I/& iquariurn ~ystems _^ Manufacturer of Instant Ocean*

FREE - I Volume 9

Winter 1992

agating Corals e Mini-Reef

1 With the advent of the mid-reef type of Imarine aquarium, additional pressure has been

on the limited resources of coral reefs. lation has already been passed to limit

of live rock, which many consider IO be a renewable resource. Legislation is p d - ling to greatly restrict the collection and irnpor- tarion of many species of coral and marine Invertebrates. Consequently, a new means for acquiring animals must be developed. Over [be past couple of years I have experimented with the asexual propagation of many ~ypes of corals within the confines of my reef Sup ned by discussions with hob =I?- %is ~ h g ~ e l b e e k a n d julian S p q l haw begun IO achieve consistent success in reproducing new coral colonies from existing ones.

I am not considering here the simple bud- ding of Atniodifois Or Anthtlia. These species often release individual polyps that Ibm new colonies on their own. Instead when [speak of propagation, mean taking one colony and turning it into two or three or ten.

Before getting into the actual techni ues for ingthesecds,Imust~tresst la tyou %??% sumss only in a mini-reef that is

thriving, not one that is si ing, 1 mean one with lilt Ju c or -FBythov- no rnenious or microalp growth, and one that is stable with little nutrient build-up. If these conditions do

ipecies o not take well to the rigors of

'%zzk with which 1 haw had the MSI hxperience are the 5inuiarias (Fin er Leathers, )evil's Hand, Soft Tree. ctc.). ftesc corals

(mtfnucd an pge 4)

. .-

A pair irfdown ancmontfish hwering wer' a Surcophytm sp. with a Simfaria sp. in iht background.

Commercial Breeding of Anemonefishes

Since the sixiics the list of tropical marine species raised in private and public aquariums has expanded greatly (Neugebaucr. 1969). But, compared with freshwater fish. successful breedin of marine tropicals is still a rare -1. dover the world only a few companies are producing tank raised marine tropicals on

B1992 Aquarium Systems, Mentor, OH - Printed in USA

a commercial scale. One of these is Aquacul- rure Development MS (ADAS) in Denmark.

ADAS specializes in the Anemonefishes. The broodstock includes about 10 species, of which the Amphiprim wellaris., A. frenatus. A. srbaf . and Prcrniids fri~cu1ct~ii.s are the rnos~ prominent. We havedone crossbreeding between wild and tank-raised fish, and fits1 and second generaiions are breeding with good results,

For more than a year ADAS has supplied the market in Scandinavia, Great Britain, Ger- many, and rhe Netherlands. In November, 1991, [he firs! Danish-produced Anemone-

(tmdrtittd on ~ t ( 21

Notes cm

;.

nce, and armchair sp&lation ...". f ^ ^ m * I l e d D r . G o ~ m i ' f M O a .am breedin 'downfish {all into this

of& conclusions, ii left u r n z, yaw result in many frustrated hobbyists. The

~~tesoome&oaifny atthe ; -%-1*-aw

may Pa- limninghobbyistsuçtss afw-

Larval Hatching

ofastr~ffnofairbubbles.Thisshould be set up the night the hatch is expected.

& the We used uarc 45 gallon fIllunkf.&llfhsundae2Ã h m k s woriced wen also. No, the [ish Sd i .1 K i n thecorners. t he c u m thai sun& wi larvae is totally false. We utilized nai- ulalday^ghi in our hatchery, and i t was quite intense during the Florida summer. We also ulifizeda natural phoioperiod, while Dr. Juhl used 24 hour fluorescent lighting. The main objedm i had to a 24 hour dia~Itwa&tknecessaryto ar""- t elarvaeai

n*t- Dr. observed that, in a test

hitY marine mix. all the larvae =at hatching aGcr sunhght played ¥cros

the e g ~ . This monality after exposure to sun-

Y twascertainlyacoincidence,hwasmore 1 ely caused by poor quahty egg?, inadaquae water m o m over die nest, quality, or protozoan or bacteria co0r attack- iwier In

nature nests are normally positioned a h an anemone. The e are exposed 10 irect w r full-strength sunli t any lime the anemone retracts with no ifef~ecis- Man nests at die haichy were a h exposed m direct sunlight before aching, also with no dl effects.

