Bangaii Cardinal reproducing or sick?

[isomorphic85]

one of my 3 bangaii cardinals has started hanging out by the rockwork and caves, this is the largest of the 3... i'm wondering if this is normal breeding behavior or if this fish is actually sick?

it's difficult to see any spots etc on the fish , visually looks ok to me with the exception of possibly a heavier then normal breathing taking place.

thoughts?

 

[ThRoewer]

When the males carry eggs they become reclusive and often hide. See if he has his mouth full with eggs.

 

[isomorphic85]

can't tell if he has anything in his mouth... nothing to lead me to believe that he does or doesn't.

he is definitely breathing heavy though... i'm able to see a lot of gill motion that I do not notice on the other ones.

He's also hanging in the top corner of the tank now..

if he does have eggs in his mouth would that explain why it looks like he's breathing heavier?

He is also a darker color then he usually is , and darker compared to the other 2 bangaiis in the tank if that helps at all?

 

[isomorphic85]

so after staring at him for an eternity , i've noticed him open his mouth a couple times a little bit and I believe I can see something in there. I'm going to try and get a few more glimpses but i'm hoping that's what it is.

 

[tc2007]

Do you have a sea urchin? I read somewhere that having a sea urchin helps keep the fry safe from other fish.

 

[isomorphic85]

no I do not have a sea urchin.

I don't believe i'm going to be able to keep the fry .... I don't know what's involved in trying to raise them... I would imagine it's a difficult process.

I still don't know for certain that's even what's going on with this fish... i'm hoping that's the case... I've seen him open his mouth a couple times like he's trying rearrange whatever is in there?

any other way to definitively tell if he has eggs in his mouth ?

 

[tc2007]

The LFS next block to me had raised some fry in his main display tank with lots of fishes etc. I don't even recall him having an urchin in there, just plenty of nooks and crevices with branch rock structures for the fry to hide. He probably had 3-4 raised big enough to where he sold them. I think it was pretty cool

Anyways good luck with yours. they are pretty cool fish to have. Do they ever fight with each other. I always wondered if I could put 3-4 in mine in the next setup I would do.

 

[isomorphic85]

I originally got 2 and 1 started bullying the other fairly quickly and pretty bad.... I exchanged the aggressive one and got 2 smaller ones to add for a total of 3... so far has been working pretty well. The 2 have have paired up and occasionally will push the 3rd smaller one around slightly but no nipping or anything.

I'm hoping this one does in fact have eggs in his mouth and isn't just sick... Its so hard to tell... what is strange to me is that he's breathing very heavily , there's a ton of gill movement. I don't know if this would also be the case if he had eggs in his mouth trying to keep water moving over them?

 

[ThRoewer]

Does he look like he has stuffed his mouth so full that his whole head appears larger?

 

[isomorphic85]

No... would he instantly look that way ? He's been acting this way for about 2.5 to 3 days now. Every so often he'll open his mouth just a bit a couple times and then close it again

 

[isomorphic85]

I was also reading up on them and I read that the female will get along side the male several times and shutter a bit on each side of him before laying the eggs... i'm pretty sure I actually witnessed this ... i remember seeing her shake next to him a little bit a few times and wondering what in the heck that was about.

 

[isomorphic85]

another question... would the female remain by the male if he had eggs in his mouth?

the female hasn't spent much time with the male at all for the past couple days

 

[Bent]

Is it being bullied?

I thought banggai cardinals formed pairs, not groups.

Could be wrong though.

 

[isomorphic85]

no this banggai was not being bullied at all

they do form pairs.... the 3rd banggai (which is not this one) is the outsider... but they leave him alone with the occasional slow chase for a couple seconds