Treating for ich..Bangaii with eggs...

[jerm]

I am removing all of my fish from my main 60 gallon tank and treating them in a 25 gallon tank for ich. These fish include 3 green chromis, a flame angel, a yellowtailed damsel (which I might not put back in the end), and a pregnant pair of bangaii cardinals. I have already lost a royal gramma and a blue atlantic tang to this parasite in the last week. Now, I don't want interrupt the male bangaii and his mouth full of eggs but I have to treat the other fish. Here is my plan, I want to know if this sounds like it will work. I want to move the female bangaii to the quarantine tank with the other fish and treat her with them, but move the male into a 10 gallon by himself. Then allow him to hatch the eggs and spit them out before moving him to the quariantine treating him also which should be around 13 days from now. Can the pair be seperated while he is carrying eggs? I know not to net him because he will spit the eggs out. Is that too long to wait before treating him? Can he be treated while carrying eggs? I haven't seen ich on either of the bangaiis but I wan't to treat them anyway. I feel like i shouldn't leave him in the main tank because the ich will attack him when the other fish are gone. Think this will work?

 

[beth]

Hello, and welcome to the forum!
One of our moderators breeds bangaii, so I'm seeing if he can give some input.

 

[bang guy]

That will work perfectly. I actually recommend seperating the male Banggai from the female for a few weeks. Banggai do not form a close bond. If you remove a female and place it with another male she will typically try to mate with him that day. Removing the male allows him some peace while he patiently holds the eggs. After the babies are born you can feed the male to allow him to regain his strength again. If you leave him with the femal she will try to mate as soon as the babies are gone and he may not be strong enough to hold them until they hatch.
Try to capture the male in the middle of the night while he is sleeping. He will be much less likely to spit the eggs out that way.
If you want to use a 10 gallon that's fine. I'd suggest adding a large piece of PVC or building a cave that he can swim into and feel protected. I would also cover up the glass on the outside so he doesn't feel threatened by the outside world.
On a side note, I have never seen a Banggai with Ick. I don't know why.

 

[jerm]

Thanks for the info Bang Guy. Great suggestions. I still haven't seen any sign of ick on either cardinal, maybe there is something more to this.