reefiness

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Hello MR, So I put up a post in the FS/FT section last night to see if someone wanted to try raising blue/green reef chromis from the eggs my harem has been laying on and off for about 5 years or so.

In the mean time, I figured I would break out the microscope and check the progress of the eggs on a daily basis to see the growth and development of them. It will also help me and anyone interested in raising these, when to expect hatching after the day the eggs have been laid. The eggs themselves are much smaller, but laid in much larger clutches than clownfish eggs, and from my past experience they hatch quicker. Or they are guarded/hidden poorly and the rest of the tank eats the eggs quicker than it takes clownfish eggs to hatch.

So to start this thread, this is a picture of today's development. Still very early on so no body structures are visible. We are somewhere in the morula/blastula stage of development. This is I believe around 24 hours after eggs were laid, or possibly 48 hours. I can compare to the next clutch to be certain.
 

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reefiness

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Great now I need a microscope to go with this hobby! Lol, that's really cool! Thanks for sharing!


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Haha. I got my microscope i believe within a few months of starting up my tank many years ago (although not as many years ago as PaulB). There is so much stuff to look at under a microscope. At this point I've looked at most of what I can look out without getting a microtome and decalcifying agents.
 

reefiness

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So I was doing a little research into chromis, apparently unlike most damselfish, they hatch before they are fully developed and dont even have any eye pigmentation. They are supposed to hatch 5 days after they are laid, at which point they exclusively get nutrients through the yolk sac for the next 2 days until they start feeding.
 

reefiness

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So, im pretty sure the eggs I got last night were unfertilized. Because the update tonight is going to be incredible if i can figure out how to get a video loaded onto this site.
 

reefiness

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Here are some pics. You can see one of the eggs looks pretty much the same as the 2 I had gotten yesterday. That was the 1 and only egg I originally put on the slide tonight. After seeing the similarities I figured there was something wrong, and went back for some more eggs. I'm glad I did.
 

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reefiness

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Here is the same picture twice which helps show the anatomy a little bit. I've circled the eyes in green, the cranial end (head) is pointed to in red. The caudal end (tail) is pointed to with the yellow arrow. The orange line shows the tracing of the embryos body along the spinal cord.
 

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reefiness

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Only way I was able to get the video attached was at a super low quality image which really hinders the view of the heart beat, but thats the best I can do. At least you can get the idea with this.
 

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reefiness

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Well looked at the tank this morning, and seems like the majority of the eggs have hatched or been eaten. Theres only a few left on the algae sheet holder which makes me think these are some of the ones that werent fertilized like the one i picked out the 2 nights ago, and the one from last night which showed no where near the development the other 2 eggs showed.

Anyway, I will be taking a look at a sample of the eggs that remain later tonight to see whats going on with them, but im not expecting much as im assuming the healthy ones all hatched last night.
 

ourcoralreef

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This is really awesome
And for anyone doing research this is allot of info

the only problem is i think they are being eaten as the nori holder is a source of food to the other fish and if they 24-7 go for it eventually they will get it
 

reefiness

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Yes, i definitely think some are being eaten. But because of tha abrupt disappearing of all the eggs as of yesterday, even ones not on the nori holder, makes me want to say it was a hatch day. Ill try to mark down the next day eggs are being laid so i have more accurate readings time until hatch.
 

reefiness

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chromis has been laying eggs all day, and it just keeps going like the energizer bunny. I dont think she appreciated me stealing her eggs every night last time so shes laying them on the back wall this time.....
 

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