Dr. Goldaein raised the question of how many larvae should be stocked in a icuk sizetank.Heh hesizeddatthefishemit- ml gnwih InhKn, lini i n b l K d hi> tow survivalraiestoihem.Withh Jaivaeand good water uati ,we common ate harvested in the ran 3 l,& la-, and in some cases up w 1.500 b, born a 43 gall~a rearin tank operatin on a central tan. We fauni ,ha dean tanks Oiled with dà Bhered water gave the best results. We did daily panid waier

exchanges,orpumpedastowstreamdwater from the central system, to coranri wastes in

m e to creating an Internal biological b. As mentioned above a 29 gallon (ink r

works we& but we a h had success in d m tanks. Water depth is an important factor. Although a 10 gallon lank is adequate, a 5 eaflonwide-mouth ar,wHhasmgksk>w srearo of air bub or circulation, is a beaer choice.

el

There is no ferredfoodfor m cuhre~anual by Hoffand~ndl(l98^ ou.linescult~cinnhc<ls. Wild-cççl plailk- ton can be used in die absence cultured plankton rn as a supplement. It should, how- ever, be sieved to remove Pd= Arrowworms, which rapt ly outgrow and consume the larvae, md parasiac wpepeds.

would remove newly hatched shrimp afier 15 hours of incubation and every fiw hours there- after. This gave him a steady supply of the

For ood coloration the diet must bed natunfnMrine pigments. ~ b c best leu- frozen krill and copepods. In home aquariun with abundant algae growth, anem&

redandyellowpigniM Obtain I h e n = m m m *ed zdrodks- faprika and beu-carotene did n improve the color of the 6sh. Neither 4 camhaxanthin, a red pigmeni found in bri shrimp.

'4

Ah hough Full strength seawater can be us for breeding systems, we maintained all of o tanks at 28 pans gra* of 1.020 to Y -02 rhowad# 1. We d u c t i ~ Or a @ mui pie gencmions of fish under iesc conditia Annual larval production ofjuveniles was OI 250,000 using Instant ~cean* seasalts. Ma coastal hatcheries natural seawaerwot bke to icadi thisnumtx. In conclusion, the methods (or rearing

least some marine tropicals are accessible hobbyists. Breeding and rearing a n e m fishes takes a lot of rime and effon, but a u full of baby clownfish is certainly tcwaidfr A Anon. I?1.Condidontngaidspawningdniartncfish pot 1: adult pairs. &&opt, Spring.

Anon. 1984, Pood culture far marine Rsh laivat d GItcifredfTf-pan It; laid focnk 5niSftipc. Swfintcr.

Anon. 1984, Linval nartng-pftn 111: muinf Axh ruin StcSrqr. a.

Hoff,F.ÈndT.Snri 1967.PbnkwiCuh?Mdmul.D City. Florida: Florid* Aqu* Pums, Inc.

. . . CemmerciAl Breeding

fishes were introduced to the American mart More and more hobbyists seem to have realta

advantages of bu tank-real fijl.%Sbyi51seet haltkyB$%ee fromd ease and accustomed to aquarium conchk There are no problems with feeding becu

ile grow-out system differs only the nursery system. The tanks are

aerated, feed IS done by machine, da kngth is 5 18 ours. The system has

a1 vofm of 5 cubic meters, or 1300

(210 gallons). "Die W r s are cultured as 220- 22-C (68-72OF) M a sahni of 20-30 pans per thousand. he^ are fed daily with algae. A weak. aeration provides oxygen and keeps the r& in suspension.

Another' namfooditemisthebrine * * a * - * O @ d m

hatch Artmia knows that separating the nauplif from the cysts is a time consuming process. If the fish larvae accidentall eat some cysts they m a y become constipated, with lah results. For ibis reason we etch away the cyst sheik by a decapsulation technique described by Sorgeloos ( 1977).

Given the conditions mentioned earlier, Anemonefishes start breed' at an of 8 io 12 months. The ADAS bm^stockTraeds at regular iiiTeivals. withan average of 2.3 breed- ings per month. The incubation time varies from species to species and among the indi- vidual pairs. Waier temperature seems to be an

t factor here. At 26, 27, and 28'C ;=and 8l0F) the* d l a m hatch in 10, 9, and 8 nights respectively.

