Banggai Cardinal fish breeding?

danimal

New Member
Hi. I'm new not sure if this is the correct area for this but I am thinking of breeding banggai cardinal fish and i would like to know what all would i need for a setup for one pair of banggais. I was thinking of using a sump so i can have all the live rock in there and not clogging up the breeder tank? is that a good idea or not? please help.
 

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Are you breeding for entertainment purposes only?
10-20g sized tank usually works best. A sump with live rock in it would work well. You won't need live rock in the breeder tank. Use some epoxy and some chopsticks/toothpicks to make a fake urchin. - you could go as far as painting it black to look like an urchin. Feed them some high quality home made foods and keep the water clean. It might take months until they start breeding - but when they do, it's very exciting.
Cardinals are mouth brooders - Once their young hatches, they look like little bitty cardinals right off the bat. They need to feel the protection of the urchins spines, so they hide in them. As far as food goes, I've heard of some people feeding very finely crushed up flake foods. I would, however, recommend finely grated home made foods instead. Cardinals aren't as difficult to raise from babies as demersal spawners are .. like clownfish larvae.
Most importantly - have fun with it - and find a mentor.
I hope that Bang Guy can come on this thread and gives some of his vast knowledge and experience on the subject.
 

danimal

New Member
What do you use for homemade food? and I would mostly do it for fun but I might try and sell most of the babies to a pet store near my house because i don't want to end up with abunch and not be able to care for them. Also how many babies do they have on average?
 

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Home made food:
1 pound shrimp, unshelled. Leave a few shells on.
1 package frozen mysis
1 package frozen brine
1 can clams
1/2 can oysters
2 sheets nori
2 -3 cups live phytoplankton
Blend together in a blender - leave large chunks for bigger fish. Grate smaller for smaller fish. Juice is for the corals. Freeze in small icecube trays, then freeze it in a zip lock freezer bag.
Having healthy fish produces healthy eggs. Feeding the tank more will lower water quality - so you will have to keep up with water changes or have high water filtration capacity.
They mouth brood up to 50 eggs at a time. But, most likely, you won't rear all of them. First time breeders have a 50% success rate or less. Over time you can get close to 90%.
a 20g high is better for breeding cardinals than a 10g. Also, you could put a few live rocks in there - just keep it simple.
 

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
You do know that the first thing you will have to feed them is rotifers upon hatching - usually you will need an entirely new larval rearing tank with a separate filtration system then the broodstock tank. A small round, black container with a fake urchin is best. Then you need to feed freshly hatched artemia from days 10-25 and then enriched artemia from days 18-32. At day 26 you will need to start feeding them some of the home made foods.
In order to enrich rotifers and artemia you are going to have to culture phytoplankton or buy it in. It's cheaper to culture IMHO.
The best advice I can give is to buy a few good breeding books and read, read, read.
 

danimal

New Member
Are there any saltwater fish that do not require phytoplankton or rotifers or any food that has tom be grown or cultured?
 

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by danimal http:///t/392536/banggai-cardinal-fish-breeding#post_3486176
Are there any saltwater fish that do not require phytoplankton or rotifers or any food that has tom be grown or cultured?
... No. ... ok, well, some marine animals do give live birth, but none that can be kept in the home aquarium.
If your goal is to make a little money back from the aquarium hobby - stick with some freshwater fish, like parrots or German Rams. Something eyecatching that not a whole lot of stores sell. Cichlids are too commonplace, unless you happen to breed rare color morphs. For ease of breeding and rearing, freshwater fish is where it's at.
On the flip side, if you breed a rare pair of clownfish, you could be making anywhere from $1000 to $2000 a month per pair. If your setup crashes, however, you could have some very unhappy customers.
 

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Your welcome! By the way... welcome to the forums. I hope you enjoy your stay. Please, stay with us and discuss your ideas, plans and goals for what you are trying to do. I'm always looking for another tidbit of information that I didn't already know... as well as many others on this site that would love to have you stay and become part of the community!
Tell us more about your plans... experience and if you have any tanks... I'd love to know more!
 
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