Banggais are now happy family!

[mrhasan]

So my two banggai cardinals decided to tie the knot and the male is now carrying the eggs in his mouth (stopped eating from today; 28th Jan, 2012). Now my biggest concern is the taking out the male and put it in a separate tank since my DT has too much flow the the youngsters along with the crazy cleaner shrimp which wouldn't mind some shashmi!

So I was hoping some of you can share some pre and post experience about raising the cardinals fries. I know I am not going to make a good batch out of this one but still would like to give it a shot

I have a 10 gallon tank and was thinking of putting in a big live rock (possibly 5lb) and a HOB filter with maybe some chaeto in it. A heater would be great too. I want to be ready well beforehand so that I don't have to rush on the day. I plan to move the cardinal within 15days from now and so I have like 2 weeks to set up the hatching tank.

Would appreciate some feedbacks/suggestions/etc

[Borderjumper]

In my experience when you net the male he will spit the eggs/baby's.

Do some googling and find the apx. Date the baby's are ready.. Also you will see baby eyes peeking out of his mouth when he's close.

I took a container the size of large cottage cheese container ( but clear) and drilled a zillion tiny holes in it and hung it on the side of my sump and grew the babies in there. Make them an urchin out of a blob of putty and some toothpicks and the will very content in there.

When you think he's about ready to spit net him.. He will spit all the baby's and put them in the container.. Then the daily hatching of baby brine starts!

[mrhasan]

Thanks Shelly. Yah I found that they have a high chance of spitting out the eggs. I guess I will just wait till the last minute and catch it to put the fries in a separate tank. Any suggestion on how to catch them? My tank is very tight to move the rocks around.

And about baby brine shrimps; how long can they remain baby after hatching? And how much to feed per batch? Like a table spoon per feeding or something?

[BlueWorldAquatic]

put in a long spine urchin, and lotsa chaeto in the tank so they can hide

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by BlueWorldAquatic

put in a long spine urchin, and lotsa chaeto in the tank so they can hide

Yah I have planed to put in a ball of chaeto from my tank into the holding tank. But I am not really sure about the urchin though. I don't like urchins and might require more maintenance than just keeping the fries.

[Treebeard]

Good luck! Looking forward to updates.

[Borderjumper]

Originally Posted by mrhasan

Thanks Shelly. Yah I found that they have a high chance of spitting out the eggs. I guess I will just wait till the last minute and catch it to put the fries in a separate tank. Any suggestion on how to catch them? My tank is very tight to move the rocks around.

And about baby brine shrimps; how long can they remain baby after hatching? And how much to feed per batch? Like a table spoon per feeding or something?

Easiest way I've found to catch a bangaii is to wait until after lights out.. Actually a couple of hours after lights out so that the tank has been pitch black for a while.. Then get your net and a BRIGHT flashlight. Bangaii are nocturnal so he will be cruising the tanks and shine the light in his eyes and scoop him up really fast... Easy!

[tim the toolman]

If you can get them isolated you've won half he battle. As others have stated the male will try and spit the babies if you go to net him. If you can set up a smaller tank than 10g so it will involve less bbs to saturate the water. A sponge filter works very well for the baby tank, as it does not generate much flow and is easy to clean. A few small plastic decorations are also useful for them to have somewhere to hide. Start practicing raising bbs with a fairly routine schedule. Basically you will require a new batch every other day. Selcon enrichment and some bbs food is also helpful for keeping the shrimp alive. Either phytoplankton ( expensive if you don't brew your own ) or some home recipe food. A good quick food for bbs is taking a cup of water and adding 2 teaspoons of organic baby food. 1 tsp of sweet potatoes and 1 tsp of peas. Mixed very well and you can use it to feed your bbs.

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by tim the toolman

If you can get them isolated you've won half he battle. As others have stated the male will try and spit the babies if you go to net him. If you can set up a smaller tank than 10g so it will involve less bbs to saturate the water. A sponge filter works very well for the baby tank, as it does not generate much flow and is easy to clean. A few small plastic decorations are also useful for them to have somewhere to hide. Start practicing raising bbs with a fairly routine schedule. Basically you will require a new batch every other day. Selcon enrichment and some bbs food is also helpful for keeping the shrimp alive. Either phytoplankton ( expensive if you don't brew your own ) or some home recipe food. A good quick food for bbs is taking a cup of water and adding 2 teaspoons of organic baby food. 1 tsp of sweet potatoes and 1 tsp of peas. Mixed very well and you can use it to feed your bbs.

Thanks for the great infos

Any approximate tablespoon measurement to feed the fries everyday? Like 1 tablespoon eggs should be hatched per day or something like that? That's where I am confused :P