Note that we at ADAS use nights, not days, when specifying the incubation time. This is because the Amphtprion larvae, as well as man other substrate-nesting fish on the reef, harc I within an hour after sunset. From a pm- ductton point of view, hii behavior is very desirable. To make the h a t c h i occur in the work day, we simply have changed the photo- period so thai "sunset" is ai one o'clock in the afternoon,

~ollectin~ the larvae from the breeding sys- tern presents another problem. At ADAS we have used several techniques, The sim lest of these is installation of an automak c arvesi unii before haiching occurs. The unit is laced in from of die tank overflow and withi two hours all the larvae are concentrated in it, Transferring newly hatched larvae to the nur- sery aquarium must be done carefully because the larvae are very sensitive to physical, osmotic, and chemkal stress.

Another way to transfer bme is to remove the rock with the nesi and place it directly in the nursery aquarium. When using this tech- nique ii .is imponant to keep the eggs well

oxygenated. Some mechanical stimulanon also

ro 3.0 centimeieis (d, or 1 to 1 3/16 inch. As mentioned &, food is one of the,

most important asp- of breeding marine test demand for food exists when

you Mnnec have I la est biomass, when the fish me jlwe&s.~J& wetestedmanyd (bod

roducis, bui none satisfied our stringent demands.

In order to obtain high survival, uick row& and strong- coloration, ADAS has

developed its own dry food. This food has given excellent eesults with Ercshwaitr as well asmarineBsh-At[heinoment,weareincreas- ing reduction, and we hope our food will be aillbbit ID ihe shops in s 1992. We çl

mre &is @dm diz big i m p m e m a t for serious aquarists.

tprton larvae sac about 4- or 1/8 i n c h at çhatching As they develop, a rema~able change takes both ~n ance and behavior. This chan -about day 10(6-7mm or 1/4 inch) $en the fom tion of [he bars begins. The development of adult pigmentation is completed by day 25 ( 12mm or 7/15 inch). Even more remarkable

ceases when day/night cydes and some shelter (WC tubes) are introduced. It issimilar co chat described lor the Comet CWassink and h s , 1990), and indicates the end of the free- swimming larval lifestyle and the beginni adult kha"i0r at the b w m in -ixf with an anemone.

When properly fed, the Anemonefishes de- vdo quickly, and grow to a length of 3cm, or 1 3/16 inch, in 4 months. If transferred to the broodstock system, the un Bsh mm bno sew mature pairs in 80 12 months (5.0- 6.0cm or 2-2 3/8 Inches, depend on sex). I t is not known how long Anem oi£¤shesli in captivity. At ADAS we have "inherited" some fish with an 8 year history, andihey are still breeding.

(continued on paw 4)

la* wttJ! Xenta v. In center, andCtovuldrid*p.fit

resemble miniature trees with many fiogeis

branching (rom a central trunk To propagate this core all that is necessary is to cut off one of h e brandies with a new razor blade. The cut should be as straight and clean asps- sible. A dean cut heals quickly on die parent coral. greatly reducing the risk of parasitic infection. The best results are achieved when the cutting is ai leasi 2 inches long. Sandwich the cutting berwecn two small pieces of live rock and hold it all together with rubber bands. The bands should be t enough to hold the cutting firmly in not so dght as m crushthecoral oihermethodisto Tote the cutting firmly into existing live rock. Boi the parent and the cutting should then receive

t and moderate water current. The w k Id heal over in about iwo weeks

t r & " ,qpmirn d h e arm. The at- tin should be firmly attached in three weeks and~hen begin gmwth~inularias are ihe best species for a dm attempt #E% likdyMureisthatthecutting(iffword dtes,oristemoved borntherockbyador odierscsttogerandtakenoutdAewEwnif this happens, don't give up; only through

expciHDCTiiion will you achieve -. sSs [Swrwpbytwis). Make an incision at the outeredgeoftheupperdisk,lather thanat a projeaion, to obiain a circular cutting about one inch diameter. Then

of liw rock with (he cut gc placed on 5% wedge this into a

SeaScope was created to present short, Dealers not receiving copies of SeaScope I informative articles of interest to marine distribution 10 their customers should a aquaris~s. Topics may include water chemis- Aquarium Systems, Inc. 10 be added to tl

i Volume 9

i Spring 1992

The leopard wrasses are distributed from Hawaii to (he east coast of Africa, including (he Red Sea. Several species have very restricted ranges, such as Pone& leopard wrasse. All of ibcm are reef dweUeis. They are small in size with no anatomical defenses, and ibey spend mostofthdrdaysmovingamongihebranchesof hard corals or near coral rubble- They take rcfcac underthesandatnightorwhentheyareihieat- ened. Juveniles often drift over the sea door like ( l d n g d e b possibiy to avoid ifae 3ttcnfiioad predators.

