BC2008 - Banggai Cardinal - amashun

[amashun]

Username: amashun

Species: Pterapogon Cardinal

Size of pair: i think they are around 3-4cm each because this is their 1st bath

Age of Pair: around 6 months from baby that i bought from wild collection

Social structure: my tank is 6x2x2 mixed reef with around 40x flow, sps dominated mixed reef. have around 15 small fishes with 2 tangs.

Previous spawnings and general background information: The male just first pregnant on the 2/11/08. the female has been doing bangaii dance since yesterday. now the female always guarding the male
this is my old threat
http://www.marinebreeder.org/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=2436

Comments:
This is their and my 1st time so we are all excited about it. hopefully i can go for the natural way to breed them. Understand it would be hard for the 1st batch so hopefully the male will learn how to carry them.
left one is female, right is male

male

female after lay eggs

[Clownfish75]

Hi

Good to see more aussies on here, banggais are looking great.

Can i ask you update your location please, Sydney i think you are in, just makes it easier for us natives to figure out wher ewyou are.

Thanks

Christian

[amashun]

Thanks Christian for your kind words, just updated.

Yep, couldn't agree more. I don't think they are great until i physically have a pair myself. i got hooked now.

Cheers,
Adrian

[damer]

good luck Adrian, i have a few, still no luck pairing them up though.

[amashun]

Thanks Damer. i think i'm just lucky enough to have a pair. Just be patient mate, i'm sure you will have what you want soon.

Cheers,
Adrian

Day 2

Father Bangaii still holding the babies like treasure and completely ignore his favorite big prawn cube, mother still guarding the male. i can see the male still roll the eggs in his mouth securely and not eating them yet. things are looking really positive to me.

I will perform 20% water change tomorrow just to make sure the water quality is in top condition.

I also planning to move my sixline out from the frag tank, just to make sure it is good enough for our new babies. babies will be place in the frag tank to avoid being eaten. If things are doing as well as i hope, i will start making an artificial urchin for them.

Edit: just take some pictures last night when they are curious about my new camera. hope you guys like it.

[basser1]

Great pics! I posted a thread about my young pair of banggai doing the courtship dance. One would do twitching and get very close to the other one. I'm assuming the one doing the twitching is the female? I don't know if this will lead to an actual spawning or not, my clowns do the twitching all the time, but nothing from them so far. Keep us posted on how they're doing!

[amashun]

Thanks for your kind compliments basser1. yeah, the female was doing the courtship dance. Sorry, i'm not expert enough to answer your question, but my one did spawn on the 2nd day of courtship dance. Good luck.

HTH
Adrian

[amashun]

Day 7

I think the male ate some of the eggs as his mount is not as full as before. but he is still not eating and sometime i can see he roll something in his mouth.

is this normal?

[amashun]

Day 8 eggs are gone, try again

[amashun]

Day1 - take 2

we are pregnant again

mouth is a lot bigger than last time

[amashun]

Day 18
Male still holding strong and i can clearly see the white eggs in his mouth with eyes.

Female was doing a bit weird yesterday. first, she swam quickly around the male especially around his tail, she also did the courtship dance to the male.

Anyway, i'm starting to hatch BBS get it ready for the babies

[amashun]

Day 20
just took some pictures of the babies this is the best i attempted. can you see the eye in the mouth?

[mpedersen]

Stick with it and keep taking great photos! The more you take, the more likely you'll have some that are just stunning Looks like that first run was a "test run"...good luck!

[damer]

good news Adrian.

[amashun]

Cheers Guys. this would be my best X'mas present

[amashun]

Day 21

I can clearly see the babies now and they are moving in their dad's mouth eagerly to see the world.

I will be monitoring my tank closely when the lights off, just to make sure i will get them all out nicely.

Plan to use turkey blaster to suck them all out and put it in the breeding tray of my frag tank which connects directly to my system so it should provide the best condition for them (i hope)


if i successfully raise them, i have decided to keep my 1st bath and work on my 2nd generation and 3rd and so on... (hopefully)

[Chad Vossen]

can you provide a larger image or a cropped version of this image please. i'd like to have a better look at their vents. from what i can see, male has two bump ans female has one bump in the vent area. there is a thread here that discusses this and this is a very good picture documenting this.

[amashun]

Sorry mate, i do not have a bigger version. this picture was taken when i just got my camera, for some reason, it was set to use the small pictures.

I will try to attempt another one for you as they normally hang around that area everyday.

[amashun]

Day 25

Dad still holding them, saw him open the mouth completely but the baby doesn't want to come out yet. mum swims very unusual around the dad. i hope that i can collect the frys tonight. Anyway, took some pictures under actinic, a bit bury but hope you like it.





Adrian

[amashun]

Day 26

fishes were release during the day when i was not home. i guess all got eaten as i can see the female have a big belly now. good for her but bad for me.

i should have scope him out last night. oh well, try again

[damer]

Bugger!!!

i assume you have checked overflow, sump etc. maybe a couple made it in there.

[amashun]

Yeah mate, tried look at every where but couldn't find any

I was so pi$$ off yesterday as i've been stay up late for them. AR

Hopefully i can get them next time:wink:

Cheers,
Adrian

[damer]

oh well, i dont thik you have much hope in a full reef without catching th male and putting him in a breeder net/ smaller tank. maybe try this at day 25 next time. if your luck is anything like mine, he will spit at day 24

[amashun]

thanks mate, yep, that's what i'm thinking as well. catch him out and let him spill them out once i see the babies again. all we have to do just keep trying btw, any lucks on yours?

Cheers,
Adrian


saw the dance yesterday and we are back to Day 1 again

mouth is a lot bigger than last time, i think they are massively producing them now.

[amashun]

OK, my one swallowed the eggs today.

Just curious, does bangaii have this behavior that would swallow eggs and hold them next time?