km133688
New member
Got Jen's Banggai breeding pair Saturday. He even delivered, can't beat that. They are eating and I believe have accepted the right third of the tank as their domain. I acclimated and then slide them into that side of the tank. They went to the bottom and hung out near a small rock cave in the right front corner. This is fortuitous as it means I get a good view of them if there is no algae covering the glass. The female has adopted the cave as a hiding place when she gets spooked, but won't let the male in most of the time so he hangs around outside looking wanting.
Momma clown fish was quick to point out that the territory of her domain was bounded by the existance of three BTAs. She would swim between the three anemones (roughly positioned as an equilateral triangle) and sit in the one closest to the new arrivals for a minute or more on every pass, making sure both intruders saw her. She would also stop at "home base" on the flip side, and pester little Gilbert. He follows the advice of "Jesus is comming so look busy" and hence when he sees momma, heads for the egg pile and fans furiously.
The three little banggai babies are still growing. I observed a strange behaviour... About three hours after introduction, the little babies found the parents and were swimming with them. Indeed, one can be seen regularly hanging out with MoM and Dad. I wondered how they knew the fish had been introduced and suspect possibly that they could smell them and knew who and/or what they were. They are too big now to be eaten.
Additionally, the banggai children seem to have adopted a taste for cyclopeeze. You may recall that I had no success at all feeding them cyclopeeze in the past. However they are now I think about 3 months old and do eat it. In fact, the baby that hangs out with his parents, has a huge appetite for it. He will swim in the current at a choke point between the rock and front glass where the water current flow carrier goodly amounts of food, and eat his fill. I have seen him eat cyclopeeze continuously for 30 minutes (where does it all go?). This one is noticably larger than the other two babies so I figure his eating habits have something to do with it. He does slow down such that the more he eats, the more particular he is about which pieces he will eat but I suppose that is to be expected.
The babies are fine looking specimans. I still hope the two that swim with the seahorses may make a mated pair. They may be brother and sister but I guess that inbreeding amoung banggai is common in the wild. Hoping that the parents will hatch out another set of babies in a month or two, it is time to think about adopting these three little ones out. Anyone have suggestions as to a fair way to do this? My preferences are to, 1) find someone willing to try breeding them too; or failing that 2) put them in a club raffle.
thanks, Kevin Secretary, CTARS
Momma clown fish was quick to point out that the territory of her domain was bounded by the existance of three BTAs. She would swim between the three anemones (roughly positioned as an equilateral triangle) and sit in the one closest to the new arrivals for a minute or more on every pass, making sure both intruders saw her. She would also stop at "home base" on the flip side, and pester little Gilbert. He follows the advice of "Jesus is comming so look busy" and hence when he sees momma, heads for the egg pile and fans furiously.
The three little banggai babies are still growing. I observed a strange behaviour... About three hours after introduction, the little babies found the parents and were swimming with them. Indeed, one can be seen regularly hanging out with MoM and Dad. I wondered how they knew the fish had been introduced and suspect possibly that they could smell them and knew who and/or what they were. They are too big now to be eaten.
Additionally, the banggai children seem to have adopted a taste for cyclopeeze. You may recall that I had no success at all feeding them cyclopeeze in the past. However they are now I think about 3 months old and do eat it. In fact, the baby that hangs out with his parents, has a huge appetite for it. He will swim in the current at a choke point between the rock and front glass where the water current flow carrier goodly amounts of food, and eat his fill. I have seen him eat cyclopeeze continuously for 30 minutes (where does it all go?). This one is noticably larger than the other two babies so I figure his eating habits have something to do with it. He does slow down such that the more he eats, the more particular he is about which pieces he will eat but I suppose that is to be expected.
The babies are fine looking specimans. I still hope the two that swim with the seahorses may make a mated pair. They may be brother and sister but I guess that inbreeding amoung banggai is common in the wild. Hoping that the parents will hatch out another set of babies in a month or two, it is time to think about adopting these three little ones out. Anyone have suggestions as to a fair way to do this? My preferences are to, 1) find someone willing to try breeding them too; or failing that 2) put them in a club raffle.
thanks, Kevin Secretary, CTARS