I got my male Bangai to smile for the camera...I'm not sure you can see it, but when I look at this full screen, there are sets of eyes looking back! I just wanted to share!

http://www.saltbucket.com/d/10619-1/BangaiMaleBabies.jpg (http://www.saltbucket.com/d/10617-1/BangaiMaleBabies.jpg)

Phil

sweet rookie

i had to blow it up & stand on the other side of the room to work out thats not a tounge.:o I was not aware cardinals were mouth broaders, great job, whats the story with this, i havn't followed your tank bud, so did a clown fish accidently fall over & 9 months later ..presto or what?

very cool. what are you feeding the babies

The eyes have it! Congratulations.

Bangais are mouth brooders. They spawn about every three weeks. The pair is in my 180 display, so I don't have much of a chance at saving babies. Occasionally I'll see one in the tank, Time before last, two took a ride down the overflow into the sump....I feed them frozen cyclopeeze and Golden Pearls. Their bodies are bow larger than a pea and thier fins top to bottom, maybe...3/4 of an inch! Very cute babies!

Cool. Iv herd of them being mouth brooders but never had seen it before.

That's really cool! I always enjoyed breeding African cichlids just to watch that fascinating behavior, I'd love to try spawning a salt species!

Hehe, Thats a great pic and great topic title too :)

I am just about to grab some cardinals for my tank!

That is really amazing. So, they never survive?

I imagine it's like keeping guppies in a community tank... the babies become fish food!

But I wonder how stressful it would be to the father if he were put in a guppy breeding floating container? It probably wouldn't be worth the risk. I suppose if one is serious about breeding these guys, a dedicated tank would need to be set up for them, eh?

Any updates, Salty?

Very cool indeed. My LFS has several breeding pairs in display tanks. I asked him how he gets the babies out. he says he can tell when they are ready to be released, so he scoops up the adult and holds him upside down until all the babies fall out. At first i thought he was kidding, but he was totally serious. I told him that they must be very trusting fish. he said that it was more likely they were very tired and hungry and were glad to be rid of the little buggers! :mad:

The proof is in the pudding, as they say. He has a tank full of babies that are doing great. I've got 2 on hold when they're big enough.

That's a great story about your LFS guy, Danamack! You'll have to let us know how your captive breed bangais do! So cool that you're getting captive breed ones.

That's a great story about your LFS guy, Danamack! You'll have to let us know how your captive breed bangais do! So cool that you're getting captive breed ones.

Thanks. I had the opportunity to purchase wild caught ones at $4 each (another LFS gives me his cost, and they were on special to him because he bought a large number of them.) As much as I loved the price, I decided to wait for the captive breed ones. They will probably cost me $30 - $40 each, but I believe it's the right thing to do.

Thanks. I had the opportunity to purchase wild caught ones at $4 each (another LFS gives me his cost, and they were on special to him because he bought a large number of them.) As much as I loved the price, I decided to wait for the captive breed ones. They will probably cost me $30 - $40 each, but I believe it's the right thing to do.

Especially since they are now on the Red List. Here is a great thread Marine Ornamental Fish & Invert Breeders :: View topic - 2008 Breeder's Challenge Proposal - Year of Cardinalfish (http://www.marinebreeder.org/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=8956&sid=850b0f19f29d5afda14126e18df06ca9) from an international group of people discussing the issue of can it be profitable to raise them. As mentioned in the thread, I think the bottom line is hobbyist education and hobbyist DEMAND.

Especially since they are now on the Red List. Here is a great thread Marine Ornamental Fish & Invert Breeders :: View topic - 2008 Breeder's Challenge Proposal - Year of Cardinalfish (http://www.marinebreeder.org/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=8956&sid=850b0f19f29d5afda14126e18df06ca9) from an international group of people discussing the issue of can it be profitable to raise them. As mentioned in the thread, I think the bottom line is hobbyist education and hobbyist DEMAND.

I couldn't agree more!