Project Orange

Morning check and zoea in both tanks have survived through the evening. Lightly stirred up the phyto sitting on the bottom of the tanks. The air bar didn't work as well as I'd hoped for so I went back to the dosing dropper but using it more gently than before. Just pushing the bulb enough to lift the phyto and let the current do the rest of the work.
 
You are most welcome. This is a pretty fun deal I must admit. :)
 
And how about a shot from today:

PropinquaZoea_011911.jpg


This is at Day 3. All still looking well in both tanks. The zoea are staying bunched up. I'm flirting with cutting the lights out but since I don't have an alternate heat source, I'm a little timid.http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww357/James0816/caridina cf propinqua/PropinquaZoea_011911.jpg
 
I know it's still way early right now, but I definately like the way both tanks are progressing. I have not noticed any casulties at this stage yet. The minor adjustment I made to the air flow prior seems to be doing well. After stirring up the zoea, I watch them in what appears to be them actively "hunting" on the remnants that settle back down.

I duffed on my Rotifers and have to get a new culture in. I just got busy with rescaping several tanks that I never really got them going the way they should have been done. Hopefully the new will arrive soon and the zoea will be ready for them.
 
Big test underway right now. I have decided to cut the lights for a bit. Being the only heat source at the moment, I'll keep a vigilant eye out and watch the temps. The tanks were sitting at 77 prior to cutting off the light. I won't let it get below 72 before turning it back on.

I did a quick spot check about 30 minutes into the test by turning the light on. The zoea have moved to the front of the tank and seemed to be in a more free float state then when the light was on. With the light on, they are huddled together in specific areas.

The zoea seem to be pretty active still. The phyto is getting the water cloudy which is what it should do. Just curious as to how green it will get. lol.

I'm getting ready to hatch out some brine shimp and as well have new rotifers and golden pearls on the way. Even if this test group fails, I will be even more prepared for the next group.
 
Test was a failure. That was a hard pill to swallow but had to be done. Grrrrr. It wasn't a complete loss but the casulties were pretty high. I'm pretty sure it wasn't the drop in temperature as it was only 5 degrees. Plenty of current to keep the zoea moving along.

I'm still very curious about this though. Prior to moving the zoea to the salt tanks, the lights go out as that tank has a 10hr photo period. There are no casulties when I collect and move them. Maybe heat is playing more of a factor then I originally believed. May need to bump the heat to around 80 and let it ride from there.
 
I have to hand it to you for sticking to it and trying so hard to make a success of your work. I gave it a half hearted attempt but you have remained steadfast and vigilant. It's tough being a pioneer but I'm sure you will succeed because you seem to be very tenacious. Keep the faith and know you are contributing to the understanding of how these shrimp mature from eggs to adult. You may just be starting a new way of captive breeding these guys and may be starting a small business for yourself in the process. I admire what you are doing and wish you success. Rock on dude!

Q
 
Thx Q!

On a sad note....POWER FAIL!

Woke up this morning and the power was out. My daughter said she woke up around 0200hrs and it was out then. That makes it at least four hours down time. No light, no heat and no aeration. This round of testing is done. :(

Had to restart two filters on other tanks as well. Didn't have time to assess any other potential damages/casulties as I was late for work. Hopefully all will be ok.

I'll get the salt tanks cleaned out, refilled and running for next round.
 
Small glimmer of hope.

So assessing the damage from this mornings power outage. Figured I would check things out just to ensure that all is lost. Started out in the higher tank. I noticed a couple of the zoea still moving around! Wow.

Needless to say, the tanks have to be reset due to the amount of casulties that are in there. So, I pulled out from the 1.014 tank that I could find that showed signs of life. I'm pretty sure I missed some, but there really wasn't much I could do about it. I moved those to a temporary container while I cleaned the old tank. Put in fresh water and phyto and then transferred them back in. All seems well at the moment.

Moved to the low salt tank. Didn't see anything moving in there. I decided to stir it up and see what happens. I found some movement! Kewlness! I picked up a couple in the dropper and transferred them into the high tank.

Here's where it got a little interesting. I would drop a zoea into the tank. It would start to twitch. Like curl up in a ball. It would do this a couple of times and then straighten out and float around. I only moved about 10 in at this time. They are hovering around in the back corner near the light source. I'll go back in a little bit and check on them and see what's going on.

I didn't reset the low tank at this time. I'm debating on if I should try to find more and transfer or just wash the tank.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom