Project Orange
- Thread starter James0816
- Start date
Oh did I fudge up! Think I instantly killed all the zoea while washing them out to sea. Dumb me, I put fresh water in the tanks and needless to say, I didn't let it get warm to room temp before transfer. What an idiot! Just got in a rush and didn't pay attention to detail.
I'll go back and check on things but I don't think it will do any good. I'll empty them and reset.
I'll go back and check on things but I don't think it will do any good. I'll empty them and reset.
It turns out that it's not as bad as I originally thought. Just the sea tank looks to be wiped out. That was the one that had fresh water (freshly made with cold water). The brack tank seems to be ok for the moment with the zoea still floating around in the current. I'll catch them moving from time to time.
I'll reset the sea tank today and move over more zoea if they are still alive in the freshwater. I looked in there this morning and might be around 20 or so still in there.
I'll reset the sea tank today and move over more zoea if they are still alive in the freshwater. I looked in there this morning and might be around 20 or so still in there.
Que
I wish I was a fish I wish.
Yeah. It was fairly easy catching them in the tank and transferring them to isolation. But yesterday when I tried catching them, they would dart away as soon as the dropper got anywhere near them. That's why there is still a fair amount in the freshwater.
Last night as well, I pulled out more zoea and added to the sea tank.
Second female's eggs are hatching as of last night. Checked this morning and looks to be 100 or so (rough guestimate of course) zoea in the isolation container. She still had a few under her but would anticipate them being gone by this afternoon. Will move her back to the main tank then.
These zoea will stay there until Sunday at the latest.
Check of the salt tanks and I still see zoea floating about. The phyto plankton seeming to settle a bit much on the bottom even with the air flow. May want to try and do something else about that. But in the mean time, I just use the dropper to get movement on the bottom to stir it up again.
Second female's eggs are hatching as of last night. Checked this morning and looks to be 100 or so (rough guestimate of course) zoea in the isolation container. She still had a few under her but would anticipate them being gone by this afternoon. Will move her back to the main tank then.
These zoea will stay there until Sunday at the latest.
Check of the salt tanks and I still see zoea floating about. The phyto plankton seeming to settle a bit much on the bottom even with the air flow. May want to try and do something else about that. But in the mean time, I just use the dropper to get movement on the bottom to stir it up again.
An observation:
- Sea Tank: Nothing. No signs of life. After two batches of zoea. The first one admittingly may have been keeper error. The second should have been good. I'll clean out the tank and make one more attempt at sea water.
- Brack Tank: Good progress here. I only could find one zoea that didn't make it at this time. I still see many floating around.
Further observations:
- The zoea don't remain in a constant floating state. They will settle on the side walls.
Here's a shot of the fresh zoea that hatched out last night/this morning:
- The phytoplankton should be stired up a few times a day. With the low circulation in the salt tanks, it tends to settle on the bottom. I'm using a big dosing dropper to dispurse the sediment. Seems to be working fine so far.
Here's a shot of the salt tanks: (Brack is on the left and Sea is to the right)
- Back in the main tank, another female berried up nicely. She's packing a ton of eggs.
- Sea Tank: Nothing. No signs of life. After two batches of zoea. The first one admittingly may have been keeper error. The second should have been good. I'll clean out the tank and make one more attempt at sea water.
- Brack Tank: Good progress here. I only could find one zoea that didn't make it at this time. I still see many floating around.
Further observations:
- The zoea don't remain in a constant floating state. They will settle on the side walls.
Here's a shot of the fresh zoea that hatched out last night/this morning:
- The phytoplankton should be stired up a few times a day. With the low circulation in the salt tanks, it tends to settle on the bottom. I'm using a big dosing dropper to dispurse the sediment. Seems to be working fine so far.
Here's a shot of the salt tanks: (Brack is on the left and Sea is to the right)
- Back in the main tank, another female berried up nicely. She's packing a ton of eggs.
Sea tank was cleaned out and reset. I added a combination of Iso and Tetra phytos this time.
More zoea were added to both tanks. I didn't do anything with the brack except stir up the bottom and add some more Nanno phyto. Hefty amounts of zoea added. Not gonna spend a whole lot of time trying to count so we'll just say (2) dropper fulls.
Back to the sea tank, it was the same. (2) droppers full of zoea added. Adjusted the air flow a bit to slow the current down just a smidge.
Observation:
To catch zoe, place the isolation container in darkness. This causes them to bundle up with each other at the bottom instead of free floating. Once the light source is added back, they start to slowly float to the top and hit the current. I only leave it dark long enough for them to congregate. Maybe it puts them in a "sleep" mode.
I currently have the isolation chamber on black out again to catch more for transfer.
Found another berried female today. She's only holding about half as much as the other one.
More zoea were added to both tanks. I didn't do anything with the brack except stir up the bottom and add some more Nanno phyto. Hefty amounts of zoea added. Not gonna spend a whole lot of time trying to count so we'll just say (2) dropper fulls.
Back to the sea tank, it was the same. (2) droppers full of zoea added. Adjusted the air flow a bit to slow the current down just a smidge.
Observation:
To catch zoe, place the isolation container in darkness. This causes them to bundle up with each other at the bottom instead of free floating. Once the light source is added back, they start to slowly float to the top and hit the current. I only leave it dark long enough for them to congregate. Maybe it puts them in a "sleep" mode.
I currently have the isolation chamber on black out again to catch more for transfer.
Found another berried female today. She's only holding about half as much as the other one.
Observation: Sea water needs to be ruled out at the early zoea phase. Recently added zoea have perished. They don't last long at all in sea water. Tank will be reset, again, tomorrow and we'll drop the salinity to lower end of the spectrum. I'm going to shoot for 1.005 which was my original number I was looking at when I started my research.
There are now (3) berried ladies in the main tank. Awesomeness! Lots of zoea to play with in the future.
Speaking of zoea ... sea tank was torn down and reset at ~ 1.005. Now I give an approximate value in that the fresh medium was made up at that level. However, my phyto cultures are at 1.026 and 1.014. I added a few tablespoons of each as well as the freshwater that the zoea came. Think I got the remaining zoea from the freshwater out. All those went into the low salt tank.
Brank tank continues to do well. Have only seen a couple zoea that look like they didn't make it. But for the most part, all are still floating in the current.
Speaking of zoea ... sea tank was torn down and reset at ~ 1.005. Now I give an approximate value in that the fresh medium was made up at that level. However, my phyto cultures are at 1.026 and 1.014. I added a few tablespoons of each as well as the freshwater that the zoea came. Think I got the remaining zoea from the freshwater out. All those went into the low salt tank.
Brank tank continues to do well. Have only seen a couple zoea that look like they didn't make it. But for the most part, all are still floating in the current.
