Seabass's Banggai Cardinalfish Nursery

[seabass]

I would say that the majority of the fish are now eating the shaved mysis.  Some will aggressively go after it, while others are less enthusiastic.  However, it seems like all of them are still very enthusiastic about the water fleas; so I still try to feed that at least once a day.

 

I may continue to try some other foods, like Golden Pearls, just to see what other options I may have.  I have purchased a bunch of different foods, so I might as well experiment a little with them.

 

It's been about a month since they were released.  This is about the same time that the first batch started to develop SFS and die.  It wasn't much more than a week later that all of them had passed.  However, I'm much more confident with this batch.

[This guy is extra salty]

Sfs.?

standard file system ?

sanfransico?

[kimberbee]

Glad things are going well for the little guys and gals!!

[mcarroll]

25 minutes ago, This guy is extra salty said:

Sfs.?

standard file system ?

sanfransico?

SFS = Sandy Foot Syndrome

 

They get it from walking on the beach.  Terrible.

 

 

 

😉

[seabass]

Sudden Fright Syndrome.  It happens due to lack of highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA).  The babies "short circuit" when frightened.  They dart faster than seems possible, then lay motionless on the bottom (as if they are dead).  Sometimes they will start swimming again, but they usually die overnight.

[seabass]

With this second batch, all 16 babies are still alive, with no indication of sudden fright syndrome.  Although I can't yet speak on this with authority, it appears to be due to an improved diet.

 

Other changes are the tint on the back and sides of the tank, a beefed up biofilter, and a slightly higher flow rate from the filter.  I can't imagine the flow rate helping the fish all that much, maybe it helps with oxygen levels (or activity levels). 

 

There is currently no lighting directly above this tank.  However, it does get indirect light from the tanks to either side of it.  I'm thinking about hanging a PAR38 high above it to get them acclimated to reef lighting.  I don't anticipate any problems with that.

 

Even with minimal lighting, there is some hair algae growing on the rocks, sponge filter, and even tank bottom.  I added an Astraea snail to help with that.  So now there are 5 or 6 Nassarius snails and this new Astraea snail (I'll likely add another Astraea or two to the mix).

 

I've done a couple more 20% water changes over the last couple of days.  16 hungry fish can make a sizable mess.  I've been watching the parents.  They are both still eating, so no new eggs yet (it was about another week before the male was holding more eggs).

 

In the event of another batch, I'm considering setting up a 40 gallon tank for these fish.  I have a hard time imagining newborns with this group of juveniles.  Plus, their diets wouldn't be the same.  I don't really want to be in the business of raising cardinalfish, but can't just let another batch die either.

[seabass]

Aw crap!  The father is holding more eggs.  Come on guys, give me a break.

[seabass]

 

 

 

 

All 16 are still alive.  They eat shaved frozen mysis almost exclusively now.

[This guy is extra salty]

🤤

very awesome what are you going to do with the new hatchlings? Did the father barf more babies?

[seabass]

29 minutes ago, This guy is extra salty said:

Very awesome what are you going to do with the new hatchlings?

I suppose I'll try to sell them.  Problem is that it'd probably cost more than $30 to ship a $10 fish.  I'm going to try my local stores first.  I might even see if our zoo would like any donated cardinalfish.  Not sure if an online retailer would be interested.  It'd make the most sense to ship them all to the same place.

 

29 minutes ago, This guy is extra salty said:

Did the father barf more babies?

His mouth is awfully full.  I expect more babies any day.

[A.m.P]

This thread is so wonderful, glad to see so many are still looking healthy and putting on size!

[debbeach13]

They look great. I hope your LFS is interested in them. That would be the best solution for you and the fish. 

[seabass]

21 minutes ago, debbeach13 said:

I hope your LFS is interested in them.

