I`m a Momma, I`m a Momma!!

Yeah!!!!!! Nothing better than surprise baby banggais! I'm very happy for you. I love mine to pieces. Most unfortunately I lost one of my males this past week.... About cried my eyes out. But I'll try and get another one soon. I'll probably head to Des Moines next week to see if I can find one large enough to pair with my female. /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default//emoticons/wink.gif very excited for you!!!! Congrats!!!!!

 

Congrats Terri!! /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default//emoticons/smile.gif That's really awesome!! I love me some banggai cardinals, babies are too cute. Hey Jazzy, do you still have the one I sold you??

 

Oh yes, you mean the killer? Yes I still have her! lol. She is actually how I lost my other one. He was ironically holding a clutch and was 15 days in, I was going to strip him... but the morning I decided I was going to, I saw her ripping into him... just straight on beating him up! I separated him but injuries took too great a toll /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default//emoticons/sad.gif This is the second male she has killed, I'm just about done with her! lol.


Sponge- How small are these little ones, in comparison with the others? I fear they would actually be eaten by any other tank mates too. But if they were surviving in the sump just fine and it's relatively safe for them to be down there, I'd keep them going down there until they are a tiny bit bigger and you feel a bit more confidant in bringing them up with the rest of the group. Or, get a diadema long spine urchin, you could always go that route! /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default//emoticons/wink.gif lol

 

Very cool. Congrats Teri!

 

That's great same thing happen to me last week but only have to baby's in my sump I'm not sure how to post a pic they are about the size of a erasers on a pencil

 

Does any one know once the baby's are released from the parents mouth do they then go hide? My Bangi had a mouth full about a few weeks ago and then over night gone.

 

Contratulations Terri!!!! Good luck with them!

 

Well you have to know I love Banggai's they are my favorite fish in the ocean! I have had many over the years, and have been breeding them for the past year. To my knowledge here's the goodies on them, bear with me I have LOADS of info on them and could do nothing but share all day long! Please feel free to ask if you have a specific Q! /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default/emoticons/unsure.gif Most breeders often note this is the spawning tie they typicall see occuring in captivity. Each spawn generally consists of up to 70 eggs, but an average of 40... younger males (due to mouth size) can't incubate large clutches so even though the egg transfer was roughly the sae amount, eggs will be accidentally swallowed and or dropped out.


- Babies will readily eat brine shrimp nauplii, newly hatched baby brine shrimp (nhbb). Some breeders have had some luck with feeding cyclopeeze and TDO, and ova... but I noticed a drastice loss of babies when I attempted this. The babies really need that prey start response to initiate feeding ques. This is an entirely different subject with TONS of info on them if you should want more info, just ask.


ok ok ok, I really could go on all day, but know I love my Banggai's... seriously. If you have any questions or want to borrow my banggai breeding book you are welcome to it.


And because terri you've failed to provide pictures, (ok really I just love to show mine off) I'll share some of my babies with ya! /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default/emoticons/biggrin.gif





Ok here's a set of falsly incubated eggs under the scope 20x magnification here... and yes I have video of their little heart beats too! It's the coolest thing in the world!





Ok here's one of my pairs spawned and holding a clutch:





Ok and with that same photo here's some key draw out points:








One of my babies during 'measuring time' he's around 2.5-3 months here in this photo... roughly 1/2 inch.














Ok and you MAY be able to get to the heartbeat video: here

 

Here is a picture of mine holding. I have a long spin urchin but did not see them in it. I did read that they will hide in them while young. Will the parents hide them or are they on there own? I have bred many of freshwater fish and all of them will attempt to hid them.

 

nice! no, the parents won't really 'hide them' so to speak, but they will swim in proximity to them. IF they are close enough to get nabbed the parents could go after them though. Just depends on their current society structure though... how many males to female, who's been holding and how many ''snacks'' are available.

I would say no, nothing like some of the freshwater parents who will actually go out of their way to hide/protect their young.

 

There is three and I could figure out why only two hung out all the time, so I would watch them just about every day. I noticed one day after about maybe 10 days that one was holding. Then watch for eyes and shortly after 3 or so weeks they didn't have them any longer. The urchin was close to them but I didn't notice any baby's in it.

 

I got them from QC coral Haven

 

It's natural for them to gravitate towards the diadema urchins, but if it were any other urchin that has any sort of toxin tip they can't handle they won't go to them. OR they just don't know that behavior if they have found something else to readily go to for protection. Did you ever see the babies? do you know if they were released or swallowed? how many other things could have snagged them? I have had a male spit them out and turn on a whole nest within seconds to eat them. So keeping a close eye or designing a hatch out system, or stripping the male is the only way to really give catching the babies a go at it.

Have you sexed your odd ball? do you know if it's a male? If you don't know... who's more aggressive towards him, the female or the male?

 

Terri- no the finnage is not a conclusive sexing guide in a banggai (though semi-reliable at times)... the correct way to sex a banggai with as much degree of confidence as possible requires some good eye site! You actually see how many vents (or vent 'bumps' rather) are present. 1 for female, 2 for male. Here's a quick read on how to sex them and shows some very good upclose photo's for you. LINK HERE! Tip though... really feed heavy and fatten them up before you stare at their vents for forever trying to determine how many bumps there are! lol.


As for the how often the can spawn this is a bit tricky... females are ready to spawn every 12-14 days, in as much time as it takes for her to regenerate eggs and get interested in a suitable mate. The male however holds for 25ish days and ideally would be allowed to fatten up a bit after his long fast. For this reason I typically seperate males as they get close in time to their release date. And feed heavy for 4 to 5 days then let the pair cohabitate again. In a larger reef... do what you gotta do. /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default/emoticons/wink.gif She may not be interested in the same male again. I didn't seperate the male from my female this last time around and she was rather frustrated at his lack of willingness to spawn (aka... he was already holding her clutch!!! ugh!) but she was frtustrated and mad at him, hence the beating up. I MAY be able to multi pair up a couple of males to this particular female to help with her sexual frustration. My youngest pair was 5 1/2 months on first spawn (poor succuss rates until closer to 7months though)... other breeders have noted around 6-7 months is closer estimate.


Sorry about the babies dissappearing on you! /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default/emoticons/sad.gif I hope they pop back up elsewhere in the system for you. As for the TDO, it is a very high quality td standing for top dressed... you can read more about it here if you'd like: LINK. Sustainable aquatics also produces a nice hatchery feed but I have yet to give it a fair shot still have tdo to use up before I place another order for either. And no frozen baby brine you may be able to get them to pounce **may** but that would take some real effort and higher flow in the water. you basically have to 'trick' the babies into eating food that is in motion, they need that prey start response to initiate feeding. Live feeds work well, this is also what I use. Depending on how long your babies were down in your sump they were probably snacking on pods and critters like that down there getting enough to keep those couple alive. Though if many more babies made it down there they would be competing for food source for sure. I culture my own pods to rear them on. I also culture mysid shrimp which allows me to introduce live, then live with freshly killed (just squish them), then killed and friged for a day, then onto frozen mysids... this typically weans my babies onto frozen foods pretty succussfully. Once I've gotten them eating frozen mysids I add in krill, octopus, and squid (VERY small portions of squid). I have a specific batch of baby food that I begin them on at 1.5-2 months that has krill meal, and vitamins along with a whole boat load of mysids! /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default/emoticons/wink.gif ok ok ok.. .that's enough food detail for you, sorry for the novel. Yes if you can get them to do frozen brine by tricking the with motion, great...go for it, just don't expect high numbers with this... but I suspect you could get a few through! Give it a shot!





I hope some of that helps...