The [&tory of a male leopard waesc¥w3 usually contain several fcmalt& ThtSA.iwidsates are protogynous hermaphrodites- Illis ineaos

bttrinud on pa@ 31

lairge. A great variety of soft corals can also be main-

tamed in a small lank. OIK must choose small specimens since large ones will shade heir me#hs When they deflate a night they may beqpkmanothercoralandsdngitorhestung. Cuttings fro"" other hobbyists are usually a good size. Naturally, a small aquarium requires careful planning and placement of the corals. Sob corals emit noxious terpenoid compounds into the water which are hannlid to their neighbors, and particularly damaging to stony corals. Some stony corals shed nemaiocysts and chemicals into the water which inhibit soft coralgrowth. If corals of any kind are tooclose to each other they mav aiiack each oilier with k i v e me-scntertal filaments or special e ~ o ~ e d " ~ r tentacles. It mteht seem tb because dihesrnall volume of we: it would be impossible to mix a l a ~ g f variety of soft and stony corals as I have done. Actually the opposite appears to be true, and I W i t h thestnall vdum ofwateris precisely why! A foam fracilonator (protein sldmmcr) slam a small volume of water rapidly and em- cfemly This device ~emoves (he noxious com- pounds and "nettles" released into the water by (he corals. /&;

To bewMinmiinPart 11- quarter.

die fl"

^50 "g- . .

b i y t , s h o p , d g d a n d - t h e y oftendaanajKlfoeareasaround their mouthsand Gns. These injuries cm result in viral Infectious andAcfishmaystopeating.Athoughssmdwffl

-l e^BeAlXthe rocks at night Another p e n hazard is (he overflow of the wet-dry EWfilter,

the wrasse will emerge and beffln t~ forage. I t fe not uncommon for a leopard wrasse to appear= it~pedtretmieeaehday. ImtiaUy this may belater textile day, long after the aquarium lights first CBaiton.Thfcisa~parentlyctOisetlbya~~rtd "piscinejetlag".Sinceifacwrasseisstillrntodo- Pacific t ime i t~outo fh id tog taer in theday when it would be tariy morning in the area

where it was collected! With lime these wrasses ,usuallyadjusttheirinternaldockswtheday- night cycle in your aquarium.

y-7- community fbh Not ymdkey lowardotherRshspe' desihcyrarely pesterheirown kind.Onseveral

1 have Induced more than one spec- imen iiuo a lank simultaneously and observed link oven between them. If you want to keep more than one Individual in your tank it is advisable lo add them all at (he same time and ~oaddonlyonemalepertank.Ifyouare - ning on keeping a leopard wrasse it shou An be oneofthe first dsh introduced after die tank is set up,because wrasses are so passive. Another p i - tfvc auribulc of this genus Is that h e y rarely succumb ID protozoan and dinoflagcllatc infections.

Five members of this genus occasionally show up in aquarium stores. The most expensive of these is Choai's leopard wrasse CM. thoail). h Is a resident of east Australian reefs and is white overall with oran e to red bands and blot& and ;i dark o rcukr patch trimmed with yellow NO color differences have been repried between the sexes, CTioaA Impaid wrasse occurs in Inter- ndal areas down to 28m on die lcd' fbi and among the toid rubble ai the base of reef drop- offs (Ran<iall, 1978). It grows to 7.6cm in lengih. 1 haw observed this specks In pairs near the Great Barrier Reef, bm it is possible that males have

small harems of females, t ; I f - l < l

Pottert leopard wrasse {M gtoffmy) k a Hawaiian species that is occasionally seen m aquarium stores. Unfortunately for Ac retailer, this wrasse, like many others, is delicate, and many die in transit, It is u M y sollljtfy wd

water from less dun 1m to 2% md In- reef flats, outer lagoons, and reef h i s (RandaU, 1978, Meyas, 1969). This es maim a sund- Ã ˆ r i l t n ~ ~ 1 5 c m ~ ~ - h a r h - k - on a pale green body, green b d z r n t k T % a d a black shoulder pocb that contains several small ydknv females were once thought to be a di if- erent spe- The cies and were referred to as M. pntalf& h g h u feature dial makes this species attractive b its pace - It usually sdk for under $30.00.

