Trading for Banggai's

spikehs · #1 03-06-2002, 08:51 PM

Hey all,

Well my pair of banggai's have final started breeding, the male now has quite a mouthfull! While they are a ways from being born/big enough to trade i was wondering if anyone would be interested in trading for them? I have basically no corals in my tank,so if you have any easy(ish) corals that you could frag, i would love to trade with you down the line.

Sean

Canadian Man · #2 03-06-2002, 10:12 PM

Hey Spikehs,
i would love to add a few cardinals to my 90. i currently have a few large frags from my colt coral that grows well in pretty much any setup. extremely easish (as you put it) coral.
So did they have babies allready. so exciting eh!
I bread fw angels as well and i truly enjoy seeing the products of the parents. let me know if you would be interested.
Thanks
Jonathan.

spikehs · #3 03-06-2002, 10:35 PM

yah that sounds great! nope no babies quite yet, i figure they will have about another 1-2 weeks, since this is their first batch i have no idea how long he likes to hold em. After that I have no idea how long it will be before they take to the prepared foods. I guess it also depends on what size you want them, cause if you dont mind em small, then you can have em quicker....
ANyways, i'll let you all know when the babies are out and i can see how many i have!!

Sean

[ 06 March 2002, 18:36: Message edited by: spikehs ]

Canadian Man · #4 03-07-2002, 12:38 AM

Sean;
that sounds great to me
My # is 235-6467
or you can just mail me,
cheers

Delphinus · #5 03-07-2002, 02:13 AM

Ooh! Ooh! Can I put my name on a waiting list for any leftover or the next batch???

Very cool news Spikehs!!

canadawest · #6 03-07-2002, 04:02 AM

Hey Sean, congratulations on your expectant father!

I am currently on my third brood, so perhaps I can offer some information/advice?
<ul type="square">[*]Your male Bangaii will hold the eggs for approximately 19-22 days before they begin to hatch. You will see the eggs changing from a reddish color to a tan color as they mature, then eventually you'll be able to see the tiny black outlines of the babies in the eggs.[*]During the latter part of the third week the male MUST BE be separated from other fish into a separate nursery tank. There should be low current and no powerheads or other high-suction devices in this tank. Try to make the water parameters as close to your main tank as possible. If you do not quarantine the male, you risk the lives of all the babies as they become instant food for other fish or inverts upon release.[*]After the eggs hatch, the male will continue to carry the live babies for another 3-4 days. The babies feed off their egg sacks, and whatever else passes into the male's mouth during this time.[*]The day after you notice the hatched babies, but BEFORE the male releases them, you need to start your brine shrimp hatchery/hatcheries. After 24 hours, enrich the hatchery with Selcon to increase the live brine's nutritional value. This should give you 36-48 hours to culture some enriched live baby brine shrimp in anticipation of the baby Bangaii's release.[*]The male will release the babies overnight (in darkness) around days 24-28, or approximately 3-4 days after the babies have hatched out of their eggs. So far in my experience the release has been over two or three nights. Usually a couple the first night, the bulk of the brood the second night, and the stragglers the third night. Now these little guys are on their own, and rely on you for survival.[*]After the third night, or once you are confidant the male is carry no more babies, the male MUST BE removed from the nursery tank, preferably into another tank separate from the female in order to recover. Remember this guy hasn't eaten for 4 weeks and he doesn't care that those are his little babies, they look like good eatin' to him! So once removed feed him as much as he'll eat. He should also have some time away from the female so that he has a chance to become healthy again before "getting pregnant" again.[*]Other than fattening up the dad, your focus is now on raising those babies. I feed mine three times a day (morning, afternoon, night) with half a turkey baster's worth of hatched brine shrimp "soup" each time. After 3 weeks I reduce the feedings to twice a day, just morning and night. After 5 weeks old I reduce the feedings to live brine once a day (morning) and attempt to get them to eat Selcon enriched frozen foods like bloodworms, Formula 1, frozen brine and others in the evening. They wont always take to it, but after a few days (and having bigger appetites) they start to accept it. By 6-7 weeks they are usually completely off the live baby brine shrimp and feasting only on enriched frozen foods.[*]Once an entire week goes by with them eating only frozen foods (usually at 7-8 weeks old) they are ready to go to new homes.
[/list:u:2c002cb586]So consider this a long term investment in these babies. Have plenty of brine shrimp eggs on hand, and plenty of time to devote to feedings. So far raising Bangaiis has been one of the most rewarding parts of this hobby for me, and I wish you all the best sucess as well, for both yourself and the contribution to others of tank raised species.

spikehs · #7 03-08-2002, 04:38 AM

hey all,

there should (hopefully) be enough banggai's for me to trade most people who want them, so i wouldn't worry about that. I'll let you all know when they are born so i can tell you how many,etc.,etc. (assuming not many die).

canadawest: thanks for all the info, its really helpful. But i have lots of good things about feeding the babies frozen prawn eggs right off the bat (the day the are born), there has been some disscusions about it at www.reefcentral.com in the fish breeding section. Hopefully if this works out well, it will eliminate the need for the bbs, but i will have a bbs hatchery set up, just incase.....Now i just hope the male doesn't spit em out!

Sean

Delphinus · #8 03-07-2002, 05:09 PM

Frozen prawn eggs .... cool, where can you get that? How big are they?

spikehs · #9 03-07-2002, 11:54 PM

Not sure how big they are, i am guessing they are very small as they can feed banggai's from day 1. As to where to get them, that is part of the problem, bio-aquatics.com sells them, but will only sell orders for 10+pounds, and i dont think iwill run through 10pounds of food anytime soon! I am talking to afew online and ofline stores to see if they can order them in. If all else fails there is a member of reefcentral, that said he could send me some as he brought a whole ton from his lfs.

Canadian Man · #10 03-08-2002, 01:24 AM

Spikehs
just a suggestion i dont know if you allready know this or not but, with my angel fish babies i make a large batch of baby brine shrimp and once they hatch i put them in about 5-6 little cups. put them in the fridge and i have a supply for about 6 days or so and they are usually alive on the last day as well. so now i only have to have my hatchery going 4 days out of a month rather than everyday.
hoope you did not allready know this
anyway thanks