yellow tailed damsel eggs!!! HELP!!

[teo143]

Hi, My name is Sarah and I am new here, I have had my saltwater tank for about 7 months with 3 clown fish and the rest damsels, my two yellow tail damsels have been breeding like crazy and have had abauot 4 or 5 batches of eggs on the same fake coral, they seem to like, but something weird happens just when there about to hatch ,I will shut off the light for the night and in the morning all the eggs are gone, what I don;t understand is the papa damsel is very protective of the eggs ans attacks anything that comes near them, but after the eggs dissapeare not even a day later there are new eggs on that same fake coral that they like, I don't know if the babies are hiding out or what , in all the times they have breeded I have only saw one baby fish...can anyone tell me what could be going on w/them, I would really appreciate it. Thanks, Sarah::confused:

[squirt_12]

could you post a pic of what the eggs look like??

i am not a SW fish expert but i am curious.

Welcome to the forum!!!!:19:

[Drumachine09]

My guess is that they are being eaten by something else in the tank. If you have a refugium, or seprate tank, and wish to keep the eggs to raise, move them into there.

[cocoa_pleco]

theyre probably being made a snack. if possible get a small tank for the eggs or get a refugium

[squirt_12]

What is a refugium ??

[cocoa_pleco]

a spare in-tank or outside tank connected to the main tank to house damaged fish, damaged corals, timid fish, or just grow some hardy corals. AC110's can also be made into refugiums, i made one (i have tons of 110's)

[squirt_12]

OOOO.....ok so they get the water that is from in the tank somehow??

[cocoa_pleco]

in-tank its just a powerhead, outside of tank its usually a separate pump

[squirt_12]

o...ok thanks for clearing that up for me.

[CAF]

First off welcome to AC!!!! If you have some pics it might be helpful. Also like it has been said, having a refugium would be a really good idea.

[2manyfish]

Raising most* SW fish isn't the same as FW at all. In order to raise the larvae (this is what they are called because they have to go through several metamophosis to become fish) you will need a dedicated tank. Most people use a 10g. The tank must be wrapped with something dark. It can be black paper or even black fabric. A single light must be suspended over the tank. This light is to keep the larvae from smashing themselves against the sides of the tank. They are attracted to the light and will congregate underneath it. The only water movement will be from a small sponge filter that is on a very low setting so the disturbance is minimal. You will have to raise rotifiers to feed the larvae with. I have heard that raising rotifiers can be tricky and I have no direct knowledge of how to do this. You will have to Google that to get more info.
A refugium will not work to raise the larvae. The flow will kill them.

My damsels breed too. And yeah, the male guards them until they hatch at night. This always happens after lights out as in the wild, the larvae will then have the moolight to direct them to the surface to join in the planktonic raft. In our tanks, the males job is done once they hatch. The fish, including the male damsel will eat the larvae as will any corals that can catch them. The ones that don't get eaten will die when they smash against the glass or get taken up by filters, powerheads, etc..

*To be fair, there are a few SW fish that it's easy enough to raise their offspring because they either are livebearers like seahorses or they mouthbrood the eggs like cardinalfish.

HTH :c3:

[teo143]

:c10: Thanks to everyone who posted, I tried to get a picture of the eggs to post but they are so dam samll I coudn't get a good one in, I do have interesting news though, last night I was getting ready for bed and shut off the light to my tank, not even 30 sec. later I turned the light back on and all the babies were hatching, it was so cool, I managed to scoop up 5 ,they are SOOO small, I can't belive I even got five, but, I bought a 1 gallon tank today ,for now i am keeping them in a container with a piece of paper over it, and so far none have perished, I am going to put them in the 1 gallon tank I bought but I dont have any black paper or fabric, Why, do I need it anyway? And also does anyone know if I should put a heater in the water or not? Thanks, Sarah :c10:

[squirt_12]

could you post a pic of the little fry???

[2manyfish]

You wrap the tank so the larvae are not attracted to light from other sources. In the wild they don't have to deal with walls and if you leave the tank unwrapped then they will be attracted to the light in the room and head for it. Now if you had a really dark room you could keep them in, that would be about the same. You just want to avoid light outside of the tank. Then you need to put a light right over the center of the tank because it will attract the larvae, keeping them from the sides, and it will also help at feeding time.

Your babies will not survive I'm afraid. You have to have that rotifier culture going before they hatch.

If you had a bigger tank you could put a heater in the corner, but a 1g well you could just try it and see. Might burn them if they get too close to it.
You could probably use black garbage bags instead of the fabric or paper. Anything really dark that will block out the light.

You may not be able to do much this time around but if you prepare a little bit you will be ready soon enough! Good luck! :c3: