stronger than ever. I was tasked last year with setting up a saltwater system in the foyer of the new auditorium/gymnasium complex. We set up a 8'x2.5'x2.5' 360 gallon mixed reef/shark tank. All is going well and we have the Advanced Science/Ecology class doing maintenance ,water testing, and animal care. Our sharks are laying and we are hatching the eggs and in the process of setting up a nursery as we speak. I would like to PM you and discuss some of the things that have worked for you and your class and some of the pitfalls you may help us to avoid.
http://i514.photobucket.com/albums/t341/paraletho/th_PB260725.jpg (http://s514.photobucket.com/albums/t341/paraletho/?action=view&current=PB260725.mp4)

[hobogato]

it has been a while since the last update, so here is what is going on now

nano, roti, and iso cultures are trucking along well. two of the last batch of clowns made it through morphing, not sure why the survival rate was so low. they are both platinums and look healthy and normal.

also started a new adventure this Sunday - H. reidi babies :)

they are now four days old, here is a cruddy pic with my phone. i also took a video, but have to wait until this evening to upload it. thanks again Karin!

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/photobucket-5859-1328708120901.jpg

[reefreak]

Real cool ace

[hobogato]

thanks jeremy

[reefreak]

What kind of clowns are you raising?

[hobogato]

they are from the same parents as the ones i have at my house

[reefreak]

Oh that's nice

[profntbtr]

so what month is the meeting at the school this year?

[hobogato]

maybe next year :)


so what month is the meeting at the school this year?

[hobogato]

here is the video i shot yesterday with my phone

JPdI41l_iuA

[Europhyllia]

awesome!

[reefreak]

hey ace you wouldnt happen to be selling the clowns as they get older?

[hobogato]

not these, if we get to raise some more, we may sell some as a fund raiser. that would be way down the road tho.

[reefreak]

Ok

[hobogato]

baby ponies are a week old - still have about 100 that are doing well

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/photobucket-6938-1329163057169.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/photobucket-3524-1329163126408.jpg

a-Fria_eWys

[Scutterborn]

Woohoo! Giddy up!

[reefreak]

Wow looking great man!

[Europhyllia]

That's awesome!

[hobogato]

the kreisel has been plagued with hydra, so i moved the remaining ponies to a tank in the main classroom system. i counted 61 as i moved them. i have switched to decapsulated brine to try to keep from introducing hydra again.

took some pics, but they did not turn out. this video is cruddy, but you can see they have grown quite a bit.

d6hw80NmuhU

[hobogato]

another addition to the classroom project today - 22 banggai cardinals. we put them into the tanks in groups of three to try to establish pairs. thanks again for the great deal louis!

[Louis]

You're very welcome, sir! Good luck with the project! Can't wait to see some pics!

[Europhyllia]

Oh week 2. so did they grow well? what do the kids think of them? :)

[hobogato]

they have definitely grown. some of the kids check on them every day, and i even have students who are not in my class that stop by to check on them every few days :)

[Europhyllia]

Aww. That's so cool. :) I'll need to move to your school district when my kids get older. lol

[hobogato]

we lost most of the baby ponies the week that i moved them away from the hydra. we are down to 2 survivors now at a month old. they are almost an inch long now.

[Europhyllia]

That's still great considering the hydras. For me the crucial period seemed to be 4 weeks. I just never could get them past 4 weeks.
Cheryl and Dan say it's because they need copedpods and you have those so fingers crossed that the last two will continue to grow!

[hobogato]

bummer. lost our last little pony last night. he was 6 weeks old on Sunday.

[Texreefer]

Awe man!thats no good

[Europhyllia]

6 weeks is very good for a first try!

[hobogato]

ok, i am resurrecting this thread as i am starting to get this system back on track. i had to remove all livestock this summer because of scheduled power outages for construction projects, and i am just now getting things cranked back up. We tried shark eggs in the display tank, but neither of them made it, sadly. So, here is the first update:

Picked up this great ocellated moray eel from sherita on Sunday - Thanks again, the students love it!

[pics coming this afternoon]

Also picked up this pair of clownfish in trade from Jeremy

[pics coming this afternoon]

My goal is to clean up one 20gal tank per day. they will all be bare bottom with a single centerpiece of rock. I am planning on making each of the 16 breeder tanks into disply refugia. the 8 nursery tanks will stay barren (no rocks or macro) so they can be modified as needed depending on what is in them. three tanks will stay packed with liverock so that maybe i can get some colonies of peppermint shrimp established in them.

