Catching true perk larvae at three in the morning. Well the forth time in about a 6-week period was charm. At least the larvae snagger is working and I managed to catch about 6 strays with a cup after the batteries ran out on the pen light. You'd have to read Joyce Wilkenson's book to understand what I'm talking about. Anyway we have 7 jugs of green water and two ten gallon tanks teeming with rotifers and I'm feeling much greener for the effort. I'll be bragging about it later if we manage to get any of them through.
Catching true perk larvae
- Thread starter dizzy
- Start date
We had a slight malfunction of the strainer on the larvae snagger and only ended up with about 30 of the larval true perks. 
It was our first try and we will do better next time. :idea:
The rotifer cultures are in good shape and the 30 or so are eating well.
I have some great pictures of the pair with orange eggs, the black eggs, and the eye stage. The larve are too small to photograph.
Will post later when we make some improvements on
www.fisheybusiness.com
It was our first try and we will do better next time. :idea: The rotifer cultures are in good shape and the 30 or so are eating well.
I have some great pictures of the pair with orange eggs, the black eggs, and the eye stage. The larve are too small to photograph.
Will post later when we make some improvements on
www.fisheybusiness.com
The true perk larvae made it past the critical 72-hour barrier that Joyce Wilkerson talks about. So far we have found only one of the larval clownfish that had died. (right after collection) The rest have grown noticeably. The rotifer culture is holding up well. All and all it is going quite well for our first effort (touch wood) and kudos to Joyce for making it so easy. The tiny perks are now 85 hours old.
Spawn number 5 at about 60 hours, the eggs have turned from orange to black. I estimate there are around 200 eggs. The larvae from spawn 4 are now 6-days old and just beginning to eat newly hatched brine shrimp. About 25 of the 30 we caught are still alive. I still can't figure out how to post directly.
www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=942898
www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=942898
Wow Man, very cool. Now you're getting me motivated. My clowns just started spawning (that I noticed) this summer, and I was lucky enough to catch them in the act the last time (Clown Porn Thread). I'm curious how you found growing the rotifers? I've tried my hand at Greenwater before, and didn't have much luck. I was _hoping_ to rear some of them this winter by using DT's (or else some of the Cryo-pastes). While much more expensive, to me, I think it will be easier enough that I can justify the cost.
I've got some Rotifer Cysts from FAF that are a couple of years old.. Anyone think they're still any good? I'd like to try growing those out for a couple of months, before I actually attempt to catch and rear any of the larvae. It would make for a nice addition to the planktonic food for the reef, too!
Great pic's BTW, that one of the larvae swimming around was the one that got me wanting to catch the next batch! I guess I better start re-reading Joyce's book soon, as I don't remember anything about a catcher!
- Mac
I've got some Rotifer Cysts from FAF that are a couple of years old.. Anyone think they're still any good? I'd like to try growing those out for a couple of months, before I actually attempt to catch and rear any of the larvae. It would make for a nice addition to the planktonic food for the reef, too!
Great pic's BTW, that one of the larvae swimming around was the one that got me wanting to catch the next batch! I guess I better start re-reading Joyce's book soon, as I don't remember anything about a catcher!
- Mac
Good work! My clowns spawn but I never have the time to grow the larvae. What are you going to do with them when they grow up? Becareful of contaminating your greenwater with rotifer! Don't share tools/equipment between the 2 cultures. Sterilise. I hope Bob the sponge helps out.
Good luck! :lol:
Good luck! :lol:
So far the green water and rotifer cultures are working well. Joyce really explains things in great detail in her book. If the picture comes through you can see our green water setup. We have 10-gallon tanks at each end that are about 1/3 full of water and teeming with rotifers. We have plenty to feed corals and stuff as well.
Some of the 8.5-day old larvae are just starting to wag their tails from side to side and really motor around the tank. We think they are going through metaphorpsis. We only ended up with about 20, but this was our very first effort. The next batch should hatch out on Sunday.
Thanks Ernie
Some of the 8.5-day old larvae are just starting to wag their tails from side to side and really motor around the tank. We think they are going through metaphorpsis. We only ended up with about 20, but this was our very first effort. The next batch should hatch out on Sunday.
Thanks Ernie
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