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Breeding and Raising Bangaii Cardinals

by Andrew B., aka Canadawest.

• 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.

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.

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