Cypho purpurescens Eggball

[mrblue]

Hey All,

I noticed my Cypho purpurescens Oblique-line Dottyback have a nice big eggball. About two weeks ago I added a new larger spawning site/pvc tube to see if the male would prefer this and he obviously does. I have been out for basically all the weekend so I'm not sure if this was laid today (Monday) or yesterday. The eggs don't seem older then that, from the pics they do look like newly laid eggs. What I wondering about is if people think I should steal this eggball or leave it in the hope that the male uses this site on a regular basis. Most dotties don't seem to concerned if you disturb their nests to snag eggballs but I have had my sunrises changes nesting sites after I have disturbed them and seeing as the Oblique-lines seem a little random compared to my other dotties I'm not sure what to do. The male Oblique-line also doesn't have as many options as the Sunrises do. Here are a couple of pics anyways.




This is the best one I could get that shows the male in the background, didn't wont to freak him out with too many photo's.

Ryan.

[DThom]

Congrats, looks like a nice egg ball.

[mrblue]

Thanks DThom .

[Clownfish75]

your doing well Ryan, when do we get some baby fish!!

Christian

[mpedersen]

Congrats - nice pix! I'd say leave 'em be - it was REALLY EASY to siphon out my P. cyanotaenia larvae when they hatched (so I'll probably be doing that every time now). That seems to be the general concensus from breeders of just about any fish - "try" going the natural route first, and only if the parents prove themselves unreliable should you intervene.

Matt

[mrblue]

your doing well Ryan, when do we get some baby fish!!

Christian

When I raise more then a handful of them . Most of my juv dotties are being paired as future broodstock, although with my sunrise parents still with me I could probably spare a few juvs...

Congrats - nice pix! I'd say leave 'em be - it was REALLY EASY to siphon out my P. cyanotaenia larvae when they hatched (so I'll probably be doing that every time now). That seems to be the general concensus from breeders of just about any fish - "try" going the natural route first, and only if the parents prove themselves unreliable should you intervene.

Matt

That's a good point Matt. I think I will have a go at siphoning them out. Unlike you I did not find it easy siphoning out dotties in the past though. I tried it with my orchids when they first started spawning and I found it very difficult. They wouldn't accumulate under the light well, some did, many more ended up in the corners. I would move the light to see them in different parts of the tank and they would move away from it. What kind of torch were you using? I was scooping most out with a bowl but one time it took me hours to collect them .

Ryan.

[mrblue]

That's weird, why did my quotes/replies come out backwards?

[Clownfish75]

you got the opening quote mark second and the start one closing one first.

Christian

[mrblue]

I'm all back the front today . Thanks for fixing that Christian.

Ryan.

[mrblue]

Well, the eggball is no more . I went to clean off the glass a little better yesterday to see if I could sneak a couple more pics and the eggball was already gone. Got a feeling he didn't like my intrusion on the first day. Oh well, hopefully he uses his new nesting site in the future...

Ryan.

[mpedersen]

Bummer Ryan. Better luck on the next one!

BTW, to answer your question, the Flashlight (torch) I was using was a LED flashlight that runs off 3 AA batteries...it's pretty bright. Also, I wasn't concerned with getting every last larvae...there were beyond plenty!

Matt

[mrblue]

Thanks for info Matt, I find different torchs/flashlights will often make larvae collect differently under the light.

Ryan.

[mpedersen]

Thanks for info Matt, I find different torchs/flashlights will often make larvae collect differently under the light.

Ryan.

A very interesting thing we should maybe try to document and keep track of???!

Matt

[mrblue]

I've collected many hatches with flashlight and bowl and I have basically found the brightness and the diameter of the flashlight (still feels funny saying flashlight, not torch) is important. When you first change the batteries it's often too bright and you quite a few collecting against the sand/bottom and all the way from the bottom to the surface. They also see you coming a bit better and can avoid you if it's too bright. I'll often change only one battery at a time. If it isn't as bright you will find more collect at the surface then towards the bottom.

If the flashlight is too wide they get spread out a fair bit and are sometimes harder to get. They also seem to notice you a bit more in that case to. Too narrow a beam and they distribute down the beam to the bottom as well. I'll often use a wider flashlight, cut a hole in a piece of black plastic and place the flashlight on top of this. What I have said is usually the case but often different species will act a little different, and sometime one batch to the next will differ a bit.

I was thinking, Matt, maybe we should start a thread where we can put a collection of little bits of info like this, something along the lines of 'Little Tips, Observations and Silly Questions' for all the little tips and silly questions that don't really need a whole thread but still can come in handy. I'm sure there are also lots of silly little questions some of us would like to us, but might think it's a bit silly to ask. I was thinking this when I asked about clean-up crews in broodstock tanks and rafting rots. There is often lots of little tips like this mixed up with other threads and are often not so accessible.


Ryan.