Back in Action

I've started another P. venusta larval run and we're at day 5 today. This run is a cultured foods only trial and the larvae are looking good so far. I've also decided to throw in some additional variables so we're running at a higher temperature and have started with a higher stocking density. I know some of you are probably thinking, "well that's not very scientific" and you're right. My decision to go this route is based on the successful P. venusta run which was unbearably long. This species is a tropical species and that run having taken place in a subtropical climate during the winter months led me to opt for the higher temp of 27C. As far as the higher stocking density goes, I was unsure as to what level I wanted to stock the tank at and was going to stock it the same as the successful larval run but there was a healthy spawn of 1079 fertile eggs….. If I've made a mistake and stocked too high it will most likely be evident early on and I'll just have to start over again. Going with cultured foods only is a no brainer since that is one of my top priorities. Keep in mind that there are always many more variables going on and hopefully as we move forward we can tease them out.

blondie the unknown larva identified

Well it looks like our blonde larva is turning out to be Centropyge acanthops!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QI5hP9QCy6A&feature=youtu.be

If you remember I had added 20 C. acanthops eggs to the P. venusta run at the start. I could tell the difference between the two species with the acanthops larvae having a longer, narrower body shape. I thought I had lost them all early on during the run but blondie must have persevered! I hadn't thought she was C. acanthops since her body shape was higher as she approached metamorphosis.

This has been great fun and she is turning into a cute juvy. She also gets along very well with her P. venusta tank mate (for now anyway!).

I'm currently waiting until the end of May for my hand to heal after carpal tunnel surgery and will start back up with both the Rising Tide work (focusing on P. venusta, C. potteri and C. jordani) and the side projects with whoever spawns (hopefully Faith and Fabio or Jaws and Connie).

Happy Mothers Day to all you moms!!

160 days

Well we're at 160 days and our little blonde girl is still going through metamorphosis! I still don't know what she's going to turn out to be and maybe she's taking her time cause she doesn't know either!

Here's a video taken today. You can see that she is getting some darker markings (which look darker in person) on her body and darker pigment through some of her fins. Her behavior has changed slightly in that she is sleeping in even longer than before and tends to run for cover more often. You may also notice that her swimming has more of a wiggle to it now which also doesn't seem to show up as much on the video. It's more of a clownfish wiggle or maybe it's a little hula.  :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SKFVoMuWew&feature=youtu.be

I've had some trouble with the P. venusta larvae and bullying. There had been some minor chasing and displays of dominance over the last month. Last week one larva went missing and I noticed the bullying had escalated. Three of the submissive larvae were removed from the tank leaving the two more dominant larvae and the unknown blonde. I had hoped that the two venusta would pair up but that was not the case and they had to be separated as well. Currently the most dominant is living with 30 picasso clowns of her same size in a clownfish grow out tank. She is very happy with them. The second most dominant is still in the original tank with the unknown blonde and they are now buddies. Unfortunately the three submissive larvae  died from what I think was a bacterial infection. When I moved them from their original tank they had no signs of physical damage but I think the aggressiveness towards them had weakened them and along with the stress of moving the infection was able to overcome them. I had treated them with antibiotics and I wonder if it may have been too much for them as little as they are and in a weakened state. I feel so sad for their loss and have learned more about this species which brings up more questions for their future captive rearing and especially grow out techniques.

To end on a happier note, here is a more recent video of the unknown blonde larva taken a week ago. You can see the dark blue on her pelvic fins. We are into 5 months now and this larva has still not completely gone through meta and I'm still not sure what she is!
http://youtu.be/SdK2nq_esYk

Hi Everyone,

I've posted a short overview of the larval rearing for the P. venusta on the Rising Tide Conservation blog.
http://risingtideconservation.blogspot.com

The last P. venusta larval trial with only cultured foods came to an end after two water quality issues. One was a heater that went nuts and over heated. The other was that I had purchased a food grade Rubbermade trash barrel for water storage and after conditioning it with fresh water and letting it sit out in the sun I stored some salt water in it. A few days later the area around the barrel had an odor similar to cat spray (urine). Sometimes neighbors cats do visit my fish garage so I grumbled to myself about cat spray and went on to use the water in the barrel. Then realized the odor was coming from the inside of the barrel! This was strange since I've always used these barrels without a problem. I don't know what the cause is with this one but I rinsed and dried the barrel, refilled it and a couple days later it smelled again. So it is no longer a water storage barrel and I just wanted to pass along this info in case anyone else has a similar experience. Don't use the water if it smells like cat urine! (How crazy is that)!
Otherwise, the cultured food only P. venusta larval run was going fairly well (not great but good) and I will be starting another as soon as eggs are available.

Still no spawn from Faith and Fabio or any of the other pairs.

Rising Tide Conservation

I'd like to pass along a link to Rising Tide Conservation if you don't know of them already.
http://risingtideconservation.blogspot.com

The venusta breeding and larval rearing will be shared through them to growers in an effort to further captive breeding of marine ornamentals.

I will also continue to post updates here so stay tuned.

Finally some blue!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkcVocWjFyU