Looking for advice Banggaii Cardinals

[Shananagans]

So, I am looking to breed Banggaiis. I will be puting them in my 16g nuvo reef tank, as of now the only other occupant will be a mandarin. I am asking for others opinion based on cost, experience and logic.

I am debating between a known pair of tank breed banggaiis from liveaquaria's divers den which will cost $79.99, or I have on hold 5 tank breed cardinals from them as well that will run me $99.99. I am torn as which would be better for me to go with. With the pair, I know they are paired and would not have to figure it out, but the cost is alot more as I can resell any of the banggaiis from the group of 5 that do not pair up. Another concern is if I just go with the pair if one of them dies, I am stuck with one and they would only refund me half of the $79.99 within the 14day guarentee. But it's not even about the cost with that, it sucks that I would than be stuck with half of a pair and probly not even know if it was a male or female, so I would than have to buy another pair, pay for shipping etc... A down side to the group of 5 is that they are shipped around 1"-1& 1/4", and they might still be in the last stages of being a juvi so I may have to wait awhile for them to develope more and show their male and female tendancies inorder for me to see a pair. I also have never pair banggaiis before...lol.

So, what do you think and why? Thanks.

 

[rocky123]

Looking for advice Banggaii Cardinals Reply to Thread

Breeding aquarium fish is one of the steps to becoming a skilled aquariast. Once fish are kept healthy enough to spawn, the novice knows that they can attempt to keep more challenging fish. In order to breed a species, the aquariast usually needs to be able to distinguish between the sexes and to be able to recreate natural conditions to stimulate spawning. Always record your successes and failings in a notebook.

 

[bizzarro]

I'd get pair and call it a day.

 

[aabiuso]

If you do get them to breed let me know I will gladly purchase some from you

 

[aabiuso]

Oh and I would go with getting the pair

 

[Shananagans]

aabiuso: Unfortunitly I moved to Tucson, but in a year or 2 I hope to be back in Jersey. If i have sucess with this I hope to bring it back with me and keep it going.

So, I ended up going with a pair and have had them I think 2 months. They were sent to me as juvis tho, so it will probly be a few more months before they are ready to get it on. I do have 2 concerns:

1. They one has been showing some aggersion towards the other. I do still see them hanging near eachother sometimes, but other times they are opposite ends of the tank and if they meet the one is chased away. I called liveaquaria, where I go them from and was informed that they can "unpair". I was kinda frustrated that I pid $80 for a matched pair that could have "unpaired" only 2 weeks after getting them.

2. I have heard from a few people recently that tank breed males tend not to be great fathers and may only hold the eggs a few days and than they spit them out...

I guess I'll have to wait and see

They are both health tho, at first I was not sure if they were eating enough as they spit alot of food out, but I realized that they were pod hunting. Glad I have a good stock to support them and my mandarin. Within the past 2 weeks or so they have become a bit more active and aggresive when I feed, which I am glad about. I am currently feeding frozen bloodworms, rod's frozen original blend, and most recently freeze dried bloodworms.

On an interesting note I recently picked up a LTA and briefly housed it in the same tank as my banggaiis while the nano I was gonning to put it in had the finishing touches done. In the few days the LTA was in the that tank the banggaiis loved it and would hover around it. Fun to watch, and is making me think about switching my rbta and lta to diffrent tanks.

 

[greg 45]

If you do a search sexing bangai cardnals
they show you how to determine sex

 

[Shananagans]

I have read several ways of sexing them. It seems that the only ways that people have found true success is by taking a dominant male and putting another banggaii in with it. If it does not bother it or hangs around it, it's a female. If it attacks it, it's a male. Also more recently people have been claining to be able to tell by the bumps under teh cardinal inbetween the fins. There should either be 1 or 2, but I believe these are only seen on adults and better seen after they have eaten.

 

[ssabey]

So, I ended up going with a pair and have had them I think 2 months. They were sent to me as juvis tho, so it will probly be a few more months before they are ready to get it on. I do have 2 concerns:

1. They one has been showing some aggersion towards the other. I do still see them hanging near eachother sometimes, but other times they are opposite ends of the tank and if they meet the one is chased away. I called liveaquaria, where I go them from and was informed that they can "unpair". I was kinda frustrated that I pid $80 for a matched pair that could have "unpaired" only 2 weeks after getting them.

I have found they are not easy to pair, give them time and they may "repair". Keep a close eye on them and if one decides to get really aggressive, ripped/torn fins, they will need to be separated or one may kill the other.

2. I have heard from a few people recently that tank breed males tend not to be great fathers and may only hold the eggs a few days and than they spit them out...

Wild caught have the same problem, (I don't think they spit them out I think they eat them).

I guess I'll have to wait and see

They are both health tho, at first I was not sure if they were eating enough as they spit alot of food out, but I realized that they were pod hunting. Glad I have a good stock to support them and my mandarin. Within the past 2 weeks or so they have become a bit more active and aggresive when I feed, which I am glad about. I am currently feeding frozen bloodworms, rod's frozen original blend, and most recently freeze dried bloodworms.

On an interesting note I recently picked up a LTA and briefly housed it in the same tank as my banggaiis while the nano I was gonning to put it in had the finishing touches done. In the few days the LTA was in the that tank the banggaiis loved it and would hover around it. Fun to watch, and is making me think about switching my rbta and lta to diffrent tanks.