Bimac Hatchlings

Hi there.
The very long ride ended with me bringing home 7 bimac hatchlings. Unfortunately, at this point, I can only find 6 of the 7. My first challenge was to find a way to safely transport them for 3 hours. The "Mom" suggested I bring a 5 gallon bucket but I was afraid that three hours of sloshing around in a bucket in a car would stress them too much and they'd ink themselves. I decided to find some live rock that fit tightly into the bottom of the bucket so that they could have something to hang onto, and that's what I did. Of course the fear there was that the rock would shift and hurt or kill one of them. Very stressful ride - I cringed at every bump in the road and after the winter we've had in New England, the roads are in TERRIBLE shape.

I got them home about 10:30 p.m. and started the careful search for the tiny critters in the bucket. They were all hanging onto the rock so as I spotted one I would gently encourage him onto my finger, then relocate him to the acclimating container that was floating in the 20 gallon tank I had set up. Unfortunately I have only found 6.... hopefully the last one is happily tucked away inside a deep nook or cranny of the live rock. First lesson learned..... only give them solid rock to hang onto during transport. I had provided a very porous, open, airy type of rock with hundreds of hiding places. I guess I'm lucky only ONE is MIA.

I slowly started changing out their original water with my tank water but that was probably overkill because the salinity of both were spot on the same (.026) and the temperature was within one degree (68 degrees versus 69 degrees). There was a lot of fighting going on in that acclimating container so I knew I had to separate them soon. I had set up 5 separate containers within the 20 gallon tank so started placing one in each with a piece of live rock rubble. Then I siphoned out live mysid (from my rapidly depleting mysid supply) and placed 3-4 in each container. Unfortunately a lot of them are escaping the breeder traps and swimming freely in the 20 gallon tank. This morning when I checked on my remaining mysid supply they are dying off fast so I siphoned out alll the live ones I could get and turned them loose in the 20 gallon tank. Have already ordered another batch.

This morning (after a "nap" since I was up most of the night looking for the seventh one) I nervously approached the tank. I can't believe how scared and nervous I was - I was so afraid they'd all be dead! To my relief they are all breathing (which I can only tell by using a magnifying glass and flashlight) but they are very inactive. I have no idea if that's normal or not. When they were in Boston they were all in one, bare bottom, baron tank and they moved around a lot to avoid each other's attacks, but now that they are separated they are pretty sedentary. Then again, they've been through a lot in the past 12 hours.

If I can't find the seventh one in the next hour I am going to rearrange things in the 20 gallon and just place the large piece of rock in the tank with him hidden in it. I can't keep it in the bucket much longer or that water will become unhealthy.

I took some videos last night during acclimation but I can't figure out how to get them on here. Do I have to post them somewhere else, first? (like Facebook?)

Sue
 
You need to go to some place like photobucket or youtube to upload the videos then you the links to post it on forums and post that here.

I am really excited to see renewed interest in keeping bimacs. The other posts I have read about raising them from hatchlings were quite successful so you might have some re-homing to do lol. Good luck to you.
 
Great video. I'm just guessing, but it looked like they were trying to eat each other. At this stage I would guess that they are little eating machines, and will eat whatever is around, with only a slight preference for non-bimacs. Maybe you'll need to keep a constant supply of food in there with them. Thanks for posting and keeping us updated.
 
Joe-Ceph;173221 said:
Great video. I'm just guessing, but it looked like they were trying to eat each other. At this stage I would guess that they are little eating machines, and will eat whatever is around, with only a slight preference for non-bimacs. Maybe you'll need to keep a constant supply of food in there with them. Thanks for posting and keeping us updated.

Yes, Joe, I was very glad when the acclimation was over because I thought someone was going to get seriously hurt with all that grabbing! As far as them being eating machines, I can only hope, but so far, no. I have some live mysid in each separate container with each of them and I watched as a mysid landed on the mantle of a hatchling and nothing happened. Hopefully they're just stressed by the new environment?

