Babies are here!

[canadawest]

Last night papa Bangaii spit out the first batch of new babies. There are 5 tiny but healthy looking new guys in the nursery tank now. Papa still has a mouthful of babies and will likely spit out more into the world tonight.

I'll keep everyone posted.

[StirCrazy]

cool, when we gettting some pics? images/smiles/icon_smile.gif

Steve

[canadawest]

No digital camera anymore since I am not working right now and the one I was using belonged to the company. images/smiles/icon_sad.gif

Unless a local reefer is coming over with theirs, the only pics you'll get will be from the first brood hatched two months ago, and they are on my website.

[Shadetree]

Here is a pic of Andrews last batch in their new home
http://www.shadetree.homestead.com/files/bangaiis11702.JPG

Andrew if you would like me to come by later with the camera to get a pic of the new batch let me know, call my cell.

Scott

[ 18 January 2002: Message edited by: Shadetree ]</p>

[canadawest]

Thanks for the offer Scott. I'll wait a couple days for the Daddy Bangaii to release the remaining fry, then when the nursery is full of the new little guys we can get some pics.

[canadawest]

As of last night, papa Bangaii has finally spit all of the baby bangers into the real world.

I've got 20 tiny little Bangaii Cardinals!!!

Handing out cigars......

Pics to follow when Scott and I can arrange it.

In the meantime papa has been moved out of the nursery tank into my refugium for a couple weeks so I can fatten him back up and give him a quiet resting place before putting him back into the main tank to be harassed by that pestering (horny) female.

Can you imagine not eating for 4 weeks to propigate the species? And women think a couple hours of labour is difficult!!!! (ducking in advance)

[StirCrazy]

hey do you have any links to reading about Bangaii Cardinals, I have always liked the looks of them and maby a few of them would go nice in my tank when it is ready....

Steve

[canadawest]

Do a search of Reefcentral and Reefs.org for relevant discussion. Also the "Breeding" Forum on Reefcentral is moderated by Dr. Frank Marini, pretty much THE expert on Bangaii Cardinals and propagation of them. He has written several articles on them, mostly related to breeding but some on general information and care.

I think they are excellent reef inhabitants as they are very docile, reef safe, not too large and not too hard to care for.

[Reefmaster]

hey what would happen if you added in another male. would mrs b make poppa's out of both of them? man, you cou have quite a little bangai operation there.

[canadawest]

That's actually the ideal breeding arrangement, as your total fry is only limited by the number of egg carrying males.

A female Bangaii apparently can produce eggs as often as every 2-3 weeks. So in theory if I had another male I could have one in the main tank courting the female, while another was holding eggs in the nursery. I could in theory double my fry output. The problem then would be I would need another couple nursery tanks to raise the extra fry. At this point it is staggered nicely with one tank:

1. Papa gets pregnant
2. Papa incubates eggs for 3 weeks (20-21 days), moved to nursery tank a couple days before fry hatch
3. Eggs hatch, papa holds for another week (5-7 days)
4. Papa spits out all fry, gets transferred to refugium
5. Papa eats like a pig and gets strength back in the comfort of the refugium for 3 weeks.
6. Babies grow for next 3 weeks.
7. Papa introduced back into main tank with female. Likely pregnant again in 2-3 weeks.
8. Babies now 5-6 weeks old before Papa has new eggs.
9. Babies sold at ~2 months old, a week or two before Papa needs to be transferred to nursery tank to start the whole process over again!

If I had a second male, I would probably need two more nursery tanks, as one would be in the main tank, and the other would be in a nursery tank or refugium at any given time. You CANT keep two males together in the main tank, as they will kill each other.

We'll see how this next brood wears on me, and how the local LFS purchasing goes. If the demand is high enough, I might consider increasing my tank-raised Bangaii production, but at this point it's just a nice addition to my hobby.

[Reefmaster]

i think we'd take a couple of the lil guys off ya. i expect if we got a couple being siblings they wouldn't start doing the nasty a little later would they?

[Silverfish]

If possible Andrew, we might like to get a couple of the little guys from you too. images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif

[canadawest]

Well this new brood won't be ready for new homes for at least another 6 weeks or so. I usually like to raise them to 7-8 weeks, as they are usually accepting "dead" foods by then.

As an update, I've only counted 14 little guys today, so perhaps 5-6 weaker of the brood have left us?