Banggai Cardinal Pregnant

[SCETT316]

I have a pair, and the male is carrying the eggs in his mouth. It is so cute to watch. Can the fry survive in my tank? Is there anything I should do to increase the chances of survival? I have a Q tank up and running. I believe I remember chances are slim, but I thought I asked anyway.
TIA

[Duncan]

susan,
you may get a few to live, but it is sadly true that it can be a difficult task. Anyways, sit back and enjoy, because you are in for a treat.

Duncan.

[hcp28]

Well there is one thing I remember that will help to increase the survival rate of your fry. Build an artificial long spine sea urchin. THis can be done by taking a inert ball... you can use anything for this really as long as it doesn't give off any harmful stuff into your tank, I'd recommend a piece of PVC one of those smaller end caps and then make sure the round side is turned up. Then take some plastic poles not too thick probable around 1/4" or less if you can and drill holes in the plastic base and place the rods inside. the fry will instinctively flock to it for protection. This will help them feel safer and allow you to keep better dibs on them. Also you may want to start rasing some brine for their early stages and then as they grow older wheen them onto frozen brine. As long as you keep the q-tank clean with plenty of water changes, from the mature tank. I think your survival rate will be pretty good. A lot of people have been successful in breeding these, and I'm sure your LFS will take them off your hands once your done. Don't put them back in the main tank when they grow or the parents will surely kill them off. HTH

Henry

[FishTechie]

if left in the tank after they are released they WILL be eaten by the female. my male released 8 fry on July 2, and i got all but one out because a friend called me on the phone and distracted me long enough for her to strike...

your best bet is once they are released catch them and place them in a 10g with ONLY an airstone, then feed them either frozen or fresh baby brine shrimp. with a few small pieces of lr. you will have an 85% survival rate this way.

i have raised quite a few and would be happy to help inany way... feel free to email me directly...hth

[Ninong]

Susan ~

To expand on the information that FishTechie provided in his reply, here is a link to several articles on this topic: http://www.eparc.com/banggai/banggai.shtml

Ninong

[Callie]

The male will carry the eggs anywhere from 18 days to 28 days with 21 being a good average. They tend to release over a 2 or 3 day period, mostly at night. What I do is put the male in a quarantine tank at about day 14, by that time he shouldn't spit them out because of the stress of moving, too early and sometimes they will spit out the eggs. Starting at about day 18 keep watch after lights out, once he starts releasing you can catch the fry and put them in a breeding net until all are released. When the male is done move him back to the main tank and release the fry into the quarantine tank.Keep a good concentration of BBS in the tank so the fry can eat at will. It's good to enrich the BBS with Selcon. If the fry don't get enough nutrition the will get Sudden Fright Syndrom (SFS). When startled or at feeding time when they get excited they basically have a heart attach. They will dart around the tank, quiver and then float to the bottom, some will recover some will not.

Good luck raising your fry! They are so cool to watch growing up!

Kathy

[thezookeeper]

Susan,

Is this a ploy to get baby shower gifts for your new tank? I bet it is, isn't it!

J/K! Congrats! Boy, you have all KINDS of activity in that tank of yours.


Joanne

[SCETT316]

I also have quite of bit of new baby snails. This is so cool.

[FishTechie]

here is a pic of my male cardinal last week carrying the fry, he released them two days after taking the pics

[SCETT316]

that is exactly how mine looks. I will try to post some pics tonight.

[FishTechie]

if thats what he looks like then i would start watching starting tonight...i emailed you

[SCETT316]

Hi:
Here is a pic. What do you think. Today he has been in front of the tank, opening and closing his mouth, and moving it quite a bit. (hope it makes sense what I am trying to explain)
What has me puzzeled is, he took a small bite of food, while I was feeding the tank, that was it.
Is this normal? I thought they did not eat when carrying.
Thx so much for all your help.

[FishTechie]

Wow he ate? I don't think I've ever seen mine eat while carrying, if he's moving his mouth its because they are moving around in the there. I would feed the female till she can't eat anymore for the next day or two or till the babies are released. That will increase the chances of her leaving them alone..

[piege]

IME I wait until I see the fry poking out then that night after lights have been off for a while I herd the male into a breeding box which I cover for the rest of the night...by morning the fry are released.

My last clutch gave me 21 fry. I just net the male out in the am and released him back into the tank.

Also IME if the male eats while carrying it usually means he aborted the clutch.

I like to feed my pair black worms and fatten them up right after a clutch. Once the male regains his energy they usually go at it again.

HTH

[FMarini]

Hi:
congrats on having a preggo banggai. Now the fun begins. Yes as the eggs/fry get bigger the male will shift the fry around mainly to increase water circulation in his mouth. Not a problem, often times babies faces wil peer out of his mouth No big deal. As Callie mention approx 21 days after the male has stopped eating he will start releasing the fry, and if you leave them in your display tank they will become tank food.
I highly recommend you read most if not all of those articles Ninong has pointed too

http://www.eparc.com/banggai/banggai.shtml

these will answer many of the questions you have posted and will have in the future for raising the bangai fry
good luck
frank

[SCETT316]

Well, either he spit out the eggs, or they were born, and eaten, cause he is no longer pregnant, and eating out of control.
I feel so bad. I listened to all the advice, and read all the articles, sat by the tank at night watching etc.
But at least next time, hopefully all the info I have gotten will help me. And I will be able to tell sooner when he is carrying.
Thx.

[FMarini]

Hi:
this is very typical. If is the first time for the male then i wouldn't worry.
These fish will prematurely abort should they not feel "right' about the birthing.
i find things like immature males, bad eggs, infertle eggs,too much activity in the tank(ie lots of fast swimmers), not enuf food will result in aborting.
So no worries. If they paired up and bred once they should breed every 30-45 days
Sit back and Enjoy
frank