Sue
 
I would attempt shore shrimp with them now I think since they seem to be coming at each other beak first. The shrimp will survive easily in a barren tank, be far more nurishing than mysis and can be offered live in the net when they grow a little. Once I was comfortable that the shrimp could not attack the hatchlings, I kept some alive in the merc nets for them to hunt. Initially I would offer them freshly killed (I use a pipette for this).
 
Thanks, D. When I placed the order today for more live mysid I looked at the shore shrimp and was tempted to order them, too, but since I hadn't actually seen them eat anything yet at that point and since they are so small, I figured I'd hold off. The video may be deceiving but the largest of the hatchlings is probably 1/2" at the most. I haven't seen them move towards or make any attempt to go after the live mysid or amphipods swimming by them but the great news is they showed an interest in frozen mysis tonight. If I touch their tentacles gently with a pipette with a mysis suctioned to the end they grab it and wrap their tentacles around it. I'm not sure if they are eating it (I'm still real new at this) but they hang onto it and make several little jerking motions. I am THRILLED!
Sue
 
I definitely recommend hand feeding so you know they are taking it. My track record is not stellar with numbers of survival but I have managed more than most home hobbiests. I worry that the live mysis (at least the ones I have had)don't have enough food value. The PE mysis are freshwater but have more substance. Looking back on my journal, I also see that I fed them tiny crabs (but could only get them once). You will be surprised at what they can take at this size, proprotionally more than they will when grown. Here is a picture of a 16 day old O. briareus accepting a very small crab and another of a 6 day old taking PE mysis larger than its mantle.
 
I will definitely attempt to handfeed at least 2 times a day, hopefully three. Not only is it rewarding but it's a great way to keep track of who's catching on, who's growing, if any are acting differently, and hopefully also a good way to get them tame and accustomed to me.

I have frozen PE Mysis and also the bottled Mysis Feast (haven't tried that with the hatchlings yet). I also have more live mysis arriving tomorrow but I'm not sure they will go after those, they don't seem interested in food unless I'm tapping them with it. Of course, they've only been here 36 hours so we're all still adjusting. I will see what I can get my hands on regarding small crabs..... ahhhh, the elusive hunt for food. :smile:

DWhatley;173261 said:
I definitely recommend hand feeding so you know they are taking it. My track record is not stellar with numbers of survival but I have managed more than most home hobbiests. I worry that the live mysis (at least the ones I have had)don't have enough food value. The PE mysis are freshwater but have more substance. Looking back on my journal, I also see that I fed them tiny crabs (but could only get them once). You will be surprised at what they can take at this size, proprotionally more than they will when grown. Here is a picture of a 16 day old O. briareus accepting a very small crab and another of a 6 day old taking PE mysis larger than its mantle.
 
Lmecher;173259 said:
Fantastic! :biggrin2: I am so happy for you. I am keeping my :fingerscrossed: for you. How do you plan to separate them? Very nice video. Would love to see more, FTS maybe?
so exciting!!

Funny you should ask.... I shot a quick video yesterday of the full tank and then tried to zoom in on each of the separate containers but I haven't downloaded it off the camera yet so I don't know how it came out. I'll try to get to that tonight.

What I did was buy all the plastic breeding traps I could find from my LFS and since a couple of them have dividers, I am now able to have one section for each hatchling. I was down to four because I gave two hatchlings to a local fellow reef nut and then FINALLY late last night I found the "missing" seventh hatchling! I had pretty much accepted that he'd be forever MIA but during my last flashlight check in the original transport bucket, there he was climbing the wall! He must have buried himself deeply into the live rock I had in there but maybe when the water started becoming foul he decided he wanted out. I was SO EXCITED to find him - you'd think it was the reunion of a lost love. :smile: He must have been just as excited because he is definitely the feistiest one .... he was active and hungry and curious. Gonna have to find a special name for him/her. So, I now have 5.

Sue
 

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