Red headed gogy spawn

[deangmcn41]

Has anyone out there had any experience hatching out red headed gobies? I had a pair lay eggs nearly 3 weeks ago. One of the fish guards the eggs, fans them, and mouths them. There are catalina gobies and a baby bangaii cardinal in the tank with them, but , the little red headed goby keeps them clear of the eggs. My main question is does anyone have any idea how long these eggs generally incubate before hatching? I have been able to see the eyes of the fry through the egg for almost 13 days! Hope someone can help.

[reefrunner69]

I'm not sure on the incubation, but if you want to raise the fry, you either should remove the eggs or be there to collect the fry when they hatch. The bangaiis will make lunch of the fry pretty quick as well as the parens (most likely). If no one else answers, you might try contacting ORA, tey might be able to give you a few pointers

[deangmcn41]

Yes , I am sure the bangii will eat the fry. I have been checking the fry late every night to see if they have hatched, hoping to save a few. I would prefer to let the goby keep the eggs fanned so I haven't removed the eggs for that reason. ORA farms may indeed have some answers for me and I do order from them from time to time so they should be willing to help. Thanks for the reply.

[deangmcn41]

I finally called ORA farms this morning. I talked to a gal named Laura who was familiar with the red headed gobies. She told me that the normal incubation time on these eggs is 7-10 days. She also stated if the parent fish were not fed properly before the spawn the fry may not be strong enough to escape the egg. She also said they would probably spawn every 10 to 14 days!! Although I hate to dedicate this sell out of tank to 2 little gobies, I think I will do such and see what happens on the next spawn. Hmm now to find another tank for the little catalinas and baby bangii.
Oh and by the way, anyone buying tank raised fish, ORA fish are hard to beat for color and health and this company is very pleasant to deal with.

[reefrunner69]

I am also pleased to see they were willing to help with this type of situation.