In the next couple of weeks we will also be starting up the live phyto cultures and rotifer cultures as well as the brine hatcheries.

Once I have this up and running, we will be ready to raise clowns and other babies. If you have a breeding pair of anything and would like to donate a clutch of eggs or newly hatched larvae, we would greatly appreciate it.

Hopefully we can raise a batch of redfish babies again later this year as well.

[hobogato]

just added three yellow tangs, a sailfin tang, two pincil urchins, one black urchin and one purple urchin thanks to a trade with ramsey.

[pics to come tomorrow]

[hobogato]

Pics, as promised.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/2013-01-15_08-01-02_452.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/2013-01-15_08-01-25_292.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/2013-01-15_08-01-37_841.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/2013-01-15_08-01-45_255.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/2013-01-15_08-02-21_236.jpg

[Sherita]

Ollie (the ocellated eel) looks mighty happy there Ace!

They all look great :)

[hobogato]

yeah, he is pretty happy.

thanks for the salt paul (& mathais), it definitely comes in very handy right now since we are doing major cleaning.

[Paul28]

Np :)

[ramsey]

I don't know where you got those tangs or that purple urchin but they're beautiful and whoever had them in the past must have been an awesome person! :P They look great, Ace, and I'm glad they went to a good home. Is it normal to get sentimental over fish? *sniffle, sniffle*

[hobogato]

thanks again ramsey.

well, the goal was one tank a day, but we are ahead of schedule. all 24 tanks have been cleaned out - sand moved to the sump. once the water clears up, i will try to get some pics. there is still a little bit of silt that will have to be siphoned out of each tank as we do water changes (good thing we got a new bucket of salt from paul), but once each tank has macro-algae, this system should stay much cleaner.

[Paul28]

Thats great !!! you were able to clean all the tanks :)

[SinisterLou]

Do the yellow tangs fight with each other? I wish I could have had a teacher like you when I was in school.

[OrionN]

If the logistic is right, you are welcome to one or several clutches of my Onyx A. percula. I am way down here in Corpus Christi. The eggs are on tiles and you certainly can get 5 gal of tank water along so you can hatch them in SA.

[Southern Flame]

This is awesome!!

[hobogato]

ok, i think the display is good to go now thanks to some additions:

narrow lined puffer - thanks tiphanie

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/2013-01-28_16-15-42_977.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/2013-01-28_16-18-12_10.jpg

yellow damse - thanks clayton

[pic coming soon]

a valintini puffer and another yellow damsel - thanks tim

[pics coming soon]

now, i need to work on getting more clownfish and some banggai cardinals for the breeding tanks as well as some more macro-algae

[hobogato]

Damsels

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/2013-01-31_08-32-37_301.jpg

Puffer

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/2013-01-31_08-32-03_887.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/2013-01-31_08-33-47_804.jpg

[Southern Flame]

That's awesome he looks so happy :)

[hobogato]

well, it was an eventful morning - taking a page right off of the discovery chanel. the eel tried to eat the narrow lined puffer and it took me a bit to get it to let go. the puffer is pretty shredded, but hopefully i can medicate it and it will heal up. the eel is in a bucket - will have to go to a new home.

[Scutterborn]

That's no good. Sorry to hear about this.


-Ben-

[hobogato]

yeah, the puffer is really torn up, but it is eating a piece of shrimp right now, so that is a good sign.

[Scutterborn]

Indeed. If ever there was some with the experience and knowledge to handle the situation, it's you. Good luck.


-Ben-

[Southern Flame]

Hope puff makes a speedy recovery he has lots of personality

[ramsey]

well, it was an eventful morning - taking a page right off of the discovery chanel. the eel tried to eat the narrow lined puffer and it took me a bit to get it to let go. the puffer is pretty shredded, but hopefully i can medicate it and it will heal up. the eel is in a bucket - will have to go to a new home.

Sorry to hear about that, Ace. Is he doing any better? My wife really wants to get an eel when we set up the FOWLR but stories like this make me think it's probably not a good idea. Why do you think he'd go after the puffer and not a tang or something? Was the puffer smaller?

