Banggai Cardinals Breeding?

[Anthony]

Hey everyone.
Ive got a pair of banggai cardinals that appear to have paired.
Today the female wont leave him alone. They are normally within a few inchs of each other.but now she wont leave his side.
Ive also noticed his jaw is has bluged out.
Does the males jaw square off before or after he carries eggs

 

[Kjmsmith]

It will be quite obvious if his mouth is full of the eggs, bulging lower jaw, also he won’t eat. The pic looks like he has eggs. I documented my experiences breeding these fish in a separate thread, hopefully it will help you out. Let me know if you need any more info.

 

[Anthony]

He is not eating (he still races to the food when i feed the tank. But he would not eat anything)


I have a long spine urchin in the tank. But im not sure if that will be enough cover. How did you make your fake urchin.

 

[Kjmsmith]

I took a spiral shell I had from a beach collection and just added nylon ties to it. Don’t ask me why but I saved it...pic below to give you a better idea

 

[Anthony]

Perfect, thanks, that will give me an idea,
Did the adult cardinals ever go near it, or just the babies?

 

[Kjmsmith]

I never left it or the fry in the display tank with other fish. I used it for protection in the nursery tank for the time between when the male released the fry and when I put the male back in the DT so that he didn't eat his babies out of pure starvation. It worked for this purpose. I also found they schooled in it for the first few days even though there was no threat in their tank.

 

[Matt1997]

Good day for both of us. Found a bunch of eggs today from my goby pair

 

[Anthony]

I think something might have happened.
His jaw is significantly smaller today.
Hopefully he can keep the next batch longer

 

[Kjmsmith]

Yes, for a new male it is common for him to spit or swallow the first 2 or 3 clutches. The key is to keep him well fed inbetween - going 25 or more days without food is tough on the male so making sure he is healthy and full in advance increases the odds. My pair would produce a clutch every 20-24 days so you shoukd have some time to plan more for when he carries to term.
Keep us updated in 3weeks I do miss raising them....

 

[Wagonpitt]

Theres 2 babies in my sump first noticed september 19 they were super tiny. Now they are almost size of a quarter from head to tip of tail. When can/should i take them out of there. I have no clue what they have been eating down there.

Sorry for hijacking

 

[Josh]

Pods no doubt, what other livestock you got in the tank?

 

[Wagonpitt]

Clown fish, anthias, chromis, lawnmower blenny.
Every couple days i mix a cube of frozen calanus or oyster eggs with the frozen mysis and feed that to tank.

Also if i put them in the dt would the male in the bangai pair chase/kill them ?

 

[Anthony]

We have a second batch of eggs. (Hopefully we will make it past a week this time)

 

[Salty Cracker]

Clown fish, anthias, chromis, lawnmower blenny.
Every couple days i mix a cube of frozen calanus or oyster eggs with the frozen mysis and feed that to tank.

Also if i put them in the dt would the male in the bangai pair chase/kill them ?

Mine have been breeding quite a while. The first batch, half ended up in the sump, but a couple survived in the DT. They are all full sized now, the two offspring stay on their side of the tank, and parent are on the other. New fry are eaten almost immediately by the first set of offspring. I do think that if you put your offspring in the DT there will be all out war (cardinals do not like other cardinals).