Should I help my Banggaii male to spit out babies?

[Tomoko Schum]

Hi y'all,

My male Banggaii is holding eggs/babies for 27 days plus a few hours now. I can see something rolling in his mouth. I also see something like baby banggaii eyes. It's really hard to see but I think he is holding live babies. His jaw is really bulged out, but he has not let them go yet. I added a few brine shrimp to entice the male to let the babies out so he can eat. I also added some Tiggerpods to see if babies can be encourage to come out to feed. This has not worked yet. This is his first time for holding babies.

I have let the nature handle things so far. However, I am starting to wonder if I should try to net the father to get him to give up the babies. What do you all think? Should I let him go a couple of days longer?

Tomoko

 

[Tennyson]

I remember reading this article, where the guy got it with a net when it had its babies, and it spit it out. They also let the babies out when the lights go out.

Just one question though, how big is your bangaii, and is this the first time hes had/held babies? Is it around 2 inches long (head to tips of tails)

Good luck, the turning off the lights thing will probably get it to spit them out.

 

[Tomoko Schum]

My male bangaii is still young. This is his first time. He is about 2 inches TL. The light is on a timer and it turns off at night. No luck so far with turning the light off.

Tomoko

 

[Tennyson]

It probably doesn't know what to do since this is its first time. If you scare it somehow, it should spit them out.

You said its been holding those babies for 27 days now, I think on average, they hold them for up to 25 days. And that bangaii is probably really hungry. It has to spit those babies out sooner or later.

 

[Tomoko Schum]

I really hope so. The male looks good but I would like to relieve him of his duty soon.

My fresh water cichlids never had any problem with first time baby cares. They all knew what to do from the very first time. Hopefully the light turns on in my banggeii's head, soon. He is a bit like a fluorescent bulb or even a metal halid bulb...

Tomoko

 

[FMarini]

if the male is in a breeding setup, just leave him alone.
Males will often take their time w/ first broods or broods that develop slowly, can I ask what your water temperature is?
28 days is on the long side, but nothing to worry about

 

[bangaii man]

The babies are much healthier at the beginning if they swim out of dad's mouth. sometimes my male will release over several days and at the end I will chase him around with the net until he spits out the last few. sometimes when I removed the male from my display tank at day 21 he would spit his mouthfull of eggs into the net. I made a simple egg tumbler with a piece of brine net in the middle of 2-6" pieces of 1"diameter clear plastic pipe with an airstone on the bottom. I set the bubble rate real slow so every minute or so enough air accumulates under the netting that it bubbles through all at once bouncing the eggs. I keep the top of the setup just below the water level and as the fish hatch they swim out. eggs that haven't hatched will not last more than a day on the bottom, but sometimes you can squirt water at them to break the membrane and they will then start to swim.

Good luck it's a lot of fun

 

[Tomoko Schum]

The tank temperature stays constant at 78 degrees F.

The male is still holding his brood. Now I can see babies peeking out curiously. Some are stirring in his mouth. Every so often one sticks its head out, but it goes back in again.

Tomoko

 

[Myrddraal]

Did he spit yet?

 

[Tomoko Schum]

I just found one in the spines of my sea urchin. The rest are still moving around in his mouth. I can see their big eyes and sometimes their tails.

The sea urchin did not turn out such a great idea. It not only poops a lot, but it also moves pretty fast when I shoot bbs at it

Tomoko

 

[Tomoko Schum]

Here are some pictures of the father and the baby.

The 1st baby after its first meal

The male holding babies:

Tomoko

 

[carlso63]

Just leave the male alone.

He will spit out those fry, it just takes time.

My first brood the male held 29 days and then spit out the fry over 2 days. The last fry came out on Day 30.

The second brood he held for 25 days.

The 3rd I don't know yet but will probably be even shorter...

 

[Atticus]

Those are great pics. It would be best to leave him be, but I was always impatient... I netted them to get them to release. If you are not gentle you an damage/kill some fry. 78 degrees is a little lower than my 80-82 degree broodstock tanks, but you shouldn't see more than a day or 2 difference from the typical 25-27 day release. I have had first time dads hold past day 31. You will be fine.

 

[Tomoko Schum]

The male surprised me this morning (32nd day) with about 16 additional fry, after releasing 2 Yesterday morning and 4 more yesterday afternoon!

I moved my male to the other side of the divider and he started eating right away. He appears to be doing well.

While I was catching the male, the babysitter (long spined sea urchin in the picture) tried to high tail out of the room leaving all the babies behind. It took me several tries to get all the babies back on the sitter. Then the sitter tries to leave the babes again when I showered bbs on them. I have to make a fake urchin for the next batch for sure. What do you guys use to make a fake one?

Tomoko

 

[Atticus]

I never used one. Just removed the fry to their own tank.

 

[Dante_JoseCuerv]

I was gonna say, why not use something like a plastic plant that you'd see in something like a goldfish bowl?

 

[Tomoko Schum]

Do you use any clean up crew in your fry tank?
My bare bottom tank now has urchin poop substrate. I cleaned it up not too long ago, but it accumulates very fast. I am thinking about getting some nassarius vipex for cleaning up uneaten (and perished) bbs.

Tomoko

 

[Tomoko Schum]

Here's an update on my BC fry. I ended up with 25 of them:

A mug shot:

They are about two weeks old and eating bbs and frozen cyclopeeze now:

They are all out of the sea urchin most of the time. I managed to send some into the urchin for a size reference.
I wonder if you can tell how much they have grown:

Maybe you can from this picture:

Tomoko

 

[davidandliz]

how easy is it to raise bangaii babies??? is it easier then clowns

 

[Tomoko Schum]

They are very easy to raise. Fresh water angelfish babies are harder to raise than these guys in my experience. They are larger, ready to eat bbs, and already swimming on their own when they come out of their father's mouth.

Tomoko