It finally happened

[allan]

...as far as I know it that is.

This morning I came down and the anemone was hidden, leaving this post coital mess behind. :)

http://tapatalk.com/mu/45a655d0-1987-273c.jpg

Sorry, it's a cell pic, here is another kind of close up blurry...

http://tapatalk.com/mu/45a655d0-19ce-c9fd.jpg

[Europhyllia]

All I can see is coraline. Might as well tell me that it's the scene of a turbo snail knocking the snot out of a Starry Blenny ;)

[kkiel02]

Split?

[allan]

What?

No, my clowns finally laid down a mat of eggs.

[SinisterLou]

The pink skunkers maid babies...nice.

[Kristy]

Now that's cool!

By the way, you cannot cryptically refer to some exciting development, throw in the phrase "post coital mess" and then use those terrible pics as your explanation. That could have been almost anything.

[allan]

Geez kristy,

Ever have anything positive to say? :)

[ShAgMaN]

LOL, Kristy a little harsh...but true.

[allan]

lol, I think it would have gone over a bit better had I taken the time to use a camera to take the picture. I relied on y'alls experience to fill in the missing pieces.

Milly said she would take a picture later. I'm thinking they were laid last night, but the bta covers that wall so it may have been left a couple days ago. I wouldn't have noticed it if it were not for the little guy hanging around it.

[Kristy]

Geez kristy,

Ever have anything positive to say? :)

First I said, "Now that's cool!" but I guess I could have elaborated there. How's this: I don't know anyone else who has skunks breeding in their tank, so this is pretty special. Skunks seem to me as if maybe they are slower to mature and lay down eggs. If they keep this up, maybe you will have to give a go at raising some fry.

About that other stuff I wrote... who knows. I've been in Germany too long!

PS: When first laid, the eggs are bright orange. As each day passes they get a little less orange, change in shape a bit, and become more silvery and pointy. Right before they hatch you can make out the eyes.

[allan]

You know I was kidding right, kristy? :)

Hey, they look purple to me. But you guys are always seeing colors where I see nothing but purple stuff.

They seem to have little dots at the end of the 'stalk'? The little clown hovers over them, rubbing his fins over them and at times seems to be kissing them. I'm not sure how long they've been there. And I have no idea what to do with them other than let them hatch and feed the lps. Unless they manage to stay with the anenome and get food from somewhere I won't hold out hope for them.

The other problem is that they are laid on the overflow. Can't really pull that out to raise them in another tank. And then growing the rotifers and other things that feed the rotifers, or vice versa... sounds like a lot of work.

Gloria isn't happy, she wants to make sure they live. But I do believe that we are not going to be able to do anything about that.

I bought those skunks at B&B before he decided to move across town. So, I'm thinking about a year and a half to two years before these fish got busy. If they've done this before it escaped my oh-so-keen observations. :)

[Kristy]

Yeah, yeah... you, kid?

Ah then sounds like we are at silvery and pointy phase already, so they should be hatching in the next couple or three evenings and this event probably happened a few days ago. Start keeping an eye on your male and you can tell when there are eggs to tend to by his behaviors: almost never leaves the eggs, stands guard and keeps cleaning them with his mouth. You are going to have to break it to Gloria that this time they are going to just feed the tank. Your LPS will be ever-so-happy, along with any observant late night feeders you might keep. (We have a butterfly who never sleeps and he is first in line to scarf up the clownfish fry... or maybe second in line to the flame hawk.)

[allan]

I think it would be interesting to see them through like the experienced folks are doing. Maybe next time I will go for it.

Aside from it being far too late to do it now I leave town Friday to hunt yogi in MN.

I remember a bit from Ace's class on raising rotifers... I need a two liter bottle, right?

How would I get them? Vacuum them out as they hatch? Use a razor to scrape them off?

[hobogato]

i would be surprised if many of these hatch if this is their first batch. it usually takes a batch or two before a big portion of them is viable.

[allan]

I believe it's their first. If it happened before I wasn't aware of it.

So, if not viable how long will the clowns tend to them before writing them off?

http://tapatalk.com/mu/45a655d0-6a6c-9b5c.jpg

It doesn't look as if they've changed since Saturday or Sunday when we discovered them.

[Kristy]

how long will the clowns tend to them before writing them off?

Some of the fry will probaly hatch, but not a good percentage if it's their first batch of eggs. The eggs will detach, disintegrate, get eaten, etc. within a few days. The ones that do hatch won't live through the night in your tank. They are too tasty and will be preyed upon, plus they won't get the food they need to survive.