Little Nemo Diary

[karigupi]

I've sat & read this thread from start to finish & wow, you have done such a fantastic job, your dedication to their health & success is staggering, well done

I have let out several audible awwwwws & oh so sweet while reading, they really are adorable.

There is a very marked difference with the latest batch of eggs, I will have everything crossed for success with these.

 

[onebto]

I am getting with drawls how are the new eggs getting on -Nemo- ? I(* hope all is well

Regards onebto

 

[-Nemo-]

I was planning on updating today!
The eggs hit Day 8 yesterday, so I went and put in the larval snagger and turned the lights off. I came back in a few hours later to check and I saw hundreds of white specks surrounding the light. Upon closer examination I could definitely tell that they were NOT clownfish larvae, however. I thought that maybe my shrimp had released her babies and I could see the clownfish happily going around and munching on them.

So, this morning I checked and there was lots of things in the larval snagger!... Just no clownfish larvae... It's been chilly in the tank so I'm not surprised the eggs delayed.

Anyways, about the things I did catch. About 1/4 of them were indeed cleaner shrimp. But then the other 3/4 definitely were not... Infact I have no idea what these things are, but there's a lot of them! I took up the mystery and went searching, and I think I've ruled out hermit crabs, as they don't resemble pictures I saw. I THINK that they may be emerald crab larvae. I could not, however, find any pictures of emerald crab larvae so I'm waiting for some help from some help on the identification. Regardless, I took as many shrimp and mysterious larvae out that I could and put them in a little tank. I gave them some rotifers and phyto, and I put some BBS to hatch.

I guess we'll see what happens! The mysterious larvae are very very active and seem to be eating the rotifers. I cannot tell with shrimp as they are mostly staying on the bottom of the tank and the phyto makes it hard to see them.

Here are some pictures!
Of the larval snagger:

The red box is a group of shrimp and the green box is a group of mystery larvae





Here's a little bit of a close-up. Unfortunately I couldn't focus the camera very well. Most of the larvae seen are the mystery ones, however, there is a shrimp larvae visible in the middle-top region.

And then here is my picture I drew of the mystery organisms.

Cool no matter what they turn out to be!

 

[Haych]

lol congrats on the new hatch!

Let us know when the clowns hatch too

 

[Reesy1989]

Wow, thats awsome nemo, unfortunate that it wasn't the clowns but at the same time you have a new journey ahead of you that you have no idea where it'll leave you with the unknown larvae.

keep up the good work and the very interesting write ups

 

[-Nemo-]

My mom said she wants to put an "X-Rating" on my tank

So the mystery larvae did end up being emerald crab larvae! I'm not whether it will ever happen again though since they can store sperm for months and I only bought these emerald crabs a few weeks ago. Still interesting though! They did all die by today however I just didn't know enough about them soon enough to be able to properly care for them. Some shrimp are still alive but I dont' count on them being so for long, next time i'll be more prepared. My mom did point out it was a full moon the night this happened...



As for the clownies, still no major hatch!! But the egg patch keeps getting smaller... I think daddy is starting to eat them forwhatever reason. This cold weather has put my tank temp down and the eggs are really taking a hit with it, i'm going to see if I can fix that problem later today. I did catch one little larvae from lastnight though. I didn't even notice him under a few hours ago! But he's in a nice big tank all by himself. He's very active and started eating rotis as soon as i added them. He also looks much more colorful than my previous clutches. The previous seemed to be quite pale... Seems like a good sign.

 

[onebto]

Thanks for the update Nemo

Regards onebto

 

[-Nemo-]

Just a tiny update.

No more hatched after that one. Mommy and daddy decided,for no good reason, to eat ALL the eggs... I'm still blaming the temperature and I have now gotten the temperature at a stable 78F. The lone hatched larvae is still alive though! Good sign! He's eating and very active. He can be my little nemo. Anyways, looking forward to the next hatch. Looks like more eggs may come tonight.

Always something new to fix...

 

[seffieuk]

Really interesting update

Seffie x

 

[PhoenixWizard]

Read this whole thread... im completely outstanded its great reading! gd luck with the cardinals! lots of useful tips and knowledge that ive def gained and im sure everyone else has... keep up the good work!

 

[GAB99]

wow,are you gonna pursue the crab breeding aswell?

 

[-Nemo-]

So here's a bit of an update aout what's been going on. Had a hatch last night. And am going to get them out pretty soon but first, what happened before this hatch.

2 Days ago I put the larval catcher in and the next morning it was full of cleaner shrimp... And 1 little clownfish. Those darn shrimp are on the same schedule as the clownfish it seems! So I took everyone out and put them in the larval tank. The clownie had a huuuge very nice and orange yolk sac. But, by the end of the night he had died...
Then yesterday, Another baby. I took him out put him in with the shrimp. Everyone looked fine and happy, shrimp seemed to be eating. I checked on them and then literally an hour later everyone was dead??? All water stats appeared to be fine...

So now, I am wondering if there is something in my reef tank water killing these poor things that's been giving me trouble all this time. Since the rest of the nest hatched last night, I believe these guys are going to go into fresh saltwater; not mommy and daddy's water. A little nervous about doing this, but not much to lose at this point. I'm just still trying to figure out how i'm going to get as little mommy-daddy water as possible into
the baby tank.


Frustration


I DID get to finally see the babies hatch last night, however! Was very very interesting. I think what's most interesting is that when they are coming towards the blue light, they don't actually go towards the light... they go up the larvae catcher funnel where the light is being reflected up. They are not being sucked up until they reach the thin, PVC pipe portion. Saw the shrimp grabbing some snacks though

wow,are you gonna pursue the crab breeding aswell?

I'm pretty sure that was a one time deal regardless. I definitely am not gonna actively pursue them, but if I accidentally catch them again, I will try!

 

[-Nemo-]

Went relatively well.

Mixed up 2 gallons of saltwater and let it heat up to 78F. Then I went in with a teeny tiny cup and caught the babies by hand, 5 or 6 at a time. Brought them to the tank, sat them in it for a couple minutes to ensure right temperature and then released. And then repeated about 20 times. Added rotifers and greenwater and they seem to be doing great so far. I can see them eating, they curl their tails and than pounce on the rotifers (it's cute to watch).

So we'll see.... Maybe this will be the cure finally. If not, I have another idea in my head. First rule of experimentation is you cannot repeat and repeat and repeat a situation and expect a different outcome without changing something.

 

[Haych]

good to hear you may have sussed the issue - lets hope it solves it for you

p.s. I have everything crossed for you!

 

[-Nemo-]

good to hear you may have sussed the issue - lets hope it solves it for you

p.s. I have everything crossed for you!

I feel like we've had everything crossed for a long time now!!!



Came home, still look fairly well. Siphoned off 6 deads. I plan on lowering their salinity tonight a bit by .002 over the course of a few hours. Otherwise, most are still zooming around the tank.