Breeding in a large system

[Qb6945]

I currently work with a 42000 gallon reef aquarium where we have fish breeding on a regular basis. Our most common breeders are tomato clowns, saddleback clowns, yellowtail damsels, lawnmower blenny, and mandarin goby. I am able to collect saddle eggs put of the tank once per month from one pair, but have witnessed courtship and uncovered eggs from the others listed. My current tactic is placing tiles where the clowns lay their eggs and removing them once the process is finished. Are there any suggestions for other ways of egg collection throughout the tank?

[jolson]

seems like a pretty sweet setup to me, I was thinking of getting a larger tank myself but I guess there's no sense in trying to outdo you. I think your on the right track with the tiles if the others have usual spawning sites I would just keep putting out tiles or some type of pots

[Qb6945]

It is a pretty sweet tank. It requires regular dives for maintenance and husbandry. Here is a photo of 3, out of 7, of the windows showcasing the tank.


taken via iPhone.

[PaulG]

first of all.. determine which species lay their eggs on the surface of an object vs distributing their eggs in the water column.

those that lay on an object are easy to handle, demersal spawners are a little more difficult as you will need to setup some form of egg capturing device on the overflows of teh tank in order to catch teh eggs.


HTH
PaulG

[Qb6945]

Thanks for your input Paul.

Some sort of netting device would be ideal, though I don't know that the overflow would be the best area. There is a lot of detritus being pulled from the tank as I am sure you could imagine, and this would mean nets full of sludge. Though the outcome of picking eggs out of the nets would be worth it, I don't know if it is something that could be conducted on a routine basis. Also, most of the eggs released in the water column are consumed within minutes of birth. Of the demersal spawners in the tank, I have witnessed spawning of both the P. Hepatus and N. Vlamingii. I can say that the coloration of P. Hepatus is quite stunning during courtship rituals!

[KathyL]

Is this a public aquarium?

[Qb6945]

Is this a public aquarium?

Yes, indeed it is.

[Qb6945]

I pulled out a clutch of lawnmower blenny eggs today while inside of the tank. They have been placed in a small tank over light aeration and low light. I will keep updating over the next couple of days of any results.

[Qb6945]

Day two for the Salarias fasciatus eggs. I am currently keeping them under heavy aeration. Water temp is 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
I am in a bind since my rotifers decided to take over my nannochloropsis. 10 gallons of nannochloropsis down, 15 gallons left. This works out because i was low on rotifers.

I have decided to split the fry among 4 tanks. A thirty gallon, a twenty gallon and two ten gallon tanks. I will distribute the fry according to tank size. I will use nannochloropsis for half of the hatch, and Florida Aqua Farms "Roti-Rich" for the other half.

[BaboonScience]

Good luck with that. Those eggs look like they should be hatching about now.
They hatch out somewhat small and would probably prefer ss rotifers but freshly hatched B. plicatilis should do so the adult rotifers will essentially be producing the young that the fry will feed on.
I have had some success by keeping rotifer density at about 20 - 30 per ml, green water and moderate water circulation. They seem to like mild current initially. Good to see someone else trying them.
John