[Richard]

I wish I could have had a teacher like you when I was in school.

I took a marine biology class in high school and my teacher was great but what Ace has done over the years with his class is above and beyond. His students are so lucky...but they're young so most of them probably won't realize just how lucky they were until they get older lol.

[hobogato]

thanks richard.

unfortunately, the puffer did not make it.

[Southern Flame]

:( poor lil guy

[Scutterborn]

unfortunately, the puffer did not make it.

:(


-Ben-

[ramsey]

That sucks man. :(

[hobogato]

ok, time for a little rebuilding.

i spent a few hours cleaning out some of the breeder tanks for an exciting donation that i received today from justin and hannah - THANKS AGAIN!


here are the tanks i prepped:


http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/IMG_20130611_125410_423_zpsa16db0f0.jpg


because of aggression, i am passing the clown tang and the picasso trigger on to a suitable new home.

first, some fish donated for the display tank - a vlamingi tang, sailfin tang, scopas tang, butterfly and puffer


http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC01554_zps50b7100f.jpg


http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC01555_zpsf410926c.jpg


http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC01556_zps40a29049.jpg


http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC01557_zps206e58a0.jpg


next, the clowns


pair of breeding tomato clowns with two day old clutch of eggs - hopefully they will hatch in spite of the move


http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC01561_zps29f41537.jpg


pair of gsm clowns - have never spawned


http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC01562_zps41c136b6.jpg


http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC01565_zps6d685e84.jpg


single gsm - will look for a wsm to pair with it asap


http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC01563_zps4f9852d6.jpg


occilaris femal/black ice male - have a two day old clutch of eggs, hopefully they will hatch in spite of being moved


http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC01558_zpseb50df98.jpg


black ice misbar male x black ice female - not spawning


http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC01559_zps81f4e072.jpg


darwin female x snowflake male - newly paired (they are hiding behind the pot)


http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC01564_zpsed243665.jpg


this is an occilaris pair that i picked up a while back - too young to spawn


http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC01560_zps992e7d89.jpg

[aquasport24]

I can't tell if am looking at yours or Rob's thread with all the Designer clowns doing their thing..:bigsmile:

[Mr Cob]

Awesome Ace, that GSM pair looks huge!

Sent from my HTC VIVID using Tapatalk

[Zack]

Ace, what grade level do you teach? Is all this in your classroom?

[hobogato]

thanks guys

yes zack, this is in my classroom. i teach mostly seniors.

[Zack]

What school? That's awesome! My old physics teacher had a reef and frag tank in his classroom but nothing to this level! Do you teach Marine Bio??

[hobogato]

i teach at madison hs. it is environmental systems, but i include some of the aquatic science topics as well.

[hobogato]

i was able to get a cruddy pic of our bashful pair today


darwin female x snowflake male - newly paired


http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/IMG_20130614_142415_433_zps3e9c6763.jpg


the tomato clutch seemed to hatch early because of the move, only a few eggs remained on the tile today.


the occilaris x black ice clutch seems ok. i think they will hatch in two or three days because i am starting to see shiny eyes.


http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/IMG_20130614_142451_505_zpsbd80141d.jpg


http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/IMG_20130614_142441_842_zps0bccf06f.jpg


i tried to find a small starter culture locally a couple of days ago, but couldnt find anyone with rotifers to spare. minh is generously bringing some to me tomorrow when he comes by for a visit. hopefully i can get that culture to mature fast enough to save some of these since it looks like a small clutch. i think if i could have started a culture a couple of days ago it would have been more likely.

[OrionN]

There is always the next patch. I would get the rotifer culture mature before trying to raise the fry. I did not know that you need they that quick, or else I would get a lot more rotifer. I only get 1 liter. It will mature in 3 days. I start to add phytoplanton and increase the volume tonight

[hobogato]

thanks again minh, we might just get it to mature in time to raise a few from this batch :)

[Mr Cob]

We shld be loaded in a week Ace but you'll probably be set by then with Minh's help. Good luck to you.

Did you decide to culture phyto or go frozen?

Sent from my HTC VIVID using Tapatalk

[hobogato]

i have some frozen, so that is what i will use. i will be ordering some more rotigrow tomorrow. when the school year starts up again in august, we will start growing the live phyto in the classroom again.

