Banghai Cardinal Fry

[gvv]

After 23 days of carrying the eggs my male spit few of them, but still have something in his mouth yet.
I cannot watch him, as he didn't eat anything while he carrying the eggs/fry. I would die after not eating for 3 weeks... You may spot him behind in the rocks - he is pretty shy.

I checked in internet and lloks like it will be very difficult to raise them - mortality rate is quite big during first few weeks, but we will see...

[ray]

Congrats Vitali,I have some Otohime if you need it.

Ray

[Greatwhite]

Well that's the coolest thing I've seen all day!

[Cheebs]

Awesome!!! Good luck!

[Darth]

that is wicked!!!! BTW what is that thing with the spikes? is that just protection from the spikes

[sas]

Very nice! Congrats, hopefully they'll survive for you.

[washefuzzy]

They are so cute. Congrats

[gvv]

that is wicked!!!! BTW what is that thing with the spikes? is that just protection from the spikes

I found somewhere that usually in the wild (or sometimes in tanks) the fry hiding in the spines of urchins. So, this is "artificial urchin"
What's funny - they get into it...

Thanks all!
I will try post the updates...

[Nerine]

Awesome! Good luck with the fry!!

[Peekay]

That is awesome.  They are so cute!   

[rockgarden]

Congratulations.

[donkey_mittens]

That is awesome... wish you all the best... keep us posted

[Cheebs]

How are they doing today? Are they eating?

[gvv]

Thank you all!

Here is the update
There were 11 of them at first day. Today (25th day of holding) I can see 14, but farther is still holding fry in his mouth. Now he looks very weird - like one big head.

I have several bottles where hatching BBS, so every morning I put freshly hatched BBS, some enriched BBS (phytofeast and SELCO) from the second bottle
It is very difficult to see if they are eating or not, but their stomachs look fool. They still swimming between spikes of the "artificial urchin", which looks pretty cool.
No casualties for 3 days, but the most critical period from day 10 to 30, as I read from some articles in internet

[gvv]

After 4 weeks of holding eggs/baby father was put back. Looks pretty weak, so now I will have to feed him extensively
No idea how many fry I got - cannot count as they have this contrast color and I getting confused. Probably between 30-40..
They actively feeding on BBS. I also trying to add some Otohime dry food, but not sure they are taking it right now.

[sas]

Awe they look great! Awesome pic.
Hopefully dad will put his weight back on quickly,
he must be starving.

[Cheebs]

Wow what a big batch! I count at least 39 in the picture. Wicked.

[Nyx]

Congratulations! This is awesome! 

[vonG]

any updates???

[gvv]

OK, today is day 10 after father spit the last one...
Father is in the "home" tank and fry feels fine. No casualties yet.
There are some bigger guys and some smaller. I assume it depends on when they get out of the father mouth and start feeding, so larger are those who get out earlier and smaller, are those who get out last.
They look like became twice a size they were 10 days ago...
Still feeding with BBS, but planning to start adding Otohime dry food. Not sure how it will work, but just in case, to get rid of excess food, I put several molly fry into the same tank as well. These guys are pigs and hope they will show that dry food can be good

[Hookup]

Congrats.  Nice parenting job.   

[sas]

Great stuff, they look really good.

[mchotdog]

OK, today is day 10 after father spit the last one...
Father is in the "home" tank and fry feels fine. No casualties yet.
There are some bigger guys and some smaller. I assume it depends on when they get out of the father mouth and start feeding, so larger are those who get out earlier and smaller, are those who get out last.
They look like became twice a size they were 10 days ago...
Still feeding with BBS, but planning to start adding Otohime dry food. Not sure how it will work, but just in case, to get rid of excess food, I put several molly fry into the same tank as well. These guys are pigs and hope they will show that dry food can be good

hey! how are those baby fish doing? want to see updates!

[gvv]

Didn't take pictures lately, but in short till now I got 3 dead bodies. Not sure what is the cause, but this is not due to aggression. Most probably my fault... Once I found out that my heater is working too hard and temp raise up to 27 C and this is fine, but a lot of oxygen should be present, otherwise this is not good.  But I didn't have problems even with this. The main problem is that they are VERY nervios. If the lights going up/down suddenly, they may get heart attacks - no kidding. I myself saw how one of them after the lights were put on started moving like crazy around the tank and then drop dead in few moments. So after that I had to take care and turn up ambient lights take off canopy, turn it up and slowly move it over the tank. Right now they get more "stable" about these sudden changes and without problems I even can change the water.
Currently they are about 3/4". I also missed and didn't take the father out, when he got another bunch ready, so I assume all of them have been eaten in my tank as I cannot find any of them.

I will post a picture as soon as I will be able to -  was too busy with my DIY LED lighting. Spend the whole Christmas/New Year week assebling the lights and controller together. Now it is in the test stage but I should say that my 400W MH light looked less bright than new LED that has 39 LEDs ( including 4 Reds and 4 Greens)... It is over my 65G tank.

[mchotdog]

will you be putting them up for sale after they grow bigger?

[brotherluv]

I'd buy a couple if you do...

[gvv]

Sorry, no plans for selling them yet...
The only one plan right now is to grow them   

[Nerine]

Glad they are still alive
Did you apply for your BAP points?

[gvv]

Nope.
My opinion is that successful breeding is when at the end you have practically adult fish
So, I will apply later... 

[vonG]

can we have pics of the little troop of cardinals???

[ccra18]

So cool! Do you have any recent pics? I would also buy a couple if you end up selling them!
Great job!

Chris

[gvv]

Was busy...
Will try to post some pictures soon.
They are not growing as fast I would like them to...

Meanwhile got the second bunch of fry, but this time it was not so big - about 20 only.

[gvv]

When I decided to take some pictures I found out that the lights are already off, so here are some pictures I took 2 weeks ago

[gvv]

Also from 2 weeks ago - father spit some eggs, that were not fry at that moment at all. I didn't expect them to survive but they did...

[kole18]

This is so amazing now your a father again congrats!

[Cheebs]

Wow that IS amazing, good job!!

[Sharbuckle]

Super cool!

[gvv]

Here are some pics of latest batch. You may already saw eggs on the botom of the tank. I was surprised that they ALL survived...

[gvv]

And these are the pics of the older guys... I have just CF bulb that sucks and don't clean the tank often, so the pics are not perfect ...
Why I don't clean often? I found out that they are VERY shy and if I get into the tank they dropping to the bottom, laying like dead. Few minutes later they start swimming again, but I don't want to hurt them often
Currently they are 1" in size. The problem is that they don't accept any other food except live right now. I have to grow brine shrimp and this is pain...
If anyone have an idea how to force them eat frozen or prepared food - you are very welcome to post the comments!

[Cheebs]

Have you tried a variety of frozen food? Perhaps some specialty blends would work.

[gvv]

Tried Frozen Brine Shrimp - they don't care. But the Cleaner shrimp I put in the tank is happy...
Currently growing brine shrimp to some nearly adult stage, so maybe if they realize that live and frozen look the same they will start eating it. At least this is how my Anthias start eating the frozen food

I had some FW and found out that they are much better switching even to dry food when they are hungry. With these guys I just afraid to experiment... Sometimes I'm giving the Otohime fry food (my clown fry loved it), but  cannot spot them taking it.

[mchotdog]

you need to start selling them!!!