Me too.  I suppose I'm open to anything that they might offer.  I guess I'm hoping for $5 store credit for each.  With the cost of food, equipment, and time spent, I can't say it'd profitable.  However, it would help recuperate some of the expense, and I'd be hopeful that they'd wind up in a good home.

 

I'll probably reach out to our local reef club too.  I gave a talk to them about nano reefs (something like 15 years ago), but I never joined.  I should probably join.

[seabass]

With the new babies on the way, I'm hurrying to setup another tank for the current juveniles, freeing up the current nursery for the new batch.  Here's the bare 40B stand I just made for them.

 

I used latex chalk to seal the seams, and will be painting it with black latex paint, then coated with a few coats of water based polyurethane.

 

 

[debbeach13]

Your investing more $$$ for even more tanks and equipment you probably could not make any money raising/breeding fish but doing what you are doing is wonderful. If the store or some local reefers buy them that means less taken from the ocean. 

[A.m.P]

33 minutes ago, seabass said:

With the new babies on the way, I'm hurrying to setup another tank for the current juveniles

And here I am waiting for a sheet of unused plate glass to go up on Craigslist or Facebook to build a tank... Your dedication is pretty inspiring, hopefully your Cardinals give you a break, I did read somewhere that separating the male and female might be necessary as the female can breed the male to death by malnutrition. Hopefully not an issue with your pair.

[seabass]

5 minutes ago, Amphrites said:

I did read somewhere that separating the male and female might be necessary as the female can breed the male to death by malnutrition.

That makes sense, but I may have to separate them for my sake.  It's amazing that the male can survive for almost a month without food.  Surprisingly, I read that the breeding females tend to have a shorter lifespan than the breeding males.

[A.m.P]

That is really interesting, fish are pretty odd, I wonder if it's overall rougher on the female producing the eggs than the male simply not eating anything but unviable embyros.

[seabass]

11 minutes ago, Amphrites said:

I wonder if it's overall rougher on the female producing the eggs than the male simply not eating anything but unviable embyros.

I believe that's the prevailing theory.

[mcarroll]

9 hours ago, seabass said:

That makes sense, but I may have to separate them for my sake.  It's amazing that the male can survive for almost a month without food.  Surprisingly, I read that the breeding females tend to have a shorter lifespan than the breeding males.

I agree.  Seems like they're adapted for being around lots more individuals.  Pterapogon kauderni indicates they're common in larger numbers, so ordinarily there'd be opportunity for a female to re-pair with a "more robust" male whenever needed.  Like when the male runs off bubbling: "No more!  No more!"

 

Wonder if that "wear factor" goes for liver-bearers from freshwater too?

[Patty]

Such a fun and amazing thread! 

[seabass]

The new babies are about to be released.  In preparation, I've painted and coated the new stand with polyethylene.

 

Here are a few of the juveniles.  And surprisingly, I have an outbreak of sponges (along with some hair algae).

 

 

An iPhone video that I just took of them:

 

[Wonderboy]

They look SUPER healthy! You did an amazing job!

[Patty]

Awesome job! How is the father doing? Still holding eggs?. 

[seabass]

13 hours ago, Wonderboy said:

They look SUPER healthy! You did an amazing job!

Thanks so much.  They seem to be getting big, fast (some a little bigger than others).  I feed them three times a day (two feedings of mysis and one feeding of cyclops).  The biggest ones seem to aggressively feed on the mysis; but all of them still attack the cyclops.  I've tried some other foods, but they seem to like these the best.

 

8 minutes ago, Patty said:

Awesome job!

Thanks Patty.

 

9 minutes ago, Patty said:

How is the father doing?

He's doing fine.  Just casually observing them, you probably wouldn't know anything is up.  It's interesting that, when I feed the tank, he swims right up to food then stops like, "oh yeah that's right, I can't eat with all these fish in my mouth".

 

13 minutes ago, Patty said:

Still holding eggs?. 

As of last night he was.  I haven't checked yet today.  He usually releases the babies at night.  I expect he'll release them any day now.