Banggai Cardinals Bred

Reef Junkie

Reef Junkie

Premium Member
Well, it's been almost 10 years since I've bred Banggai Cardinals, but it was inevitable, they "did" it.

I came home and fed my fish when I noticed my male wasn't eating. His mouth is completely extended and he's juggling the pouch of eggs in it.

They've only been in my tank for a month or so.

I have a 92 gallon corner bowfront aquarium, which is all reef.
My main concern is after he ejects the eggs, how am I going to catch the babies?
I would love to just catch the male now, but that would be simply impossible!

Are the baby Banggai's like clown fry? Will they go to a light source at night? For the life of me, I cannot remember how the heck I caught them 10 years ago.:bum:

As much as I'm dreading raising the babies, I can't let them die in there. Plus my two Fairy wrasses would make short work of them.

Does anyone have a picture or good description of a hatchling tank/setup? I want to somehow integrate the nursery into my sump area.

Even a link to a premade nursery would be good.

I'm getting to old for this $%^&!:lol:
 
Put a longspine urchin in the tank and some babies may find it and take refuge...you can then siphon them out. Or you may even find them in your prefilter boxes as long as the flow isn't insane.

As far as a pre-made nursery for your sump, a hang on the tank "Breeder Net" would probably work fine...plus there's some other options for things like nylon cages (see Aquatic Eco for those).

FWIW,

Matt
 
Bill, FYI people also make "fake" urchins out of toothpicks and reef epoxy....doesn't seem like the babies pick up on the difference.

Matt
 
Please check out my bangaii breeding log here:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=969634&perpage=&pagenumber=4

My pair has just spawned for the 6th time. 1st time in their new tank. I was losing so many babies to other hungry fish in the display tank. There not going to be like clown babies. Bangaii's are free swimming at release and will need either newly hatched baby brine shrimp or as I have found to be even better, cyclopeeze. I have been feeding mine freeze dried cylops as their first food and they seem to love it. I have a Diadema Setosum (black urchin) in the tank with the parents, but havn't had a release since I got the urchin. We'll see if it helps. Prior to that, the refugium in my display caught many babies, not all, but a bit. A turkey baster with large enough openeng is a great way to catch the little buggers.

fwiw, my Male recently swallowed his clutch of eggs when I caught him and moved him to a new tank. If you wanna catch him and move him, I recommend waiting until the eggs hatch and then go fo it, if he releaes then, they should be okay on their own.
 
WoW! Thanks guys!
This is all good info and I really appreciate all three of you chiming in to help me.:D

I'm so not looking forward to doing all this work, but I know it'll be worth it. Plus, it'll be a great experience for my kids.

Thanks again!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9051578#post9051578 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Reef Junkie
I'm so not looking forward to doing all this work, but I know it'll be worth it. Plus, it'll be a great experience for my kids.
Click to expand...

My bangaii just swallowed his 6th clutch (3rd consecutive abortion). It's frustrating as all heck, and I only have 3 babies to show for 3 releases...but those three little tykes (from 2 different batches) have made it all worth it. They are 4-5 months old now and almost big enough to pair off. Me and Jess have gotten so much more involved in the hobby ever since these bangaii's have started breeding. It's an awesome experience and so worth any extra work on your part. You'll love em!!!!
 
Thanks for your experience.
I have raised Banggai's before, but again it's been almost a decade.

The bad news is, the male gulped the eggs last night.
The good news is this gives me some more time to prepare.
 
Hi
I am on my 9th batch of banggai and have learnt a lot about the hobby from breeding these little fish.
I have a 4 x 2.5 x 2.5 bb sps only system and I find it's all about timing.
My pair have been fairly regular at every 40 days their is a new batch. I increase feeding of the fish for the time the male is not holding babies.
He spits them out at 25 days(on the dot) about an hour after lights out. I cheat and turn the lights off earlier, cover the front of the tank with a towel and wait. Not sure if they all do it the same but mine spits 6-8 at a time with 5-10 min intervals. I use a large plastic turkey baster and a net. I also turn off all the pumps.

I have 58 at the moment from two batches and the male is holding another.
I used to put them in a second tank but found it very difficult to keep the water peram good.
I have now connected this tank to my main and a lot more babies survive.
I alternate babie brine batches every 24 hours so they always have just hatched brine to eat. After about 4-5 weeks I start to mix in a little shaved (I use a razor to shave the frosen cubes) enriched brine.

IMG_1563.jpg


Axeman
 
Ummmm sorry people I should change my profile to show that I am in Australia...... Would love to sell you some but the freight would be crazy.:rollface:

IMO it is best to pick a couple rather than a whole group. Once they pair up the others will be banished (or worse).
I had a friend who helped me pick this pair. He did his best to find the one with a more curved bottom lip. (as the male)

I might start a new thread with some tank details and the methods I use for breeding.

Axeman
 
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