[hobogato]

so minh came by for a visit today and brought some great gifts for my classroom project.

some rotifers

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC01591_zpsa188387b.jpg

i split them into two cultures, doubled the volume and gave them some food. hopefully the cultures will mature quickly.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC01592_zps4cf8e6fc.jpg

he also brought me 10 of the clownfish that he raised - they are about 5 months old

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC01589_zps187ddc70.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC01593_zpseb1b0768.jpg

here they are settling into their tank in the classroom - they started exploring the fake anemone as soon as i put it in with them

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC01595_zpsb5b3997a.jpg

i decided to go ahead and bring the oscillaris x black ice eggs home because they are starting to show lots of silver eyes. since it is summer, it will be much easier for me to raise them at home and take them back to the classroom when school starts back up again in the fall. like i said earlier, hopefully those rotifers will populate quickly!

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC01597_zps7a449188.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/DSC01599_zpsc7dba266.jpg

[hobogato]

forgot to mention, the parents were quite ticked off at me for taking their tile. i replaced it with an old flat coral skeleton and the male immediately went to work cleaning it up as the female began to inspect it.

[hobogato]

a few babies hatched early today, but they seem to be moving around pretty well. the rest will probably hatch tonight or tomorrow night. if i had to guess, i would say there are at least 10 that have already hatched and at least 50 more that have not.

[Mr Cob]

That's awesome, Minh is awesome too!

How do you sieve out the rotifers from the waste with those culture tubes Ace?

Pretty cool man.

Sent from my HTC VIVID using Tapatalk

[hobogato]

i have a screen that came from florida aquafarms a long time ago.

[OrionN]

How did they hatch during the day.

[hobogato]

the tile they are on slipped a bit and a few of them hatched as a result. four of them seem to be swimming normally, the others didnt make it. i think the rest will hatch tonight or tomorrow night.


How did they hatch during the day.

[hobogato]

looks like the rotifers are reproducing well, i pulled a pint from each culture and ran it thru the screen. the results were better than expected this soon :)

[OrionN]

I did the same with one of my trip from my office home. The tile slipped face down of the floor of the salt bucket. That batch did not do too good. Good luck with your's.
I use a small gallon container (cut out milk container) from then on with a piece of rock and it is impossible for the tile to slip like that again.

[hobogato]

good tip minh. this happened after i put them in the tank, was looking for a rock to prop the tile up and it slid down onto the air stone. no more hatches last night, and the ones that hatched were knocked off of the tile didn't make it.

[hobogato]

i was mistaken, looks like we still have two survivors from the early hatch mishap. about half of the clutch of eggs has gone very light silver, and the rest have lightened up in color considerably. hopefully that means tonight is the night for hatching...

[hobogato]

ok, these little buggers are really good at hiding - counting seven early hatchers still alive

i expect most of the rest of the eggs to hatch tonight as they have all gone silver.

now the bad part: i got out the microscope to check on my rotifers, and it looks bad. unless they really multiply overnight, i dont think i will have enough to raise this batch.

[OrionN]

Just pick 10 to raise. Add the rotifers, phytoplanton and keep the water green.

[OrionN]

So how did it go?
I did not have enough rotifer for my first patch so I selected 50 strongest and discarded the rest. I hope you did not have to do this.

[hobogato]

no more hatches. there are a few still hanging on to the tile, but i think it was just too much change for them. they were moved to the school tanks a couple days after they were placed on the tile and then moved here a few days ago.

[OrionN]

Do you still have one or two?

[hobogato]

i dont see any living ones today.

[Southern Flame]

Just incase you need Rotifers quick in the future coral cove carries live Rotifers seen them today while window shopping

[hobogato]

thanks, i will check it out.

[Southern Flame]

No prob :-)

[hobogato]

the picasso clowns that used to live in our 29 biocube have joined the other clowns in my classroom. hopefully they will start spawning later this year.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/IMG_20130626_121416_716_zps5d3fc201.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/environmental%20systems/IMG_20130626_121425_912_zpsbaf49ae4.jpg

[OrionN]

So how are your breeding project coming along? How are the babies I brought? Hope they are doing well for you.

[hobogato]

all of the fish are doing well. no clutches currently, but all fish, including your babies are fine - they love their fake anemone :)