cardinal banggai about to bread - help

Hi All 3reefers

i am glad to report looks like the male banggai started its first phase of breeding, i started noticed the extended jaw about a week ago. i understand that the natural process takes about 18days and release of the eggs should be at night.

see first video 1 with extended jaws

i anticipated to isolated the couple see video 2 , and about to place an urcin in the an isolated part of the reef tank.
see video, i look forward for your advices based on your experience and knowledge on how to proceed from here for a successfull breeding

thanks in advance to all for your help

 

Interesting. Although I can not provide any advice.

 

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1990387
http://breedersregistry.org/maquacu...aising-and-breeding-the-banggai-cardinalfish/
http://www.reefs.org/library/talklog/f_marini_020799.html

 

thx Vinny
what i couldnt understand from the article is if i should isolate the male from the female at this stage ?

 

The first link is very informative..
Release:
Release almost always happens at night before dawn. This allows the babies a chance to hide and acclimate. I usually net the male out and place him in a separate nursery tank at around 23 days. My nursery tank is a 15 gallon attached to the breeding setup, which keeps the water identical (bare bottom with fake plants and fake urchins). You must be careful how you net him. Don't chase him too much, if he panics, he can suffocate which will cause him to eat or prematurely release his babies. I also move him from the net to a cup underwater. I never take him out of water with babies.

I then catch the male, though there is no real rush with a good male. Even after not eating for a month a good male still won't eat his babies even though he easily could. I then either put him back directly with the female or separate them with a clear divider in the same tank. The decision is based on how many batches he has done lately and how fast. If it's his first one I would probably put him back, if it's his 5th, I give him a break. The female will rush him causing him to eat the eggs. I separate them with a clear divider (to allow for pair bonding), and I power feed the male to get him to proper strength so he can successfully hold another batch (NOTHING beats a good male, I have tried to strip eggs and rear them in a tumbler and have had poor results at best)
Feeding the babies:
You should have had baby brine shrimp (BBS for short) hatching and fresh since you put the male into the nursery. You must have live baby brine hatched BEFORE the babies are released. You DO NOT want them hatched and then have to wait 15-24 hrs to hatch BBS. You want to have fresh LIVE BBS going at all times, multiple cultures of different ages. It sounds daunting but it is really not. I have the classic upside down 2-liters and they are in my sump to keep temp. I keep 3, hatching, hatched, and enriched at all times when babies are due or around. All it takes are 3 2-liters, an air pump, ridged airline, and put them in your sump.

Feed at least 3 times daily, better being 5. Newly hatched BBS is best. After about 4 hrs BBS have lost most of their yolk sacs (main nutrition) and will have to be enriched. I use selcon, and spirulina zoe to enrich. This is MANDATORY or you will end up with babies that have SUDDEN FRIGHT SYNDROME (SFS). This is when babies aren't fed enough fatty acids (selcon/zoe) and they suffer from SFS which is usually fatal. What it does is causes the babies to use essential fatty acids that are used for nerve building/function just to sustain life and they suffer from nerve damage. Basically any large stimulus (feeding, lights going on, a net) causes them to literally short circuit.


As I understand it if he has the eggs in his mouth already you can seperate him just follow the above instructions.I don't know if I would risk it as the stress of catching him could kill him and the babies.Also it is important that the water is the same in the nursery tank as it is in the display tank to prevent stress/shock.

 

thanks Vinny , also i wonder, why do i need a breeding net , if i get a spike urchin , so it can be like in nature , the fry are protected by the spikes of the urchin, and i target feed them with live food. what do u think ?

 

Sounds fine to me