question on banghai breeding

[howdy20012002]

as some of you might know, I have been trying my hand at raising banghais
right now i have over 50 banghais in three different tanks and currently have 5 mouthfuls of eggs.
the problem I am having is keeping track of when they should hatch
typically the male is holding them to full term and then they get released and become food for the tank.
I am thinking that the only way I am going to be able to be truly successful at this is to take the eggs and hatch them myself.
has anyone done this before???
if so, please let me know what you have done that works.
thanks in advance for any input
thanks
Neal

[Ross]

Originally Posted by howdy20012002

as some of you might know, I have been trying my hand at raising banghais
right now i have over 50 banghais in three different tanks and currently have 5 mouthfuls of eggs.
the problem I am having is keeping track of when they should hatch
typically the male is holding them to full term and then they get released and become food for the tank.
I am thinking that the only way I am going to be able to be truly successful at this is to take the eggs and hatch them myself.
has anyone done this before???
if so, please let me know what you have done that works.
thanks in advance for any input
thanks
Neal

My Bangaii fed heavily at night as they are primarily nocturnal.
I'd isolate the male with fry and not have 16 hungry mouths wanting to eat every time they fry are released.
Document the growth of the fry/mouth and you'll learn when they are getting close to releasing.
If you install a trap or a fake urchin they will have a place to hide once released and hopefully avoid the single hungry hasen't eaten in 21 days male.
I made one from plastic toothpicks and a ball of epoxy.

[howdy20012002]

unfortunately if I try to catch the male with eggs - he typically spits them out.
I have long spined urchins in there but apparently not enough.
the problem is when u a a few at a time that have eggs - how can u tell who is who and when they are going to hatch.
not really an option which is why I want to see about incubating and hatching the eggs myself
thanks
Neal

[bruce]

I found it best to catch my Male from the main tank a few days after he starts carrying the mouthful of eggs; usually within the first week or so and place him in his own tank. (catch him at night by using a flashlight and basically turning it on him and have your net ready to get him while he is still kind of startled. guide him from the net into a container of water to make the move to the other tank.) put the male in his own small tank with a few rocks for feeling secure. you can use the stick thing for urchins and what not if you wish but I have just as much success using a few plastic aquarium plants like the fern type. excellent place for the little ones to congregate and evade aggression from each other as they get bigger.
My fish would release the young consistently (you could set your watch by them) on the 28th day after first carrying the eggs.
in my experience; if you leave the male in the main tank too long with carrying the young/eggs, he will be more inclined to spit the young while being captured and you will either loose some or depending on the stage of development-may lose them all. I have experienced both of these scenarios and eventually found that by getting him early he always never spit the eggs.
Once he is in the other tank you can either let him carry the full 28 days or net him a couple days early and he will most likely just spit them out right in the net and you can then just move him back to the display.
just my experience with them anyway. hope it helps in some respects.

[misty s]

I would catch my male approx. a week before the babies were due to be spit out. I would catch him at night and place him in his own tank with an epoxy urchin and a few pieces of live rock. After he spit out the babies I would immediately remove him from the nursery tank.

[howdy20012002]

I have a separate 20 gallon tank attached to each main tank for the babies.
I think I am going to try to split it in half with egg crate - put the males in the one side and on the other side some fake plants for the babies to hide and feel comfortable in.
once the males spit them out I will put them back into the main tank.
thanks btw for the input.
if this doesn't work, I am going to try hatching them myself.

[howdy20012002]

just thought I would give an update
I did the 20 gallon separated with egg crate
have 1 mouthful of eggs waiting to hatch and another who just spit out over 20 baby banghai's swimming around the tank
seems like the tank transfer with males with the mouthful seems to be working
thanks for the advice.
thanks
Neal

[Ross]

Originally Posted by howdy20012002

...have 1 mouthful of eggs waiting to hatch and another who just spit out over 20 baby banghai's...

Glad its working out for you.
Do you have and pictures?

[somewherebeyondthesea]

Originally Posted by Ross

My Bangaii fed heavily at night as they are primarily nocturnal.
I'd isolate the male with fry and not have 16 hungry mouths wanting to eat every time they fry are released.
Document the growth of the fry/mouth and you'll learn when they are getting close to releasing.
If you install a trap or a fake urchin they will have a place to hide once released and hopefully avoid the single hungry hasen't eaten in 21 days male.
I made one from plastic toothpicks and a ball of epoxy.

+1