ThreeMoneyJ
New member
So sometime last winter I got the idea in my head that I wanted to breed Bangai Cardinalfish. My clownfish had been spawning regularly, but I wasn't really interested in raising the fry. I just let them become food for my tank instead. I previously had not kept any Cardinalfish, so I decided that setting up a dedicated tank for the breeding of Cardinalfish would be a fun project.
So now all I needed was a new tank! Luckily the $1 per gallon sale was going on. I picked up 2 40b tanks. 1 for the display and 1 for the sump. A dual metal stand was also picked up and an order to BRS got the rest of what I needed to plumb the tank and get it wet.
Week 1: On Jan 19 I set up the 40b with a 2nd 40b sump as a frag tank/ Cardinalfish tank. I used starboard as the bottom and Caribsea dry rock for the bio filter. The dry rock sat in my big sump for a while then went into the tank and the sump. Egg crate frag racks also went in. Ghost feedings to keep bacteria going. I was able to avoid a cycle by using water and rock from my big tank
Week 2: CUC, pods, and macro algae
Week 3: Tank is steady and I made a bunch of frags and picked up some new frags.
I was at a local petco playing with the adoption dogs and I saw they had 3 cardinals for cheap. I bought all 3 and threw them into my 40b as the only fish living there.
Week4-5: tank was running great. Turns out I had bought 2 males and 1 female. 2 formed a pair and started to beat up the 3rd. I had to rescue #3 and he went into my main tank.
Week 6: I noticed the male not eating in the morning. The female was chasing him a bit and doing a very fast shiver/shimmy next to him. I came in later to feed again and had time to watch them. The male was holding eggs in his mouth!
Week 10 (today): I found 2 babies and the male still appears to have more in his mouth.
I mixed up some food for the babies and attempted to feed them. I seemed to get a feeding response out of both babies!
So a month and a half from no water to spawning. 4 more weeks until the hatch! If anyone is looking for a relatively easy species to breed I hope this is a little inspirational for you.
So now all I needed was a new tank! Luckily the $1 per gallon sale was going on. I picked up 2 40b tanks. 1 for the display and 1 for the sump. A dual metal stand was also picked up and an order to BRS got the rest of what I needed to plumb the tank and get it wet.
Week 1: On Jan 19 I set up the 40b with a 2nd 40b sump as a frag tank/ Cardinalfish tank. I used starboard as the bottom and Caribsea dry rock for the bio filter. The dry rock sat in my big sump for a while then went into the tank and the sump. Egg crate frag racks also went in. Ghost feedings to keep bacteria going. I was able to avoid a cycle by using water and rock from my big tank
Week 2: CUC, pods, and macro algae
Week 3: Tank is steady and I made a bunch of frags and picked up some new frags.
I was at a local petco playing with the adoption dogs and I saw they had 3 cardinals for cheap. I bought all 3 and threw them into my 40b as the only fish living there.
Week4-5: tank was running great. Turns out I had bought 2 males and 1 female. 2 formed a pair and started to beat up the 3rd. I had to rescue #3 and he went into my main tank.
Week 6: I noticed the male not eating in the morning. The female was chasing him a bit and doing a very fast shiver/shimmy next to him. I came in later to feed again and had time to watch them. The male was holding eggs in his mouth!
Week 10 (today): I found 2 babies and the male still appears to have more in his mouth.
I mixed up some food for the babies and attempted to feed them. I seemed to get a feeding response out of both babies!
So a month and a half from no water to spawning. 4 more weeks until the hatch! If anyone is looking for a relatively easy species to breed I hope this is a little inspirational for you.
