My Straw (Perlatus) baby thread

[Curlz]

I do not 'move' my outside water. It keep the water in the Kreisel constantly @ 26°C at all...
(I got larvae since sunday, so I know it definitly )

ah and do not forget, the ourside warter should not be too high. Because the jar will swimm away .... (this has happend to my kreisel... but I could hold it and with a little help of my friend nothing happens... puuhh)

[kuza]

how did you keep your temp at 26? And gratz i hope this batch works out again!

[Nat_addicted to HC's]

Great Curlz! Do you think its more vioala zoea?
The aquarium heater i used has settings on it, i adjusted mine to sit at 30 & i had a floating thermometer to keep an eye on actual running temp.

[wodesorel]

Any of the good aquarium heaters for sale here have a built-in thermostat. Most are accurate to within 1 degree. (I like Aqueon Pros.)

I recommended using something to move the water simply because I have problems with my tanks when I turn off the filters to sleep. The water above the heater will be at the right temp, but on the far side of the tank it'll be room temp. (My poor kuhlis will be all be huddled in the corner with the heater, but sometimes I'm not able to sleep with the filter running.) If you're sticking multiple jars, ie things that block water flow even more, in a long tank then the farther it gets from the heater the cooler it will be. Convection can only do so much!

[Curlz]

I am using a heater in the aquarium (outside water) where the Kreisel is in.
To keep constantly at 26°C a heater is needed. 28°C can be too much, 24°C can be too low. I was told by the marine breeder to keep 26°C, this is best.

See older picture:

• left background = heater
• right front = kreisel
• the black small tube in the Kreisel is a 'bubbler'. It is fixed on a flexible tube, which is plugged in an aquarium airpump.
• The thermometer was only in the Kreisel at the beginning, to check when the water is warm enough.

If you are not sure to hold the temperature, you can surely use an airflow! In my case it is not necessary.


OT:
thx. I am 95% sure to have violas larvae, again. One of my two female violas was running round the saltwaterpool, was in the water. At a time, that was not a "normal" time for her
Most of my larvae was violas.

[kuza]

I wish I had time to build a K. Tank like that! I hope my jar setup is good enough.

This is what I need for the first few stages of feeding, right?

http://www.petsandponds.com/en/aquarium ... 94735.html

These dont' hatch they are just the decapped eggs.

And for the other later stages, does this site have anything else i should buy?

[Curlz]

hm, these are Non-hatching decapsulated artemia
This can be feed when no freshly hatched artemia are in the tank. In the case of emergency.

They need freshly hatched artemia brine shrimp from the beginning. (Best case: you got freshly hatched when you transfer the larvae into your jar.)
something like that: http://www.brineshrimpegg.com/gslpremiumgrade95.htm

Normally I am using INVE 430 - they are the best brine shrimp (recommended by all marine breeders in our german marine breeders forum). As fas as I know they are coming from USA. (but right now I have no INVE, because I forget to buy them)

Now I am using: http://www.aquariumproducts.com.au/cata ... 0&catID=69
And if there was /is a time without freshly hatched artemia brine shrimp, my larve get a dip of this: http://www.aquariumproducts.com.au/cata ... 6&catID=69 every morning and evening.


when they get into the megalopa stage, my larvae get frozen food, like this: http://www.brineshrimpdirect.com/Frozen-Mysis-c17.html
or this: http://www.brineshrimpdirect.com/c5/Fro ... p-c14.html
because they swimm only a short time. With their new pinchers the can not hunt artemia any more. They go to the ground searching for food.

[kuza]

awesome, thanks again!!!

[Curlz]

np.

I forget something....