Theornateleopardwrasse,M.wn<uitf,isoften mtetalwnlorM.mdeasrs,andal Ihough it ism ~~moni t i tgufar iysbpwsupat &stores. Theotnae~'wias&e.tsorangtsh-rcdonthc ~dthebodyWithbondsorspots .The maleshavegmnbandsaud ondtclacc, ~ d b d W k b E * m h shoulder (which is present in M. mckagrfc). Females barns mad&@ similar to the male, but they are l i i ft> c o l a The ornate leopard wrasse occursat depths of3mto 20m (Alien and Steene, 1988) amd is native to Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Western A d a (KandaH, 197%). Thespeciesreadiesastandardlengthof13m

Although relajv-dy rare in museum c o k lionsdtebiackkopardwrasse(?rf.rteffros~~isfi)ts occasionally sotd w dealers as an "aswrted wrassem. It occuiSiat depths of ftm 10 32Ia wtih roost beingrepond from 15m.ardee rcachts JZcnt in standard ht@ The black leopard wrasse ranges &Gro the Philip pines, to Sam= north to Japan and s o d 10 (he Great Barrier R e d I observed a pair swi- over coral nibble in 15m of water pear HjL The femalesofthisspecies have many palespotsma black background wMe die malesarc black ovw all wih a dark purple thorax, broad lines on iheir faces (rather lhan qm), and scales edged with l@i green (Rauid& 19781.

Although many have had double keeping leopard wrasses in conveniional aquariums, they will thrive in the mini-reef aquarium if proper care is given!

The best synthetic The bwt wthetic sea salt available. sea d t adable. How can two synthetic sea salts be ?he best"?

By: Michael hkua

merit toanyone jug getting started in the marine side ot the hobby,

1 have been keepin marine animals for a Iitilc over twelve years, While I know of many hob byists with greater experience in the hobby than 1 have, I know of very few who have spent more money trying to im rove [he qualli of life for theiranirnah. I can demonstrate this gy the huge number of boxes in my basement, all full of

especially highouipiti tufatS;It is notow ofihe qaesasntousewenmetalhalfcfcbulbsonsucha iMaifJSe n. &tit is not necessary lo do so. One re, becairfidabou~temperaturewhenusing ,btoertsiiy--light sources, including fluores- &rbu&s, especiallyifth y an- in a dosed over the aquarium. Please refer to ihe table Canopy or lighting options over a fifteen gallon lank. 1 mornmend fourto six 20 wan Duorescents with

in. the owflow prevents algae anemones from getting strainer.

Scitin upa small d s y s t e m is slm Ie Notice that I p&t the mechanical prefilKr!&v ihc

. . . - . .- .- .

1 Table 1: Lighting options For 15 gallon tank (24 inches Ion . - . - - . - - -. - - - - -. - 3

between corals when you

' , areflector.A wengallon tankisshallowe tank in ihc sump. This makes it easy 10 change.

$W kdkmi for success wkh mostofihe The sum can be a [en gallon tank or a lass box. speciescoBteoiily available. The chamber can be any gid-li \e basket

If yom'wteki tp try an. even smaller reef set-up. such as those available at your supennaikct. You ting options. The compact U- can also fabricate your own custom sized basket

shaped thmaRm2f Quo t i ~ W g a i n l n popularity can usin plastic "eggcrdie" 1 t ditluser connected \X used to illuminate a 5-aa~on\exaeon rank 1 by p ksnc cable ties A ca $ n chamber can also

i p i g h m t i ibe huadiedsof do&in livestock that could "be lost if an inexpensive hearer fails.

