My bangais have eggs...

[Jeremy Maley]

Hey, Im new to this forum. I have been on chameleon and dart frog forums for years. My bangai cardinals in my 60 gallon community tank have decided to breed. My male is carrying eggs, and I don't know how long he has had them. I know that I don't have time to cycle another tank before he is going to spit out the babies, so do you think that I can use a breeder net inside the tank for them? Also, should I seperate him since he isn't eating and allow him to eat before I put him back with the female because I've heard that they will breed again immediately after he releases them? Do urchins eat coraline algae? Do the babies grow fast? I'm trying to prepare myself for this, I wasn't expecting them to even be a pair. Thanks...

 

[jimaras]

When he will release the larvae you must remove the parents because they will eat them. The fries grow very slowly. The urchins, absolutely eat coraline algae.

 

[Jeremy Maley]

Thanks for the info. I am currently cycling a 20 gallon and preparing it for the babies once it is done. I am going to attempt to keep this first group of fry in a critter keeper inside the main tank until the 20 is cycled. I will make a fake urchin for now.

 

[D_Hood87]

i too have bangii's that are breeding this is my males 3rd go around and the first two he couldnt make it the full 21 days or so b/c of the female(i think) he has made it to the 18day mark but thats it. if you see the female pickin or pushing him around try to pull her out or seperate them she wont kill him but she can stress him out and make him spit them early...and as far as urchins the one i have if a long spine and it pretty much stays on my glass eating my coraline that i would have had to scrape anyway..and i do think a breeding net would work fine but only put the male in there...good luck

 

[IchthyoloChris]

A breeder net works well. If you separate the male, be careful not to lift him out of the water. This may cause him to spit out the eggs / fry. Not bad if you're trying to strip the fry - bad if you aren't ready for him to release. I've had good luck isolating the male and stripping the male of the fry (when he holds too long). The couple times he released the fry before I could get to him, and it appeared that the female ate them. If you aren't sure about getting an urchin, there are ways of making simple artificial urchins.