Red sea sailfin tang

[sonicfish]

my two red sea sailfin tang had laid eggs just the past night there is about a hundred eggs they are guarding them greatly i dont know what im supposed to do i never meant to breed saltwater fish before and is this rare to breed them i dont have great water parameters nitrates high

[SeaMunky]

Hey Sonic...Congrats ...I'm not much help to you on the tangs..I'm sure someone will chime in here and lend ya a hand.,..
I hear ya on the high nitrates, my banggai is holding fry right now, and I was told not to panic, it doesnt affect them as much as we think, its worse for the corals..but I dont know what for sure..
Keep us posted on how it goes for ya... Good Luck

[Frankie]

Sonic that is very impressive! Can you please post some pictures?

[SeaMunky]

Heres what I could find ..not much but a bit..
Some information has been collected concerning the reproductive habits of marine surgeonfish...
Surgeonfish, along with rabbitfish they are gonochoristic (each fish is either male or female) rather than being hermaphrodites. There are few sexual differences, though in some Naso species the males are larger than females. For the others sexual dichromatism exists only during spawning.
Spawnings are tied to the lunar cycle, some surgeonfish will spawn on a new moon and others around the full moon. Many surgeonfish are group spawners, with fish coming together from around the reef late in the afternoon, forming a large aggregate. Others such as the Zebrasoma species, spawn in pairs.
The courtship consists of males searching out gravid females, and then changing colors and performing a shimmering movement to entice the female to spawn. The pair rises together toward the surface in an arc shaped path, simultaneously releasing their gametes into the open water at the apex of the arc. Males may spawn with several females in a single session, while sexually mature females spawn only about once a month.

After hatching, the pelagic larvae subsist on their egg yolk for a couple days and on day four start to feed on plankton. They then begin to develop into a specialized larva, becoming compressed and growing thorns on the dorsal and ventral fins. Their bodies are scaleless and transparent with a silver cast to the abdomen. This post larvae stage is called 'acronurus larva', and is distinct to the Acanthuridae. As they grow the body becomes oval, the spines on the caudal peduncle develop, and the thorns on the fins gradually disappear (except on some of the Naso species and on the Blue Tang Paracanthurus hepatus).
The planktonic stage will last about 10 weeks after which the young will then settle into a shallow reef. Though the behavior of the young will vary between species and with the availability of food, many are initially quite territorial. As they mature most species become less aggressive and begin to roam wide areas of the reef in large schools.

[BigJay]

Originally Posted by SeaMunky

.

After hatching, the pelagic larvae subsist on their egg yolk for a couple days and on day four start to feed on plankton. They then begin to develop into a specialized larva, becoming compressed and growing thorns on the dorsal and ventral fins. Their bodies are scaleless and transparent with a silver cast to the abdomen. This post larvae stage is called 'acronurus larva', and is distinct to the Acanthuridae. As they grow the body becomes oval, the spines on the caudal peduncle develop, and the thorns on the fins gradually disappear (except on some of the Naso species and on the Blue Tang Paracanthurus hepatus).
The planktonic stage will last about 10 weeks after which the young will then settle into a shallow reef. Though the behavior of the young will vary between species and with the availability of food, many are initially quite territorial. As they mature most species become less aggressive and begin to roam wide areas of the reef in large schools.

ie good luck with raising the fry and why tank breeding is very uncommon. Lots of studies out there now though on techniques for handling pelagic larvae though so there is always hope. Best of luck!

[lcstorc]

Captive bred Sailfins would be incredible.
good luck.

[sonicfish]

sorry to say no photos my camera isnt good enough to get them and the only photo i got is the male blocking the eggs so sorry no photos at all maybe i can get the fry good thing too they look perfectly healthy but this is probaly going to be a faliure cause i cant even keeps baby discus alive for more then two years so i hope i can do it.

[lcstorc]

You can't succeed unless you try. Good luck. You have already proven yourself as a responsible reef owner so we know the babies will get the best care you can give them.

[SeaMunky]

Ahh..keep yer chin up..Hard work and patience pays off ..

[sonicfish]

Yep it should ill be soon having a list of which ones im going to sell oh yea if any body know how to ship live stuff to people i have somebody wanting some of my plate corals and i was wondering if you guys could tell me how to do it.

[GSELLERS]

they dont really lay the eggs from my understanding, they just shoot them out into the water and the male follows right behind to fertilize. What does it look like? is it on a rock? How do you know its "tang eggs"

[Frankie]

I know that is true for Zebrasoma flavescens and has been documented but I am not so sure that is the case for Zebrasoma desjardinii.
Sonic, you might want to do a bit of reading up on your fish. I am not to sure your set up for this breed. Here is a link I found while in a quick search:
Red Sea Sailfin Tang - Zebrasoma desjardinii

[sonicfish]

It dosent matter any more they got eaten by other fish when i went to a golf match they got eaten so im a litle sad right now well this was probaly a fluke.

[Frankie]

Don't let it get you down. Even if the fry made it your not ready or capable of raising the fry anyhow. Just focus on what your doing now. You are making great progress!

[BigJay]

Originally Posted by sonicfish

It dosent matter any more they got eaten by other fish when i went to a golf match they got eaten so im a litle sad right now well this was probaly a fluke.

whatever it was that spawned will most likley do it again unless something in your tank changes. If your lights are on timers keep the pattern they are on and try to keep everything as constant as you can.
Start a diary now and log as much info as you can such as tests results, temperature, water changes, salinity etc so that if it does happen you can look back and see if certain parameters instegated the spawn.
Captive breeding is undoubtedly the future for reef hobbyist and may one day even help save species in trouble in our oceans. If you can make something happen that others haven't been able to do you will be contributing an unbelievable asset to the world over. Stick with it , even if you don't succeed completely information you provide might be the link in the chain for the eventual success somewhere.