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Hatchlings - Tank Bred - Mama Cass and Tatanka - O. briareus - May 12 2011

DWhatley

Kraken
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Well, no full moon but a week of hot weather (and no AC) brought the hatchlings out of their eggs sacks sometime between my photos last night and my check-in after work today (Thurs, May 12).

When I looked in on Cassy, I saw only egg stems (unlike Kooah's brood, no casings remained). I knew they were alive last night and was afraid either she or the serpent star ate them (Pesky was, for the first time since Cassy laid eggs, on the opposite side of the tubes). I moved some of the rock around so that the corals that had been inconvenienced would have better light and circulation and saw something small jet in the cave so I started breathing again and looked for survivors. I found two, one in the open on a piece of LR and one back in the cave. After lights our (red light on), I expected any survivors to gravitate to the red light side and show up on the wall. By 11:00 PM there was only one positioned where I had hope to see 15. The little one on the rock was still there so I knew there were at least two.

I kept checking the tank and the one on the LR seemed to be in trouble and a brissel worm appeared interested. I removed him and saw that he looked OK but took advantage of the removal to make a few pictures. When I went to coax him into a shot glass and return him to the tank I learned that he COULD ink but that the COULD NOT swim straight and dated about like a released untied baloon. I opted to put him in a small tank for observation but I don't think he will make it.

By 2:30 I could find three more hatchlings on the red side wall. Two look smaller than the other three. That brings known hatchling count to 5 out of 15 known eggs (all eggs looked viable last night).

Edit: 3:15 I found 2 more on the wall at the substrate, bringing the total to 7.
 

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These few days have been anxious and numbing
And each little loss can be bumming
May your time be less stressful!
Your babies successful!
And may more generations keep coming
 
Mike,
The traps will catch a couple for the first few days but then they stop entering the trap. There are mixed thoughts and observations with bristles but the general consensus is that they are relatively harmless. Dying animals will definitely be targeted but most healthy ones can shrug them off. I make attempts to cull down the populations from time to time but it would be impossible to rid my tanks of them without killing the live rock. Danger to hatchlings is an unknown but it is most likely that the one I removed from the tank was sickly rather than a healthy animal suffering damage from the bristles. It died the next day but showed no physical damage externally. I mentioned to John (Sedna's other half) that I planned to place the first dead one in a glass of saltwater to see how long it took for them to disappear without scavenger intervention and this little one is serving that observation.

Last night I only saw three on the wall and none so far tonight. One of the wall walkers has been consistently high in the tank so today I went searching the overflow chamber (it is only about 3" deep) and found him alive in the corner nearest the outer wall. For now, I am leaving him there as it is a good collection point for Cyclop-eeze and copepods. Tatanka often used the box when he was out and about as a little guy and the strainer is in need of cleaning so the flow to the sump is somewhat blocked.

Cassy is still with us but has started to keep her eyes almost closed and the eye covering (I am not sure if this is equivalent to an iris or an eye lid, perhaps both but I don't quite know what good an eyelid would be to an underwater animal) is white all the time, much like Monty's.

Sadly, I don't have much hope for survivors but will keep feeding extra Cyclop-eeze and watching.
 
I have possibly seen one (arms only) since the 14th. That possibility was after 45 minutes of seaching one night last week. I have only scanned the tank since but will spend a little time looking again soon.
 
Not really much in the tank harmful but their natural behavior is observed to be very reclusive. However, the others did not disappear this quickly. I don't have much hope for survivors I'm afraid.

Cassy is still with me but breathing heavily and is nearing the end.
 

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