Eeeee!!! (Squeal of Joy)

[MelanieF]

Took the flashlight to the nooks and crannies of my tank as I do every so often. (Husband thinks I'm a freak :lol: ) My main point of investigation this time though was under a treeroot shaped piece of live rock near the top of my tank where two of my yellowtail damsels have been absolutely going nutzo for the past 3 weeks.

Guess what I see... GUESS!

A cluster of little eggs attached to the rock and I can even see little eyes inside of them! Eeeee! Alas the rock is a piece of the main framework and cannot be moved to a safe haven for raising of the fry so I'm thinking I won't get to see them grow up but the thought of them even occurring is pretty damn cool.

Just wanted to share...

 

[Anonymous]

That IS cool! I remember when my blue devils started breeding. The male took to pulling my arm hairs out. I tried to find out what I could do to help bring about viable fry, but at that time people were still experimenting with clownfish and no one had been successful raising those. No luck there, but it was the neatest thing.

Now.. PICTURES!

 

[MelanieF]

Told my husband I want a digital camera for Christmas this year. By then maybe the damsels will have another group of eggs for me to get pics of. This group isn't in a spot that I could get w/ a camera right now anyway. I had to get in a pretty weird stance w/ the flashlight to even see them. :wink:

At least I know my fish are happy enough in their little world to be spawning.

 

[monkeyboy]

Congrats, that's great!

 

[Steven]

Melbelle,

My first SWF were a pair of Yellowtail Blue Damsels. They spawned regularly for about a year, until the female dissapeared

I had a couple of 5" - 6" conch shells in the tank at the time and they would alternate spawning in them. Might be worth trying to place a shell or other type "cave" for them to move into. You could then transfer the eggs to another tank and try raising the fry. FWIW, the fry my fish produced always hatched out at dusk, and were greatly appreciated by the tank's other inhabitants!

Good luck.

 

[MelanieF]

Yah, I'm thinking my firefish goby is gonna start foaming at the mouth once the fry hatch and then, poof, no more fry... He's amazingly bold when it comes to food. I put dried seaweed in a clip for the tang every day and it's the damnedest thing when a little piece comes off that won't fit into any fish's mouth the tang will grab one end and the firefish goby will grab the other and they'll tug of war w/ it. They don't do it in a mean way or anything. I guess they're just trying to get a small piece while it's attached to another fish... :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

From what I've heard damsel fry are very difficult to raise.

 

[MelanieF]

Are any damsels (clowns excluded) currently tank raised or do they all come right from the ocean? Anyone know?

If not, then du, du, du... Mission Impossible... maybe I've found my niche in this hobby... heh, heh or a way to pull my hair out before I'm even gray. 8O

 

[Anonymous]

All from the ocean AFAIK. For how cheap they are, I don't think anyone has seriously tried.

 

[MelanieF]

Hmm, guess I need to do a bit of cost analysis...

Can drive 35 minutes to Petco and get them for $3.99 a piece. (not my 1st choice)

Or, can drive 20 minutes and get them for $6.99 a piece.

Wonder if I could raise them and cover my expenses by selling them for $5.99 a piece. Afterall, tank raised clowns cost more than the ones kidnapped from the ocean, at least around here anyway. I believe that is due to them already being accustomed to aquarium life.

Great, now I'll be up all night analyzing this. :roll:

 

[Anonymous]

Hmm, guess I need to do a bit of cost analysis...

Can drive 35 minutes to Petco and get them for $3.99 a piece. (not my 1st choice)

Or, can drive 20 minutes and get them for $6.99 a piece.

Wonder if I could raise them and cover my expenses by selling them for $5.99 a piece. Afterall, tank raised clowns cost more than the ones kidnapped from the ocean, at least around here anyway. I believe that is due to them already being accustomed to aquarium life.

Great, now I'll be up all night analyzing this. :roll:

It's just due to them costing more to produce. FWIW, CB and wild caught clowns are pretty much identical in price here in CA.

 

[MelanieF]

Must be nice...

There's a good $15-$20 difference between CB and wild caught clowns here.

I've never been too keen on the idea of ordering living things online but I guess that's one more reason to attempt it. :lol:

My house might as well be a pet shop at this point anyway. My husband and I already raise guppies (not hard I know), cichlids, lizards and mice among other things. And about 20 years down the road I plan on finally having my horse farm where I'll be breeding Paso Fino horses. (Mighty smooth ride for those w/ back issues)

So far all sales/trades have made up for the cost of raising. Where there's a will there must be a way. Our goal of this hobby is to be able to captive breed our inhabitants anyway right?