Banggai Breeders

[RCS]

I think I may have finally established a good trio of Banggai cardinals. I had been breeding them before moving back to WI and am attempting to get back into it. Once I have a few broods out of the way, I'll be expanding my breeding pair selection and maybe attempting some others as well. Clowns for sure, but who knows after that?

A lot of people ask how to differentiate males from females. The second dorsal on the males tends to be longer, but since long-finned fish have a tendency to come in with blown fins, that's normally not a good indicator until they've been in captivity a few months. Banggai cardinals are paternal mouthbrooders, and the males tend to have a more angular jaw, while the females are more arrow-shaped with less of a squared-off jaw. Here are some pics so you can see. Hopefully in a couple months I'll have some baby Bangers in the works...

First two pics are my females (I'm fairly sure); third pic is the pair together, male on top. You can see the differences in their jawlines. It's not a perfect method, but it is fairly accurate from what I've found.

 

[kass03]

Or you coud just find some in your sump like Mako does lol.

Ya know Jawfish are mouth brooders and I always read they were easy to breed but never really hear of anyone doing it.

If we ever order from Ken again I want a pair. Not to breed just look at lol.

I was reading that thread about the guy breeding onyx thats up for thread of the month but it's pretty long.
I'll try to find it for you. I know you raised clowns before but maybe there would be something in it interesting for you.

kass

 

[yaitisme]

All of this fin talk got me think'n:

Dusty Bottoms: What is it doing here?
Ned Nederlander: I think it's a male plane.
Dusty Bottoms: How can you tell?
Ned Nederlander: Didn't you notice its little balls?

 

[RCS]

Previous to last night, each of my two cardinals had staked out one side of the tank. As of this morning, I think there's at least a pair forming, as they're pretty much inseparable.