'Rwboorsshouldbeconsideredwhenpuf- chasing aheater ambient room temperature and lank size. Sim y siaied, if you keep [he room warm you nJ" a sm-tlier healer to heat the water 10 a specific tenipCTaiure than if you keep the room cold. By the same token, if you haw a large tankandasroalltank.tbe elankwillrequirea ^ higher wattage heater then t small lank How- ever, th< SIM of ihe heaier does not Increase pro- ponjonatdy with the tank size. When rchsing a heaier use h e inanukurer's spec&tmns to deiermine the size you need- 1 enerally keep my n k between 74 and 75' F. for m o a beginner

uariums a htaier betwten 50 and 1 SO watts is adeq Hate, and generally the lower wattage one is

desirable. If the heater switch slicks there should it before the aquarium idea to choose a healer

First, there is really no evidence that fish in die Red Sea are more colorful than their relatives in the other tropical seas.

Accordin 10 Dr.)ohn ~ d l , world-renowned i t ichJyologisi and author of Red Sen Reef Fahes and numerous feh jdtntilicaiion books. "There arc many colorful tee.[ fishes in the Red Sea, but they ar i not, on die average, any more colorful than those from oiher pans ol the tropi- callndo-fadficre on,orCaribbeanSea."Species chancttrisocs andc~iei, no the of salt waier, k n n i n e how colorful II Ul SSbc,

The most imponant factors affeaing colors- lion of fish are genetics (the animal's natural, inherited coloration) and diet (adequate nuui- tion essential for good health) which result in optimum normal coloration. Second, there is noihing panicularty unusual

about water in the Red Sea It hasa slightly higher specific gravity than water in the open ocean, because iis slow circulation permits greater con- centration due to evaporation. Other than this. the elements and their ratios are generally con- sidered to be identical to "normal" ocean water.

Thiscan beeasilysimulated in anaquarium by adding additional salt to produce higher specific gravity. If you try this you will see no improved coloration.

A pmdy formulaced or inadequately blended sea salt could adversely affect a fish's health and indirectly result in poor coloration, but it is vir- tually impossible to produce enhanced colora- tion with any sea salt formulation.

Q What does "scientific grade' marine salt nmn? Is it better for aquarium use?

A: In the simplest of terms, it "scientific grade" is - interpreted to mean asyntheticsea salt mix that is acceptable for scientific research then only p d -

çseswatti,sudi~ *. considered "scientific gwfe." synthetic sea dt blends with special fflpplemems, vitamins, or other additives, may

haw vahic for specific organisms, but the solu- tton produced Is noc considened identical to sea- water and Is nm an ideal solution tor scientific studies. No ine sctennfic researcher would

a s e a a l i - b w i i h or enhancements, because such additives could in& with die control dial is necessiity for

onarion.

A guide to the Tangs of the Genus Zebrasoma By: Scott W Michdrl

addition to all these techniques for reducing algae n u h i s . many aquarists emp biu cal agents.

snails arc commonly used,= are cm o f ~ m e m ~ ~ t ~ s u n h h m l y (Jfamihuri&f) being the most s c h o i c e . Tilk atidc dealt specifically with one genus of suigeon- Rshdialhasana Thtete the -ELZ:%-* rsaliwaier aquarium fish. the yellow ung (ZicbrasomaSavescens).

Description

@ 1992 Aquarium Systems, Inc.. Memor OH - Primed in USA

chirocterized by their e b q a e snou~i (hdr round. tsBoallv connxcssed bodies, and tkdr dl-llfcr a d

ibisspcdoVmstaifla%&totheadhbwthey have uak bands on (he body A Pacific Ocean tanc

serve a useful luncdon In the reef r n w ~ h ~ *-

Ine the lateral line pons and check recede wound them.

BiterwhatsoeverMdIfa^h^d

factor to consider is the over-

water circulation near the surface- The movement sho^dbe~~oughtodisruptihesurfaceofthe waterandallowgasexchangewiththeaonosphctE. Inaiffldtntgasexchangecanhaveantfiectontfae levdofcarbondicoddc,andWcanhaveasfeniS- cant effect on cazboaate haxdsxas. . ...

h e r circulation brings dfoodponi- des to the sessiteadimla andisposesd wastes fixxo.

whodonaThisbwhy 1 canonly give you my posonal opinion. At die present lime 1 use no

In solution in (be water calcium, 1t is better to

c w m l carbon dioxide levels through surface gas ewhangethanbyinjectinggzsIntoihtwaterGood wmdicubdonandaproteinskimnwhelpm

of filamentous algae

Here are put the V I ant

ions to arfum dm