Hawkfishes and breeding Dottybacks
Hi,
< Hi there. >
Are flame Hawkfishes tame fish and considered to be the best amongst its species?  < Best?  Well they are great fish and loved by many aquarists.  I think lots of Hawkfishes are wonderful tank fish, and flame hawks seem great. >  Are pellets a good source of food to keep its red colour? 
< Maybe, but I think the general rule of varied diet is best.  I think Cyclop-eeze is probably good for color, but a mix is best for good health. > 
Is there any method to encourage orchid Dottybacks to breed? 
< Wow that is a switch in questions.  There are some tricks, but basically a pair of them in a 10 gal tank is it.  I think I'd search the web for some more info on this.  Also, I wouldn't recommend you try to breed them at this time.  That is a very time consuming and in depth project to tackle. > 
I am planning to get a tank, as a reef aquarium would a 72 bowfront work better, or would a 110 gallon rectangle tank work better? ( I know the more room the better for a fish, but 110 gallons seems awfully huge.) 
< The 110 is much better.  One reason is that most people have trouble getting lights to fit over a 72 gal bowfront.  The 110 gal gives you lots of lighting options and will be a much better tank. >
<  Blundell  >

Spawning Green Wolf Eel, CCS health
Hello! I have a question about something that happened that completely threw me for a loop. I have a green wolf eel (about 6 months now) that i had always believe to be male due to the fact that it is an extremely vivid green color. I had read that females tend to be duller and brownish in shade.
<Yes... a gorgeous, interesting Pseudochromid species>
However, when I came home today from school, I found my eel blenny to be wrapped around a purple egg mass, so its female, right?
<Sounds like it>
I don't know where to find a male eel to fertilize my eggs and even if I did, I wouldn't know what to do.
<Uhh, too late for this batch>
So what can I do now? I obviously can't leave the mass in there, can I? Would it be safe to remove the mass?
<I would wait a day or two... then siphon it out>
And if so, when can I do so without upsetting my eel. (I've recently moved the eel into this new tank about a week ago so I imagine it's a bit stressed.)
<Better to upset it, than risk the water pollution consequences>
I also had another question regarding my starfish. I have a chocolate chip starfish that was being kept in a tank with two hermit crabs.
<Ummm...>
Recently, I acquired another hermit crab that was sized in between my two current ones. I noticed that this crab was more active than my others. about two days later, I found my starfish flipped upside-down and curled up. After further examination, I found that two of the "chips" on my starfish had been eaten off. the first thing I did was remove the three hermits and then I quarantined Callisto. I have been carefully monitoring the starfish, and it seems to be doing better as its moving around again. Is there anything else I should do to ensure Callisto's welfare?
<Please read on WWM re CCS>
Thank you so very much!
~Jules
<Thank you, for writing, reading, using your spell- and grammar checkers before sending. Bob Fenner>

