unexpected surprise

jhnrb

Reef enthusiast
I was in the equipment room this evening and when I started to leave I took a look at the red mangrove roots and noticed something move. with a closer look I observed 6 to 9 small fish fry. size ranged from apprx. 1/8 to 1/4 in length. the fish were transparent, fully developed and no yoke sac was observed. they were hovering about the mangrove roots in the refuge retrun chamber to the main sump. I would suppose that they will eventually go down the tube but maybe we will get lucky. The importance of this event is that I had noticed some interesting behavior by the athias and the green chromis. it appears they were either spawning or trying to at least as at times all the fish were milling about the same location with fish secluded in the rockwork at that location. this has been going on for about a month or so. so the excitement is that they must have come from the main tank. to make it all the way to the refuge is a very good indicator that my system is performing at an acceptable level. anyways im very happy about this developement.
 
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NO WAY! That would be SO cool if your anthias spawned in your tank. take some pics if you can, I would love to see what they look like. Have you been able to identify what they are yet? that is just awesome news

-Doc
 
That's awesome, and like you said, a sign of a very healthy system. I had a pair of red firefish spawn in my old 55 gallon tank (the babies looked exactly like mini firefish), but I think all the babies got eaten :( I hope that some of yours will be able to survive at least long enough to be identified!
 
Very cool, I bet you did a lil dance didn't you,
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keep us posted,
 
NO WAY! That would be SO cool if your anthias spawned in your tank. take some pics if you can, I would love to see what they look like. Have you been able to identify what they are yet? that is just awesome news

-Doc

Not yet doc. they are still there tonight. Ill see what can be done for a picture but as small as they are no promises. Nothing has been added to the refuge for 5 months, so they must have come from the main tank. I cannot identify as they are too small.
 
Are they phytoplankon feeder size? What ya going to do besides observe? I have never fed out any fry other than clowns but I sure think it would be more interesting to try to feed them than just watching them struggle on their own.
 
The new hatches are very small. the larger ones are about 4 times the size of the smaller one. There is enough food being developed in the refuge for um. by the way they are throughout the refuge, in the intake, in the main body, and in the out flow chamber. yes i am feeding phytoplankton to the main tank so with my heavy feeding regime i would expect some to make its way to the refuge. My black cap basslet is digging a deep hole in the corner of the overflow and has moved to the end of the tank where the fish mill around from time to time so I guess everyone will set up camp for dinner. Ill do more this weekend and get a video up on the equipment shed.
 
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