Artemia hatching options:

You can set up a small jar with saltwater and put some brine shrimp eggs in it. After 24 - 36 hours (depends on heat) they will hatch. (you have to do it daily)
With this solution you have always hatched artemia.

pro:
- you do not have the eggs nor eggshells in the jar

minus:
- the larvae will only eat the youngest ones. After they are some hours old, they will not eat them. So you have to watch an react fast enough to get the really fresh hatched Artemia.
(it says after 3 hours the Artemia lost the needed protein and stuff in it)
- dailly set up needed



I use a automatic chucking machine (called Rondomatic, I do not know if there is something likt this available in Canada). This is designed to pour some food into the aquarium at a programmed time. Mine pour a grain of eggs into the Kreisel every 3 hours.
So that the Artemia hatched every 3 hours freshly (after the first 24 hours). U know?

pro:
- always freshly hatched Artemia every 3 hours. (Larvae can catch them directly after hatching)
- no daily Artemia set up needed
- the get food while you are working

minus:
- the eggshells will make the water more dirtier (probably more to clean, but a daily cleaning is necessarry anyway imo)
- the eggshells may cause constipation (known in the case of breeding Seahorses)
- the eggs and eggshells can cause contamination (mycotic)


puhhh you do not believe how hard it is to explain it all in english... even to find to right words for everything
Amazing that you understand it anyhow *g*

[wodesorel]

The brine shrimp kits are really easy to use. Just supply a 2-liter bottle: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... catid=4445 I liked that they were compact and mostly self-contained, and I'm sure your kids would be fascinated by them. (Hubby said it looked like a mad scientists lair. ) I have two of these for use on a 10 gallon air pump (with a splitter so they can share the same pump) so that one will always be hatching while the other is ready for feeding.

I had bad luck with the San Fran brand of eggs which are commonly sold, but the OSI ones had a near perfect hatch rate and I found mine at the local pet store: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... 6702&rel=1

[kuza]

My problem is I have more money than I have time, so whatever is the easiest, cleanest solution would be best for my situation no matter what the cost.

I have work, wife, kids and house to maintain every day. So I'm trying to use the stuff where I can just feed them and leave. Then at night do my water changes and hopefully keep it that simple, but it's looking more and more like I need to have a bunch of stuff setup for feeding.

I thought I could do the decapped eggs that don't hatch and then move to something like this:

Ocean Nutrition Instant Baby Brine Shrimp
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... atid=16873

And then move to the frozen stuff.

[wodesorel]

Kuza, if I get gets eggs again this summer that's all I'm planning to do! With the way things are now with the kittens, I won't be having the time (or space) to mess around with hatching brine shrimp on top of caring for the zoea. It was really a lot of fun last summer, but I had more time then.

[kuza]

Kuza, if I get gets eggs again this summer that's all I'm planning to do! With the way things are now with the kittens, I won't be having the time (or space) to mess around with hatching brine shrimp on top of caring for the zoea. It was really a lot of fun last summer, but I had more time then.

Thanks, I edited my post right as you posted this. So do you think the plan for 1. decap eggs -> 2. Ocean nutrition baby bring shrimp -> 3 .Frozen mysis would be good enough?

[wodesorel]

Nat did beautifully with it. Look at all of her babies!

The German keepers like Curlz who are really hardcore about raising zoea have a great track record, but I think the experience with Nat shows us that while the German method is guaranteed, there are other methods that may work just as well. I admit that in the beginning I thought that any zoea would require pristine water and live food and all that jazz, but Nat's successful raisings changed my mind completely about it.

The current goal is to get a couple to land. No one has been able to get buckets of babies from one batch of zoea yet. Straws are even more iffy than the other species since they're closer to the their marine cousins and they're already known for being a sensitive species. It would make more sense to follow Curlz guidelines if you had the time and money and were super serious about the attempt.

However, I'm of the opinion that it doesn't hurt to try. If you have the space, you have some money to toss together a grow-out tank and feed them, and you have some time (and I don't think it would take much time per day once everything is set up and running) then why not go with what you feel is adequate? I'm sure by now you've read through both successful baby topics and you've got a good idea of what worked for them, so adapt it to your situation and try! It's so much better than just flushing them from the start.

[kuza]

Ya that's true, I wish I had more time to try both at once, like feed half one way and the other half the other, since I'm doing it in multiple jars.