Bengal Cardinal Breeding

[hellfish01]

Anyone had any experience with this?

Mid last week I noticed my male cardinal was not eating and his jaw line was much lower than it has ever been.

So first thing I did was make sure I did have a pair and it turn out I do.


Then to confirm as he tried to eat he opened his mouth and out popped an egg. It looked very much like this picture.


So I did a bit of research and found out in nature the babies hatch within 30 days and stay within the spines of urchins. Rather than moving the dad and stressing him out I decided to make my own diy project.
This is what I came up with.

Finished product


Atm the urchin is about 16 inches in diameter. So im planning on cutting it down a bit or getting smaller zip ties. These were 7.5 in long.
Any suggestions, or comments are welcomed. If anyone has had any experience with Cardinals breeding please let me know.
Thank you.

 

[AZRippster]

We have them breeding in our tank all the time, however the fry very rarely make it to the point they are identifiable. We've had a couple get to be about 1/8", but then they disappear. Most likely they've been eaten. We've found them in our sumps pre-filter as well. Never tried to capture the male to start a hatching effort though.

 

[hellfish01]

nice so the main issue is getting the fry to grow out safely? thats good to know, thank you.

 

[Holyassasin]

Is that the bangaii cardinal i had? Just curious

 

[hellfish01]

yes, after him killing 3 other bangaiis i finally found him a nice girl and they hit it off right away

 

[AZRippster]

Yep, the male is carrying eggs.... again. We actually feel sorry for him, he doesn't eat while he's carrying.

 

[hellfish01]

yeah you'll have to separate him from the female after the batch and power feed him for a few weeks just so he can get his strength up. Keep in mind they do this in nature so i wouldn't worry to much. just give him good chunks of shrimp as soon as you see him eating.
btw i really like that orange and green coral on the second picture. do you have any to sell? =)

 

[AZRippster]

Our Bangai and Cardinal's are always doing this. Eventually the male releases the eggs and eats like a horse.

I think you're referring to the Scolymia. Right now I don't have anything for sale, but that is the goal in the future, or at least to share.

 

[hellfish01]

yes thats a nice coral. let me know when you do!

 

[Holyassasin]

Woah Fernando, he was always very peaceful in my tank!

 

[hellfish01]

its normal that fish get territorial whenever they are trying to breed. you only had him so there was no reason for him to be territorial. now that hes got a mate and are trying to breed it gives him a reason protect his offspring.