FS: Banggai cardinal fry - Calgary

[JTang]

Wow so cute! Hope someone is able to raise them to adulthood...

[ponokareefer]

Sucks that I am gone for a week on holidays in March or I would grab them. Good luck with the sale.

[canadawest]

It's great to see someone tank raising livestock and contributing to the reduction of wild caught livestock!

I had a beautiful breeding pair of Bangaii Cardinals and also raised the fry for about 2.5 years. Unfortunately I got too busy to continue breeding so can completely understand the work involved.

PS... I used to sell my fry to local hobbyists for $15ea or 2 for $25, so 28 for $55 is very generous. Hopefully someone has the time and desire to help most of these fry grow to saleable age (around 6-8 weeks). It's very rewarding to see the fry grow and be able to pass them on to others to live on to adulthood.

[rogesue]

Could they survive in the sump and live off frozen brine shrimp?

[syncro]

Originally Posted by rogesue

Could they survive in the sump and live off frozen brine shrimp?

You probably wouldn't have a great survival rate, my guess < 10%.

I had a lot of trouble weaning them off live baby brine shrimp. It might also be hard to get a high enough density of food in the sump. Having said that, I found 3 fry in the sump a week after the father released them. Not sure if they were eating or surviving on their reserves.

[syncro]

Originally Posted by canadawest

PS... I used to sell my fry to local hobbyists for $15ea or 2 for $25, so 28 for $55 is very generous. Hopefully someone has the time and desire to help most of these fry grow to saleable age (around 6-8 weeks). It's very rewarding to see the fry grow and be able to pass them on to others to live on to adulthood.

Wow, I didn't realize they went for so much. What percentage of a batch were you able to raise? My first batch I had about 40% survival to 8 weeks before selling - most of the loses were near the end. I was trying the wean them off BBS but most wouldn't eat anything else.

[syncro]

Sold. Thanks.

[canadawest]

Keep in mind this was over 6 years ago that I raised Bangaii fry, I have no idea what the going rate for them would be today, but back then $15 for a tank raised fish seemed like a good deal (and kept local hobbyists from having to take wild caught)

I actually had pretty good success with them. I had a little acrylic 12 gal all-in-one nano tank that acted as a perfect nursery tank. After I figured out the timing of the first batch or two, I was getting about 75% survival rate. I found I would lose several the first week, then like you would lose a few more just before saleable age (8-10 weeks). I found having an artificial long spined urchin in the tank helped (perhaps lowered their stress?) and did only small weekly water changes. (also less stress?) I also supplemented my bbs hatch water with Selcon, not sure if that helped them be more nutritious? And I dumped live and unhatched eggs into the nursery tank, cause they would eat the unhatched cysts too. Most of mine were weaned to frozen mysis (finely shredded) before selling.

Originally Posted by syncro

Wow, I didn't realize they went for so much. What percentage of a batch were you able to raise? My first batch I had about 40% survival to 8 weeks before selling - most of the loses were near the end. I was trying the wean them off BBS but most wouldn't eat anything else.

[EmilyB]

Thanks Brian!

I have no intention of raising them to make money on them. If that kind of good fortune smiled upon me, I would find them homes.

I am hoping to at least have a couple survive. I used to have them everywhere, sump, overflows, etc.

[canadawest]

Best of luck with your new fry, hope they all fight (and you give them a fighting chance) to get to adulthood! :-)

Originally Posted by EmilyB

Thanks Brian!

I have no intention of raising them to make money on them. If that kind of good fortune smiled upon me, I would find them homes.

I am hoping to at least have a couple survive. I used to have them everywhere, sump, overflows, etc.