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Sexy Breeding -- Live nudes!


Whys

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Wow that is a lot of larvae!

 

So I've never heard of MBI, but after looking at it more I may start a journal over the summer. What's with the points though? Just to symbolize your success or progress?

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Now I understand your sig Whys! Before it looked like a random zooplankton :lol:

 

The more you look, the more you'll find. ;)

 

Wow that is a lot of larvae!

 

So I've never heard of MBI, but after looking at it more I may start a journal over the summer. What's with the points though? Just to symbolize your success or progress?

 

I was losing about a dozen a day a few days ago. Not sure why, just seemed to be a bit of a developmental hump at that point, but it appears to have past and losses have really leveled out.

 

I have a couple that appear to have settled, but no metamorphosis at this point.

 

The MBI badges indicate your successes. No idea about the points; ask CMPenny. And... LINK YOUR THREAD! ...Please. :)

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How important do you think lighting is for the larvae? Also I know heat is important for hatching bbs, but if I set up two 2-liter bottles and just provide a light for them would be sufficient to hatch them in 12-16 hours? Maybe I need to try it. I feel this set up would make hatching them easier as far as cleaning and starting a new hatch.

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While it is always best to try provide ideal conditions, fact is brine shrimp eggs will hatch in much less than ideal conditions.

 

I always use freshly mixed Oceanic sea water already at temp when I add the eggs. It's just easiest for me because I always have saltwater at temp in my mixing station for water changes. The bicarbonates eventually calcify near the end of the rigid air line tho, and I have to pick it out with a bit of metal wire about once a week or it clogs. A soak in vinegar would probably take care of it, but I might do better to just use water and salt instead of saltmix. I then keep the reactors at temp by placing them with a heater in a 2.5g tank filled with tap water. I keep them lit under a single 24w T5 bulb and my light meter currently reads 250 lumens at the water's surface.

 

All of this is overkill of course, but when I was using undecaped eggs, the constant ideal temperature conditions were probably the most important aspect of getting a good hatch-out within 24 hours.

 

Ultimately, the point is to get the best hatch out you can because unhatched eggs will only foul up the water. Simpler setups will work, but they can be more error prone. Some people just use an incandescent bulb a few inches from the surface to both light and warm the water, but incandescent bulbs are a collectors item these days and probably wouldn't work well in my basement in the winter.

 

Also, use 1-liters if you can. I really prefer them.

 

As for the larvae, the lighting isn't really important, but how they feed is. A single point source light placed over the top of the rearing vessel really helps keep them off the surfaces and in the water column. That in turn helps them feed and it makes a big difference. It also helps to concentrate the BBS under the light.

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Yarrr.... maties! Here be our first treasure!

Very Sexy Valentine:
trinket.jpg

It time I be thank'n my crew and divvy up the loot.

cast_and_crew.jpg
Left to right: Pete, Jetsam, Lagan, Wanda, (the nameless one).

I have about a dozen right now with a bunch more on the way. My philosophy is working. Just.. you.. wait..

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So, I've got sort of an issue/question.

 

After I decapsulated brine shrimp eggs I poured the entire contents of the bottle through a strainer, rinsed it with vinegar, then water, and then stored it in saturated brine water in the fridge.

 

I noticed the last two hatches have had less brine shrimp, and the most recent one had pretty much none. My procedure for hatching hasn't changed. I'm wondering if at a certain point there were only egg shells left in that container (I did shake the container prior to scooping out eggs though).

 

Since the eggs sink and the shells float after decapsulation, after decapsulating eggs today I scooped out the top (ideally the shells) and just saved what settled (ideally eggs). I'm not sure if this is a good methodology but I'm willing to try.

 

Thoughts?

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After hydrating the eggs for one hour in fresh water, I pour off everything that floats. I've looked at them under a scope and all the floaters are dimpled. That means they failed to hydrate and aren't likely to hatch.

 

After decaping the eggs for 5 minutes, I dump it all in a 2 gallon bucket filled with tap water. That brings the reaction to a crawl while I again pour everything off of the top. I do this 2 or 3 times to eliminate all traces of bleach and don't actually bother with vinegar, tho it may not be a bad idea to use it.

 

I've noticed once the eggs are decaped, you have to be more gentle with them. Hitting them directly with a blast of water from the tap can break them open. Some of the spilled yoke gets poured off with the shells, but it's heavier than the shells and sticky, so some stays behind and just adds unwanted crap.

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They're nearly a centimeter in length when they settle. Once they morph they actually look a little smaller because they start to curl their tail upward. They also lose most of their color at that point.

 

Here is a new video for a better idea of scale. These are about 5 days post morph and that's a normal sized toothpick in the video. They've developed a nice red color, a few white spots, and of course... their quintessential butt wiggle. :)

 

butt_dance-2181.gif

 

 

I have 60 so far. More on the way.

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  • 3 weeks later...

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cute babies!

