If you're looking to rear the young, then, as mentioned, you'll need to put them in their own tank.
The first thread linked at the bottom - while about a different species - has more info throughout it than just what I've listed in my "general advice" below (though that advice is in the other thread too), and that advice may help as well;
the main reason I've listed it here, though, is that it gives some good insight into the rearing and rearing troubleshooting of a difficult species (which these guys, Valencienna strigata, almost certainly are).
The second thread is all of the info that I've really been able to find on Valencienna spp. specifically, so I'd strongly recommend reading through it (spoilers, they made it to day 10 post hatch using Parvocalanus crassirostris nauplii - then hit a bottleneck and lost all the larvae; the larvae probably need a different kind of food starting around day 9 or 10). Based on the fact that I can't find records of any of the species in this genus being reared successfully despite multiple attempts at raising them, they're likely going to be very difficult and have very specific feeding needs (so don't feel bad if you don't succeed, especially on your first attempt).
All of that said, the advice collected below may help with trying to actually rear the young (it's copied and pasted from another of my posts, so it's not super organized - sorry) if you decide to try.
"Some general advice that might help:
- Have a tank ready to move the larvae into (basically a tank with an air stone, a dim light, and a heater - a kreisel tank is ideal, but not necessary; you don't want a filter, a skimmer, uncovered pumps/powerheads, etc. - it needs to be as pelagic larvae safe as possible).
- Be prepared to catch the young when they hatch (ideally, you'd be able to move the eggs immediately before hatching into the new tank, but I'm assuming you don't know exactly when they'll hatch) - catch them and move them into the larval rearing tank as soon as possible.
With regards to the sieves and feeder sizes:
- You may need to screen the feed initially to only offer Parvocalanus nauplii.
- Observing the larvae eating when/if possible is important for telling if they are accepting/able to eat the food you are offering them.
With regards to the substrate settlement:
- Some species need sand, rock, dark areas, specific colors, or other oddly specific things to settle on/in (from what I've seen, inverts are usually a lot more picky with this), so it may help to have a ledge or cave (PVC should be fine for this, if it's even needed, which I honestly kind of doubt) and a little sand in the larval rearing tank.
That’s all I can think of at the moment - hope it helps!"
Hey all, So I have a breeding pair of sunshine chromis in my reef tank. They have laid 3 batches of eggs that I’ve seen so far, and by the third day, all the eggs are gone (I’m guessing the snails knock them off or my purple tang eats them). I managed to collect and hatch a handful from the...
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My wife & I have been on a bit of a Diamond Watchman Goby (Valenciennea puellaris) breeding journey, and I think we're making some progress. I thought I'd share what we've been up to with the hive mind. We've got a batch that hatched out this morning. I'll update this thread with photos, videos...
www.reef2reef.com
