A. arcuatus at day 36

Here's a video taken today of one of the larger more developed A. arcuatus larvae.
Larval rearing is an ongoing parade of developmental phases and this is my favorite part as the larvae get close to settling out. They will go through their transformation to the juvenile stage with both morphological and behavioral changes.  Some of the larvae have started to hangout next to the sides of the tank with their bodies in an S shaped curve.  Hopefully we'll start to see some juvenile colors coming in soon.

http://youtu.be/HjWJ0CaMc1E

More Questions Than Answers

Today we are at day 33 of the Apolemichthys arcuatus larval run and what a challenge the last three weeks have been. There have been several setbacks and I'm now down to just a handful of larvae.  I think the underlying problem has been the record high temps and humidity we've been having which have turned the garage into a sauna. The higher temps probably had some direct effect on the larvae but I think that most of the losses are due to a bacterial problem with the bacteria benefiting from the higher temperatures.

I am pleased to have gotten past the barrier of day 22 that teased me 2 years ago when I was working with this species but I feel that I have more questions than answers after going through these last three weeks. I am considering keeping this larval run going and starting a new run but I know from experience how taxing that can be on food cultures, water, time and my energy level. Having said that, I'll be checking for eggs tonight and if I get a good spawn I know I won't be able to resist them.

Here is a photo showing the results of the last setback which occured at day 30 . You can see that the larger larvae have the darkened dorsal area which develops prior to settling out.  Those larger larvae are about a cm in length. (Their tails are clear and difficult to see in the photo but are included in the total length measurement).

photo of day 13 larva

I found this larva floating on the surface and took advantage of getting a photo since although dead it was still in good condition. You can see that the body shape is deepening and the color is transitioning from translucent red to opaque pink/red.
This group is still doing well with a good survival rate and I've divided the group in two for twice the work and twice the fun. :)

A. arcuatus day 10 photos

Here are two photos that my niece Heather took yesterday. She's still figuring out her camera and as the larvae grow we'll get more photos.

The first gives you an idea of the size of the larvae at day 10.

The second is a closer look at a larva.

Bandit babies doing well at day 10

The bandit angelfish larvae (A. arcuatus) are 10 days old today and survival has been good enough that this is the first day I've worried about having enough food for them. So I guess this is a good problem. My visiting niece has been getting her upper body workout by helping me out with plankton tows and I've got all my cultures going so I hope we can keep these little tummies full.

Here's a video taken yesterday at day 9 and like my other videos it's mostly out of focus with glimpses of larvae in focus. My niece took some photos today so that you can get a better look and as soon as she gets them out of her camera I'll post one here.

https://youtu.be/pMCdm3faLpw

Photo of day 6 A. arcuatus larva

Here's the best I could do for now in terms of a photo.
I can now say that I'm 100% sure that these are the Bandit Angelfish,  A. arcuatus.
Sooooooooo happy to be working with them again!

Revisiting Bandit Angelfish

I have a larval run going that I'm 99.9% sure is the bandit Angelfish, Apolemichthys arcuatus.
It's still early at day 5 today and there's a long way to go but I'm excited to be working with this species again. They're looking good so far (hope I didn't just give them the kiss of death by saying that).
I'll try to get some photos and video for you soon. My niece is here for a visit and wants to help out so I'm planning on getting her set up with the camera and microscope. Maybe she'll like to scrub buckets too! One can only hope. :)