Breeding Dottybacks
Hi Crew, <Hi Chris, MacL here with you this lovely evening>
    Thanks for the help with the Forster's Hawkfish chasing my new Anthias, I have re-introduced the Hawkfish and while he still kind of chases the Anthias it is very occasionally. On the other hand the Anthias, while often hiding, eats hungrily, do you think they will settle down with time? <Possibly since they are both eating. You might do some redecorating.>
Last time I also asked you about books on marine fish breeding, no sooner had I bought Moe's Breeding the Orchid Dottyback, bought a few extra tanks and ordered some rotifer eggs and micro-algae cultures, when I noticed what I thought was an Orchid Dottyback (P. fridmani) on one of my frequent trips to the LFS. Not having seen one before in Australia I thought it may be an idea to grab this one and try to pair it later, after explaining my interest to the LFS guy, he informed me that they actually had two (the other was hiding under a rock in a different tank). After some persuasion I got the LFS guy to float the smaller Dottyback in a small breeding tank inside the larger Dottyback's tank. Within minutes the larger DB came out to investigate and over 30 minutes showed no sign of aggression. By this time the LFS guy was interested in the possible match and agreed to release the smaller DB into the larger's tank. Upon release the two swam straight to each other and with a bit of wriggling and tail wiggling they made each others acquaintance, the smaller DB even following the other into it's (her?) cave without the usual DB aggression. As I'm sure you can guess I was thrilled by this surprising partnership (not that I had begun to look for breeding pairs, but I thought a pair of DB's would be a huge challenge to find) and quickly put a hold on these two and charged home to sort out a home for them, the LFS guy said they would be fine if I floated them in breeders tank in my main tank while I cycled a tank for them. I didn't much like the idea of floating them for a month or so, so I was thinking I could possible fill a two foot tank I have with 50% tank water and 50% new water, add some LR and sand from my main tank and put something like a hang-on filter and air-stone for filtration and put them in after running this for a week or two, maybe floating them in my main tank during this time, what do you think? <I think you'd be better doing that than floating them. I hate the idea of those tiny breeder cube things and I think they would jump.>
When I did get home, I checked my brand new copy of R. Fenner's great book (TCMA) for confirmation on my DB's ID, because I thought my 'Orchid' Dottybacks may in fact be Magenta Dottybacks (P. porphyreus), although I will have to double check I am pretty sure they are is in fact Magenta Dottybacks. I have checked about, but am still not sure if Magenta DB's have spawned and been raised in captivity, I was under the impression that all DB's can be bred but thought it would be helpful to get confirmation on this particular breed, anything you know about this would be greatly appreciated. <I checked my notes on Bob's presentation at IMAC and didn't see them on the list as being commercially bred http://fragexchange.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=428&password=&sort=1&cat=543&page=1> But that doesn't mean they haven't been bred.  You might check with www.breeders-registry.com.> While I am writing, after I had practice establishing rotifer and micro-algae cultures (I'm still on the search for plankton and copepod cultures, no luck yet, I live near the ocean (at Newcastle, N.S.W) and was wondering if I could catch plankton for rearing purposes even though I am some way from tropical reefs.) and cycling my breeding, larval and grow-tank, I was planning to try and start with breeding Neon Gobies and then go on to Gold-Banded Maroon Clowns but when I looked into purchasing a group of juvenile Neon Gobies I found out that no one around here had barely heard of Neon Gobies let alone stocked them in years. I am in the process of contacting wholesalers in Sydney but do not expect much. If I can't find NG's through the usual channels I was wondering if you guys knew of anyway to possible order a group of NGs to Australia, most stores stock Cleaner Wrasses more often then Cleaner Shrimp in my area so I think I should make a more concerted effort to breed Neon Gobies for the sake of the Cleaner Wrasses. <Sounds like a marvelous plan.  If you can't get help from the distributors there then let us know and we can try to help you get in touch with the right people.>
Strangely I have just discovered what looks to be my first egg sack. Near the waters surface on the glass of my main tank I noticed a group of maybe a hundred pin hole size dots. I have recently noticed numbers of juvenile Nudibranchs (look kinda like Lettuce Nudibranchs) ranging in size from 2-7mm, so I suspected they may be nudibranch eggs and left them be. I have not yet seen adult Nudibranchs but my back glass is covered in algae, (so I may just not have noticed them) and I have not added any LR in months so I'm not sure what is going on, any ideas? <Sounds like you are about to be a proud parent of lettuce nudi's that's a great thing!>
Sorry about going on a bit but I'm sure you understand my excitement, thanks again for all your advice - Chris

Orchid Dottyback
Hey <Hey, MacL here with you tonight.>
I have a orchid Dottyback doing excellent for the past few months. Today I was surfing the web and came across an orchid Dottyback picture which had big blue eyes. Mine doesn't but it's colour is just as sharp and it's an orchid because it has that strip across it's eye. Is it different, and where can I get tank bred ones and about how much? <I'm sure your local pet store can get those for you. Price varies by distributor unfortunately.>
Also is it true that the tail is the method to tell the genders of these fish?( Cause I would like to add another one, or a sunrise since there is lots of crevices for hiding) There is an absolutely amazing book Moe, Martin A. 1997. Breeding the Orchid Dottyback, Pseudochromis fridmani that will tell you everything you need to know about sexing them and breeding thing. Also, my flame hawk fish was breathing out some kind of gas, is this stress, cause it accidentally got some algae stuck on his tooth. <I'm so sorry but I don't understand what you mean by breathing out some kind of gas? Bubbles?>

Tracking down a book
Dear crew members,
<Alan>
I am looking for the book " breeding the orchid Dottyback."
<Oh yes. By Martin Moe>
However, I do not
wish to purchase it online, I live in Vancouver, and checked the biggest
marine fish stores, but they don't have this book. Do you think the library
might have it. Also, one of my tanks has a lot of algae, and I was wishing
to buy a fish to help control, but the problem is that I have a very active
flame Hawkfish, he never bothers the Banggais though. Do you have any
suggestions what kind of fish would work in this condition.
<Don't think local libraries would carry this title, but maybe a college one would if they had a good-sized biology department on campus. Otherwise, I'd check with BigAl's online re. Bob Fenner>