Questions On Larvae Tank

piratetoothgir · Post by **piratetoothgir** » Wed Apr 25, 2018 1:42 pm

So, how are things going today?

rml6f4 · Post by **rml6f4** » Wed Apr 25, 2018 5:22 pm

StellaCrab wrote:So, how are things going today?

Behavior has been the same. Eggs were still light gray as of yesterday but I saw many tiny eyes on them, so that was new!

rml6f4 · Post by **rml6f4** » Fri Apr 27, 2018 12:18 am

Ok. I am literally sweating. I’ve think that I just experienced the biggest frenzy of my life. But this happened tonight.

I did my best to limit the quantity I put in the raising tank :/ I’m trying not to look in the regular pool right now because it breaks my heart.

I have videos of the tanks and the birth itself but I’m not entirely sure how to post videos on here.

rml6f4 · Post by **rml6f4** » Fri Apr 27, 2018 12:21 am

Do the bubblers need to be on the very bottom? It looks like a few might be getting stuck down there. Does bubbler speed matter? I’ve just got them set at speeds that’s “circulating” the zoeae. Some of them are bubbling pretty slow.

And I’m just working with frozen baby brine shrimp right now. Getting live ones will have to wait until after work tomorrow (well, today now... who needs sleep). I have an eye dropper and I’ve been putting one drop of those and decapsulates brine egg in at a time. Too much? Too little?

Post by **aussieJJDude** » Fri Apr 27, 2018 3:11 am

IMO, I would try having the bubbles closer to the bottom so that way any larvae arent resting on the bottom....

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rml6f4 · Post by **rml6f4** » Fri Apr 27, 2018 8:30 am

aussieJJDude wrote:IMO, I would try having the bubbles closer to the bottom so that way any larvae arent resting on the bottom....

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Ok! Thanks will do.

YouTube · Post by **GotButterflies** » Fri Apr 27, 2018 10:52 am

Yes - always keep the bubblers on the bottom so the zoeae aren't resting

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

rml6f4 · Post by **rml6f4** » Sun Apr 29, 2018 2:37 pm

GotButterflies wrote:Yes - always keep the bubblers on the bottom so the zoeae aren't resting CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

I fixed them so that they’re circulating.

Thanks! Day 3 and I’m still not entirely sure what I’m doing but somehow they’re still alive (although my brine shrimp hatchery has been a disaster).

mlakers · Post by **mlakers** » Sun Apr 29, 2018 4:28 pm

I had some issues with brine shrimp as well. They ate them, but they were messy and I never did figure out how to hatch them separately--at least not often enough to feed them newly hatched brine shrimp every day. Still, I'm excited for you! This is new territory all the way around, and you might just discover a way that works better than what others have tried. Trailblazer!

YouTube · Post by **GotButterflies** » Sun Apr 29, 2018 5:03 pm

My mom hatches her brine shrimp by keeping them in a round goldfish bowl in a window! I think she kept an air stone in the bowl.

I used brine brine shrimp eggs, and put them directly into the mason jars - they ate the eggs, and the brine shrimp when they hatched. I always felt bad siphoning them out, so I kept a separate container of brine shrimp aka sea monkeys as well

I didn't like the frozen - they were way too messy.

I hope that everything is going great for you!!

rml6f4 · Post by **rml6f4** » Wed May 02, 2018 10:37 am

So I poured my failed brine shrimp hatchery in my nasty wastewater jug and when I went back to dump it the next day I had thousands of swimming brine shrimp. Go figure. I still ditched the hatchery and am just putting a few eggs directly in the jars and feeding frozen baby brine.

Day 6 and I’ve suffered some pretty heavy losses. Probably less than 300 left. I think it was due to being too rough with my water changes and something off in the water that wiped out a whole jar. I feel like the pantyhose over the turkey baster suggested in the other threads was just shredding the zoeae so now I’m just using an uncovered baster to suck water out and an eye dropper to put sucked up zoea back in.

No idea what stage they’re in and my phone camera does not want to cooperate with taking pictures of tiny moving creatures.

YouTube · Post by **GotButterflies** » Wed May 02, 2018 12:40 pm

I'm sorry for your losses. I never used the panty hose idea. I used a plain old brand new airline tube!

Mlakers figured out they were attracted to light, so I would shine a bright flashlight at one side of the bowl, and siphon the other side (or where ever there were not zoeae. (Of course during this time you turn off the bubbler)! Then, use the same method to put the new water into the bowl. I never sucked on the tube, I used good ole' gravity do the work for me. When siphoning water out of the tank, put the empty mason jars below where you are. When putting new water in, put the clean mason jars above where you are. That method worked wonders for me. Then, afterward, I would use the flashlight to find the stragglers in my siphoned water, and I would then use an eye dropper to get those out. Best of luck - you can do this! Stay positive!!

Feed less - they can eat the eggs - and it's less messy than the frozen!! Also, you can do the spirulina and chlorella at this time. Very little though!

mlakers · Post by **mlakers** » Thu May 03, 2018 4:48 pm

I love when they get that humped back. That's at least stage three, if I remember correctly. (Which would be for PPs, though, and Perlatus has one fewer larval stage...so ignore me.) At any rate, good job! Have you noticed a large number of sheds in the water on particular days?

Don't let the heavy losses discourage you (easy to say, I KNOW!). But you're giving them a chance, and doing the best you can. It's an exhausting and emotional process, but just TRYING is important and simply by trying you will be giving others the courage to try as well.

rml6f4 · Post by **rml6f4** » Thu May 03, 2018 6:49 pm

@Gotbutterflies Thanks for the airline tube idea! I’ll have to try that if I ever get this opportunity again because the baster method takes forever. I tried the method of turning off the light and bubbler in the beginning and they all immediately sank to the bottom and about gave me a heart attack, so I didn’t attempt it again.

@mlakers I’ve pulled a bunch of sheds out of the water everyday (makes keeping the jars clean pretty tough). They seem to be molting at different rates. Some have completely orange bodies and others are still clearish. My blurry picture kind of looks like that one has little nub legs on the tail from stage 4 pictures on here, but that seems way too soon.

The numbers are way down right now, but I’m hoping that the survivors are my hardy Spartan crabs that will push through to the end!

YouTube · Post by **GotButterflies** » Thu May 03, 2018 8:44 pm

I’m sorry- I laughed so hard at your heart attack comment!

you have to do what you feel comfortable with!

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HCA: Hermit Crab Association