Bengali Cardinals mating?

[asylumdown]

Has anyone witnessed their mating behaviour before? Does one of them get two gross pinkish orbs that look like testicles popping out near the anus when they mate?

The pair that I have has been swimming in sync for the past hour, and one of them keeps doing this weird vibration thing with it's fins, and it's also suddenly got these weird pink orb things protruding out of it. They weren't there this morning, so I don't think it's a disease...

[marblesab]

It sounds a lot like my piranhas when they were mating! They would swim together usually in a tight circle, then they would "rub" up against each other while doing the funny vibration thing.

Good luck!

[chandigz]

They are mouth brooders so look for the male to be carrying.

[asylumdown]

yep, there's no question. The female's... whatever those were, have shrivelled back up and sucked inside of her. The male's mouth now looks like it's about to burst, he's almost twice the size of the female just based on the mouth alone.

Time to do some searching on what comes next now....

[HaZRaTTy]

Originally Posted by asylumdown

yep, there's no question. The female's... whatever those were, have shrivelled back up and sucked inside of her. The male's mouth now looks like it's about to burst, he's almost twice the size of the female just based on the mouth alone.

Time to do some searching on what comes next now....

Well that sounds like breeding behavior to me, The male will hold until they get big enough to fend for themselves I want to say in the 28day range but I cant really remember off the top of my head.

Good luck.

[mandyplo]

Oooo thats exciting! Congrats

[chandigz]

Mine would start to spit young from 21 to 28 days. Not all at once tho. 24 to 28 days the most common.

[gregzz4]

What's a Bengali Cardinal ?

Congrats, and good luck with the new parents
It takes work, but can be fun to raise the fry
Some report the Male will starve to death if there are too many back-to-back broods
If you get a lot of spawns, make the male spit out the eggs every 2 or 3 spawns so he can fatten up as some females are relentless

[chandigz]

My pair would breed constantly. The poor male would start to wither away. His mouth would be full of eggs within 3 days of spitting the last young. I had to seperate him once in a while so he could eat and fatten up. I never tried to "breed" them I just let them do their thing. I would usually find a few in my tank, sump, or in my skimmer to grow out in my refugium.

[Myka]

Those "orbs" were eggs. When Banggai breed the female releases the eggs and they cling to her vent in a bundle. The male does "drive-by" fertilization and when they are done he opens his mouth real wide and gulps the eggs into his oral cavity in one gulp where he holds them until they emerge as young juveniles about 28 days later. Sometimes, after he has gulped the eggs into his mouth there will still be a few attached to the female that will fall off in a few hours or a few days.