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Nice! I would like to get back to a tank of these someday. So, if you want to part with any and would consider shipping, let me know.... :)

Wednesday, January 18, 2012 4:45 PM

Start with copepods and/or BBS, from what I've heard. Good luck!

rolleyes.gif

 

I don't hear from the guy for a whole year, now he wants my sexies. tongue.gif

 

 

If either of you want them, you can have some. I have way too many, and no home to give them.

 

Settlement occurred over the course of about a week. I continued to feed them baby brine shrimp in the kreisel for two weeks after that, so the first to settle spent a total of 3 weeks in the kreisel post metamorphosis. There were 8 larvae that while remaining healthy, refused to settle, which equals about 2% of the total.

 

I took some video about a week ago after transferring them to the grow out tank. How does one get 150 teeny tiny sexies out of a kreisel with only a two inch hole on top? I drained the water to the bottom, then gently sucked them up with what is essentially a very long "turkey baster". I feel this was more gentle than a siphon approach and it resulted in zero losses.

 

The grow out tank is a 2.5g with 50w titanium heater, air-stone, ammonia alert, a pair of digital thermometers, and just a couple bits of live rock rubble.

 

thor_grow_out_1.jpg

 

All filtration is performed with a 75% water change every couple of days.

 

I'm feeding twice a day and have tried a variety of foods: unhatched decapsulated brineshrimp eggs, flake food, and frozen mysis. They appear to do best with the flake food, but will eat all three. I feel the raw eggs were a good transition food for the first couple of days and suspect I'll feed more frozen mysis as the shrimp mature.

 

thor_grow_out_2.jpg

 

Interestingly, by all appearances, they are all male. huh.gif

 

Oh, and while doing a water change, I decided to turn off the heater. I damn near forgot to turn it back on before retreating from the cold basement to the warm upstairs. Probably would have awakened the next day to 150 dead shrimp, had I not remembered. Wouldn't that have been fun to report?

  • I hate heaters.
  • I hate having all my eggs in one basket.

Now...

Shake dat thang! smile.gif

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

You have to admit that they are hard to resist. :) That's a great photo of them on the coral skeleton!

 

Took me two years to take that photo. :]

 

 

Took this photo today. At a glance, I'd say they are about 5 or 6 times larger than in the previous photo. It's getting just a little crowded for 150 shrimp.

 

thor_grow_out_3.jpg

 

They've done well on the flake food and occasional mysis. They are absolutely voracious and I am astounded by their capacity to continuously consume. They must be eating their own molts as well, because it's rare that I even see one.

 

They probably need about one more week in the grow-out tank, possibly two for the smallest, so of course I've been trying to find them homes. Guess what I've discovered? I'll give you a hint. It just might be the single greatest barrier to the growth of this particular hobby.

 

Online retailers such as LiveAquaria must get huge shipping discounts due to their volume. A 5 pound package via FedEx Overnight from Spokane to New York is over $100. Even Spokane to Colorado isn't much better, at around $80. While it was nice to think I might send some shrimp to a few friends, it's just not very practical. I would have to ship them in the hundreds before it would be cost effective.

 

There are 4 saltwater shops in town or nearby and each is willing to buy about a dozen sexies at $3 each. While that may ease the overcrowding, fact is, that'll still leave me with a whole lot of sexy.

 

Perhaps I should open a club? biggrin.gif

 

AAAAAk-elOgAAAAAAEECmA.jpg?v=11765988750

 

Good thing I'm not in this for the money. wink.gif

 

Incidentally, I have now accidentally left the heater off overnight on two separate occasions. Temp went as low as 65 degrees for as long as 6 hours in both events. While fortunately no shrimp were lost, I did notice that when the water is that cold, they completely stop eating.

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Yup, shipping is crazy high now. :(

 

Those little guys look awesome, btw. When my student loans come in I'll be hitting you up for some. ;)

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  • 2 weeks later...

WOW. I read th whole thread from beginning to end. Great stuff man. ALSO, congrats on the success!!!!!!!!!!

 

EDIT:

Also, did they all tn out to be in fact males? Any idea why this would be so?

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WOW. I read th whole thread from beginning to end. Great stuff man. ALSO, congrats on the success!!!!!!!!!!

 

EDIT:

Also, did they all tn out to be in fact males? Any idea why this would be so?

 

I don't believe you. :D But that's okay, I wrote it for the archives. Thanks for looking it over, and no they started sexually differentiating about a week and a half ago. Looks to be about 50/50, but I can't say I've counted.

 

Congrats that's soooo cool:)

 

Yeah it was fun. :)

 

Thank you for this thread (and leading me to MBI); I am very interested in trying to breed inverts now.

 

You are very welcome. Please link your thread if you do!

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Wow they look great!

 

Can't you ship it via USPS? It's $39.95 from Spokane, WA to New York, NY up to 70 lbs. Also, an added benefit is USPS always keeps their packages indoors when storing at hubs. I imagine if enough people got together for a group buy the price would quickly even out for the buyer.

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