Figure. 17 day post hatch Pacific blue tang larva. Credit: Kevin Barden.

The newly revamped larval rearing room has been up and running since early May.  In truth, there are still a few things we’d like to add to the filtration system, but that hasn’t stopped us from stocking eggs into the system as we get them.  One of the first larval rearing attempts was performed with Pacific Blue tangs.  We got roughly 4000 eggs; which we then stocked into a 210 liter tank (55 gallons).  This worked out to a density of roughly 20eggs / liter.  For the first three days the water flow entering the tank was 750mL/min; which theoretically works out to ~5 tank turnovers per day.  At first feeding the flow rate was increased to 2.75 L/min; which works out to ~20 tank turnovers per day.  It was left at that rate for the duration of the trial.  This high water flow was inspired by Chad Callan’s recent success with yellow MORE: One small step….Pacific Blue tang update