Breeding Bangaii

I decided to give fish breeding a try and I figured the easiest to start out with would be the Bangaii Cardinals. I already have one large Bangaii established in my 75 but I have no idea if it's male or female. I bought 2 smaller ones yesterday and I have them now in a 10 gal. QT.

The first step is finding a male and a female and there's basically no way to tell them apart. I'll have the first 2 in QT for a while so that will give me time to observe them and see if they pair up or fight. If they fight I'll try to introduce them one at a time to the larger one in my 75. I probably use a breeder basket to make it easier to remove the fish if they start to fight. I don't plan on just dumping in a bunch of Bangaii and letting them fight it out until there is a pair left.

Interesting side note, when I brought the fish home and they were still in the bag, I placed it in the 75 display while I set up my QT. The large Bangaii took notice of the others in the bag and paced around it for a while. After I took the bag with the 2 new ones out of the tank the large one in the display got really aggressive towards the other fish in the tank including the much bigger yellow tang. I've never seen this fish aggressive towards any fish. I added some food a short time later and the cardinal wouldn't eat. Male?

I have a ton of reading to do since this is my first try at SW fish breeding. Anyone that has anything they want to throw in along the way is welcome.



2 new ones


The old one in the DT

Sweet. I'm excited to follow your progress. :-)

2 Fish ... Check
1 Male & 1 Female (Hopefully) .... Check
Subdued lighting available .... Check

Other suggestions that may help the male out would be a Rose Anenome, maybe some Chocolate Starfish?

OK I found this. May be of use.
http://www.breedersregistry.org/Articles/v4_i4_marini/marini.htm

Thanks Yeti. I'm already think no pair on the 2 in the QT. They hang together for a bit then the larger one chases the smaller away. Nothing serious and I will be giving them lots more time unless there's war.

The happy couple...

lol, so now you have an extra one

Lost one of the fish in QT. It never did eat much since I got it. No sign of disease. The other looks healthy and eating. I plan on trying to trap the established Bangaii in my 75 in about 2 weeks if the new one doesn't show any sign of disease. If I can't trap the big one out of my 75 then I'll have to cross my fingers and add the new one to the display.

Dam, and I thought they were nearly bulletproof.
Hope you can sucker the other.

Did you forget the Marvin Gaye?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKPoHgKcqag&feature=artist

NO PAIR!

I put the new fish in a "betta tank" and hung it on the side of the 75. The bigger Bangaii was doing anything it could to attack the new one.


FAIL!!!

http://s229.photobucket.com/albums/ee283/ritter6788/?action=view&current=2f67980a.mp4

http://s229.photobucket.com/albums/ee283/ritter6788/?action=view&current=9640ea36.mp4

It was actually worse than what I got video of. After the videos the larger one was going nuts, aggressively attacking the container trying to get to the small one.

So that means you have to introduce the new fish to the tank at the same time you put the other one back in I guess. So when you get another, you could catch that one again in the Q tank. Place it in the betta tank for 24 hours, change the rocks a little, and then introduce the new fish and the Betta tank fish at the same time?
Would that perhaps avoid the territory issues?

Ah.. then I see you are selling it. Problem sorted!

From my understanding there is no way to get 2 used to each other if they aren't a pair. It's not like trying to get a blenny and a goby used to each other.

I find it funny that MANY places that sell fish recommend keeping these in groups or saying that they dont do well in aquariums unless they are in groups of 3 or more. I call BS. Same with the chromis. They may stay in groups when young but once they reach maturity will try to mate and kill any competition.

Nature and survival of the strongest and fittest, so I guess it's a situation that you have to buy X young ones, and wait to see who will pair up, and then separate them.
I can see why Clowns appeal when trying out breeding, even if you have to have several blacked out tanks with various degrees of controlled light.

AMEN To Chromis and Bangaii group problems. 6 Chromis in 120 down to one. 6 in 65 down to 2. Bangaii 3 down to 2 in 120. AND they don't hang around each other much. If mated still not excited.