Breeding Journal: A. Ocellaris

[Chelle's Ocean]

Ok..so I walk into the bedroom to feed the brood pair and I say :

"Ok mommys little baby makers...time to ea- Son Of A B****!"

Ugh, stop, turn and run for the camera - I cannot believe they are laying. Ok so it is obviously between 4:30pm and 5:15pm for their cycle, considering last time on the 13th.



So- I am almost nervous. lol. Haven't even gotten through my first batch yet, and I have more coming.... My fish need to 'get a headache' so I can catch up and learn what to do - lol!

[Chelle's Ocean]

As of last night noticed no movement in the tank after feeding the baby brine shrimp.

This morning, no movement.

I just learned from the helpful ones over at MBI that I will stay away from the bbs and focus soley on the otohime . That the bbs may have bacteria that if not rinsed off may get into the larvae tank. I rinsed the eggs very well after decapsulating them, I rinsed them again. But I did not rinse the hatched shrimp before putting them into the tank, I turkey basted the shrimp up from the water bottle and gently poured them into the larvae tank. Thinking that since it was fresh water that it would be ok- had no clue.

Sorry my little fish

So today I am checking to see if anything is moving. Will update later.

next batch is due to hatch 9/3/10

[MizTanks]

Awww Chelle, are you talking about no movement in the tank with the new babies?

[Chelle's Ocean]

Absolutely no movement.

I emptied out the entire tank today. Turkey basting it - yeah..... took me abit, but if there was a chance of even 1 in there I didn't want to miss it. But sadly, there was not.

I am going on the information of what I have been told on MBI as a suggestion. And pointing it to the baby brine shrimp. I decapsulated them perfectly (thanks to Tal's instructions) - I was worried at first, but after having spent some time in the bottle, the shrimp were moving all over the place. (looks like little red mites or itty bitty ticks just twitching in the water)

Anyway - the decapsulating worked. The actual hatching of the brine shrimp eggs worked. I was not even thinking and siphoned the shrimp (and the shrimp water) and gently added it to the tank. I have been kicking myself all day about this- because any one who knows me knows I am more on the OCD side of things when it comes to my tank. I make sure everything is sterile, not mixing this with that...etc. I honestly didn't think about bacteria in the shrimp water. And I should have. So - now that I know about that.....I am not sure if I will be using them. Or if I do, I will make certain to rinse them off VERY well.

I am sad - but also happy - so it is a bittersweet feeling. I have been told by several on MBI that I got pretty far for my 1st time... so I am very proud of that, and trying to keep an open mind about this- to use it as a learning tool and move forward, and not to concentrate on the loss. (but, lol we all feel sad when something in our tank is no more)

So I have now got the tank empty, clean, and ready to be set up for the next attempt. I will feel abit more comfortable this time around- as I know the first few steps, and hope to make it past my marker of Day 6-

Wish me well...I will keep you all posted, and start a better, (more informed) journal

'Nite all.....

[fishtal]

'Chelle,

You did fine and you've learned a lot. It takes a while to get the routine down, you're almost there.

As suggested elsewhere, I'd try skipping the baby brine when you get the Otohime A. It makes it a lot easier. Sorry I didn't make it clear to rinse the brine before adding them as food. I'll update that on my site for future reference.

[MizTanks]

So sorry Chelle. Hang in there!

[Chelle's Ocean]

Just when you think you know something......



Seems I have possibly been misinformed when purchasing my ocellaris pair a few years back. And my fault, I never checked it thinking they were just that.

But it appears after googling more research, that I may not have an ocellaris pair afterall. From the photos here:

http://www.tmc-ltd.co.uk/hatchery/species-list.asp



It seems as though my pair is actually a Red Percula <?>

I have caught myself saying wow....the female looks redder in the belly... but I thought that may have just been due to laying eggs <?>



So...if I try to post a clear photo, or if anyone can tell from the videos of the first journal, I would like confirmation on this - just for my own record keeping

[jimsflies]

I've never heard of red percs before. But I would think with good photos of the eyes and dorsal fins, that someone could ID whether or not you have an occy or perc.

[XSiVE]

I just looked at your videos and the eyes really look like ocellaris to me.

[Chelle's Ocean]

Hmmm...really? Ok. Then I will stick with that. That's what I thought I had all this time, it's just weird that the upper 1/2 of their bodies are darker than the bottom half.

Thanks for looking!