Wish Us Luck With The Eggs

[conogre]

I awoke in the middle of the night to find our Fuzzy Dwarf Lionfish spawning.
All reports of trying to rear the fry so far published end with a total die-off all at once, and we're hoping to have better luck by using wild caught plankton.
While some of the plankton will definitely eat some of the lionfish fry, I suspect that the varied size and type of natural food may enable some to survive.
I've attached a photo of the egg ball released about 3:30 am last night, about 2" long and 1 1/2" wide, which looks remarkably like a comb jelly (camoflage to deter predators?)

 

[daniel411]

Wow, Best of Luck!

 

[bang guy]

Awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I hope you learn a lot and get a few fry to survive.

 

[conogre]

Thanks for the best wishes......so far, I've been unable to find any other published photos of lionfish egg sacks anywhere, part of the reason for this post.
Many keepers of lions and scorpionfish probably already know that they regularly shed their slime cuticle, and some may have seen eggs without realizing what they are.
Our eventual aim is to breed the P. volitans and P. russellii as well, and eventually successfully rear some of the young, which may be a little more realistic here as we have access to live wild plankton, instead of the graded, single size/specie cultures used in many to most labs.
Here's the mother.....the father is more brownish in color with a brilliant yellow stripe running from nose to caudal peduncle.
Both fish, by the way, have been with us for about 6 months and are only about 2"-2 1/2" long.

 

[grouperhead]

That is fantastic news! I'm confident in y'alls ability to raise the fry. Please keep us updated..

 

[tony detroit]

that is awesome

 

[cprdnick]

Yeah and after your success you can tell us how to get it done. I'm interested in seeing the product of your research.
BTW, wouldn't you have better luck putting the fry in a small tank, to make the food supply in a more concentrated area? Or did I just suggest something that has been done forever?

 

[xtremenemo]

what kind is that lion and what is the max size of them? are they too big for a 85 gallon?

 

[moraym]

It's a fuzzy dwarf/zebra. As far as i know, it's fine in an 85g, if not better.

 

[smoothounds]

that is totally awesome! Good luck! Keep us posted!

 

[thomas712]

I truley hope that you are sucessfull in raising some of the fry, that would be most triumphant. It is always a thrill to go through a new learning experinece such as what you are doing now, best wishes for your fishes.
Thomas