Suspected pregnant cardinal fish

[DeadmanZ]

Hi bros, i've this cardinal fish with me for ard 3 months, last time eating like pig. But i've noticed that it has stopped eating for the past 1 week and last night i noticed the lower jaw was 'pumped up' (swollen). This fish was seen 'hanging ard' together with 1 of my older cardinal when it was introduced and the 2 of them kept bullying another cardinal. So i was thinking, maybe they have paired up? Below is some pics i took of the 'swollen' mouth cardinal, pls confirm for mi issit holding eggs in mouth ok? Thanks in advance bros !

[DeadmanZ]

Very sorry about the mega pic, forgot to resize

[DeadmanZ]

1 more..

[reeftask]

CongratulationS!!! You are going to be grandfather!

Rare baby tropical Banggai cardinalfish are also looked after by their fathers who keep their offspring safe by holding them inside their mouths until they are big enough to look after themselves.

the male will be holding eggs for approximately 10 days. One of the surest means of determining Banggai Cardinal gender is to observe which of the animals is mouth brooding a clutch of eggs. This is the exclusive domain of the male of the species. The head was much puffier below the jaw line. There appeared to be a pouch there that was greatly distended. The swelling extended as far back as the gill openings, which could no longer close completely. This refusal to eat was further evidence that this was a male brooding eggs. For the duration of the brooding the male was not observed eating

male suck the eggs from the female's oviduct after fertilization. The female initiated the mating ritual by darting from one side of the male to the other. She poked the male in the abdomen between the pelvic fins and would shimmy with a fine tremor that lasts for five seconds before moving to the other side of the male.an hour later I noticed that the male was brooding a mouthful of eggs again. Normally the female wouldn't carry the egg sac in her mouth. Her task is complete when she has coerced the male to fertilize them. What happens when the male is still brooding and the female has produced her eggs prematurely? She carries them in her mouth while waiting for the male to release the fry!

The male becomes reclusive, preferring the darker, well-protected areas of the reef aquarium. Upon first noticing that the male is brooding it becomes important to setup an aquarium in which to raise the fry. The rearing tank should be a minimum of ten gallons. Start this aquarium with water from the reef aquarium. Add some live rock if possible. A breeders sponge or a bag of used GAC will provide a bacterial inoculation. An airstone will produce adequate circulation in a ten gallon aquarium. The addition of macro algae will offer cover and a sense of security for the banggai fry.

So setup a quarantine now or else all will be dead meat.

After approximately 21 days of mouth brooding male will from release 15 to 30 fry. Rather then stress the male by attempting to capture and isolate him I have always preferred to allow the release to proceed in the reef aquarium. The fry are large enough (1cm) when released to be readily visible and are easily netted and removed to the growout tank. Other banggai breeders had experienced premature fry release caused by the stress of capture attempts. The release will begin a few hours after lights out and could be spread out over two or three evenings.

Good Luck!

[DeadmanZ]

Thanks for the detailed reply bro. So its confirm keeping the eggs in the mouth? The gills look puff up too! Found a topic on breeding the fish

( http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/showthr...hlight=cocktail )

and did an artificial urchin for the babies to hide too. Haahaha... hopefully it'll be a success spawn. So excited!

[DeadmanZ]

Manage to take another clearer pic of the puff up gills.

[zipp86]

anyone managed to breed cardinals in SG? they are reputed to be the easiest marine fish to breed and raise

[FuEl]

Easy to breed as long as your fish is conditioned. The eggs can even be artificially incubated. You can read more about it here and even more threads here. I will be stripping 2 holding males this weekend.

[DeadmanZ]

Easy to breed as long as your fish is conditioned. The eggs can even be artificially incubated. You can read more about it here and even more threads here. I will be stripping 2 holding males this weekend.

Hi bro fuel, read thru the links you've given me but i still dont understand the set up for the eggs to be artificially incubated.

Is it juz a simple air pump to circulate the water will do? Thanks