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S. Bandensis Egg Predators and Maternal Care

Joined
Jan 27, 2005
Messages
61
Hello everyone,

I'm directing this mainly at Righty and anyone with experience hatching S. bandensis eggs.

My concern is that the dead coral to which the egg clutch (about 10 eggs) is attached has some long, thin white scavenging worms in it. I have also seen some little amphipods crawling on the eggs. Is it possible they could puncture or eat the eggs? It looks like the worms just kind of scour the surface, and the amphipods too. I'm nervous about detaching the eggs from the coral or moving them because they seem so delicate.

The mother seems to be taking care of the eggs somewhat by scooting down beside them and deliberately blasting them with jets of water from her siphon from time to time. I'd like to put the eggs in a plastic breeder basket until I can get the net kind, and suspend them from something so they can get better water flow and oxygen.

How long should I wait before doing this? Is having an airstone near the eggs going to cause problems for them? Should I trust the mother to care for them?

I think I'd have o snip the eggs off with scissors, they're in kind of an awkward position. I'm real scared I'm going to break them!

Thanks for any suggestions.
 
Congrats!

I don't think you have anything to worry about with pods or worms. The eggs do just fine with them around.

My feeling is to not mess with the egg until they expand and you can see movement inside. I don't see a good reason to move them until you have to. Trust the cuttle to have laid them in a good place.
Interesting about the mother taking care of the eggs! Get some video! Keep track of dates!
 
OK, so, eggs laid on: Sunday, September 25 2005. I had lifted the coral up a bit, I hope I didn't disturb them too much. I also put an airstone a little distance away to get better water flow as the flow is a little sluggish in that part of the sump.

Yeah, she really jets them quite hard, so that they all bobble around - maybe cleaning off debris? I don't think she does it often enough to oxygenate them.

I will get some video too.

Thanks for your advice I would have moved them too soon!
 
HELP I've Got An Egg Predator

Righty, What I thought was small white worms isn't it's one BIGGER thing with tentacles. It's the Sarlac's Pit thing like I had in the main tank. It's managed to drag one of the eggs over to a new position, towards its mouth. I dunno if it can penetrate it or not but I'm afraid it will wipe out ALL the eggs.

What can I do? Is there some way to kill it without harming the eggs? In your article you mentioned to avoid moving the eggs close to HATCHING as they are sensitive, and this seems to apply to soon after being laid as well. I'm loathe to move them but it'd be a shame if Sarlac ate them up.
 
What is that? Anti apsia mixture of kalf? Didn't turn up anything on a google search. The problem is the worm thing lives IN the pores of the dead coral. I might be able to do some damage if I can get the end of it with some tweezers or scissors. Actually the coral is quite crumbly maybe I can get at it. It seems to have retreated where I can't see it and the eggs are still there (though one shifted over).
 
how close is it to the eggs, you will want to turn off all pumps, this stuff becomes inert almost right after is mixes witht he salt water, but make sure you dont get any on the eggs.
 

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