Bangai Round 2

[spk]

Hey folks,

Looks like they have been at it again. The male has stopped eating again and looks as if he is carrying again.

Does anyone know what the tiem space is between broods?

Thanks.

Steve

[Kathy55g]

this is all good. I think the timing will vary depending on your fish. Time to get out the calendar and take notes!

[jacob30]

Make sure you feed him extra in between broods. It sounds like the female is keeping him busy. If he does not get at least a couple of weeks between broods I would be very concerned. Good luck!!

[mark0933]

Mine tends to go straight for 2 batches (about 3-4 days between) then seems to miss a month or so.

Mark

[FMarini]

can be as short as a few days.
I try to seperate the males from the females after releasing the last brood, and allow them to eat again. My experience has been the makes after carrying consecutive broods start to get thin, and then start aborting due to malnutrition.
you can read about it here
http://www.reefs.org/library/talklog/f_marini_020799.html

[spk]

Folks,
thanks for a great response.

Kathy, yes now is the time to start that whole process. Will be aiming to get pictures right through the process and see if there is a marked difference in his mouth as the time progresses.

Mark, it looks as if there has been about 4 days between these batches, so maybe they might miss a couple of weeks between the next lot.

The really sad thing is that it looks as if I might not be around when this lot hatch again :(. I will wait to see what the dates look like.

Thanks again.

steve

[spk]

Just a really quick update:

Move "Dad" to the sump last night as I flew to America today and now we wait and see what the hatch number is.

Steve

[Kathy55g]

Good luck, Steve, I hope you get lots! Where are you flying to?

[jnowell]

Glad to hear it Steve, but you gotta stay in the UK to see some hatch sometime :) Vikki can't do all your dirty work for you...even if she does love it. I think you're very lucky to have someone who is willing (and obviously quite able) to put in the time when your away. Cheers to both of you, keep it up!

Jason

[spk]

Folks,

thanks for the comments. Yes I am very lucky to have such a wonderful better half. Vikki is superb.

Kathy, I am in Princeton for a couple of days and get back Friday morning. Randy has just shipped me some IA that I am really looking forward to taking home with me, and I hope that the other stuff that I ordered whilst I was in Minneaplois will get here on time this time.

Jason, I wish I was at home to see this lot, but maybe next time. I am negotiating with the office to get some time off for Paternity leave, but this is proving a little difficult at the moment. :D :p :rollface:

Steve

[spk]

Well Folks,

Just a wuick update. Today we have a single new little one. He still has a mouth full of babies though, I have seen the fins. Now we wait for the rest.

Steve

[Doc Hollywood]

Glad to hear, spk, looks like you are a dad again.
If he has sparted to spit, dont let nature take its course do it yourself, isolate him in a bucket with the water he just came from, carefully grab him by the tail and start dunking him until he spits them all.

[spk]

Doc,

that is a high tech way to induce the babies:D
Would never have thought of doing it that way.

thanks for the advice.

Steve

[spk]

Another 8!

Yes the male has finally released more of the little ones for me.

There are currently a total of 8 more little ones. I have tried to feed the male but he is not eating, so I can only presume that there are still a few more in there.

Will update as things progress.

Steve

[spk]

Well folks,

8 it s and they are all doing well.
Here they are.
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploads/Baby batch 2.jpg

the really nice thing is that there are now a total of 14 sitting in the sump. 6 older big brothers and 8 little babies.

Steve

[Doc Hollywood]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6510713#post6510713 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by spk
Another 8!

Yes the male has finally released more of the little ones for me.

There are currently a total of 8 more little ones. I have tried to feed the male but he is not eating, so I can only presume that there are still a few more in there.

Will update as things progress.

Steve

I have found that he may not eat for a day or two after spitting. Dont know why mabye he has a sore jaw or something, or his swallow reflex has to kick in again. Here is a new pic of my 1 week olds.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/1052481weekold.jpg

[Kathy55g]

Wonderful pictures!

[spk]

Doc,

Some nice fish there. What is your feeding regime?

Steve

[Doc Hollywood]

Hey Steve,

I feed them twice a day, once at 8am and then about 4 or 5 pm. I start them out on just hatched artemia for a week or so and then start enriching the artemia before giving it to them. I either grow it out in green water or I have an artificial enrichment that is awesome but takes some mucking around to make. After 4 weeks i will start adding shaved brine shrimp into so artemia and gradually lessen the artemia so by about week six they are weened onto total solids with the occassional live treat if I have some large artemia swimming about.
Heres a pic of the 6 week olds.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/537/1052486_week_olds.JPG

[spk]

Doc,

Ok, I am curious, how big are your 6 week olds. from tip to end of tail?

Steve

[jnowell]

You guys are going to keep this up, and I'm gonna have to get some Bangaiis :D Very nice pics, and congrats Steve (and Doc)

[Doc Hollywood]

Hopefully this pic will work ok. One thing my wife has reminded me of, these little guys are now seven weeks not six.:rolleyes:
But they now range from 2 to 2.5 cms.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/537/105248lenght.J

[Doc Hollywood]

MMMM, wonder what went wrong .
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/537/105248lenght.JPG

[spk]

Jason,

These were perhaps the best option for me to start on. Now comes the progression to something a little more difficult.

Doc, thanks for the pics. Really appreciate that. Will do the same later today and post. When are you planning to sell?

Steve

[spk]

Ok Folks,

Just a quick update.

Have lost two of this group in the last two days.:( Not quite sure what has caused this, but think that it could be food related.

I have been feeding BBS still and started adding Freeze Dried Cyclopeeze for the older batch in the sump. The little ones of course have started eating this too!

Vikki on a downer last night when I got home as we found the 2nd little one dying. She could not find the other day before last.

Needless to say I have stopped the cyclopeeze and will now just increase the BBS feeds.

Updates to follow........

[fishes2889]

wow amazing pics!!!!!! keep up the good work!!!!

peace

[Kathy55g]

Death from freeze dried cyclopeeze. Dman had a similar experience feeding it to 7 day clownfish. I have not seen this with my fish, but then, I lost my entire last batch. My older fish love the stuff, and are still thriving.

Hmm...

[NicoleC]

I don't suppose ya'll could compare batch numbers, assuming there is one on the bottles.

Or, possibly, freeze-dried foods cause some sort of problem. Dehydration?

[spk]

Nicole,

Great idea int he comparison......

But, there is no batch number anywhere on the can. perhaps it was on the lid which I threw away when I opened the can.

I am also guessing that this is the cause, as this is the one thing that is different this time around. Well almost, I started feeding the tank with PhytoFeast when I got back from the US the last trip I made.


Steve

Deep in thought.....

[FuEl]

I always preferred frozen cyclopeeze compared to freeze dried cyclopeeze. Freeze dried ones always have the tendency to float and become inaccessible to small fish. Maybe the fish died as they ingested some "airy" cyclopeeze? Not sure if they might have difficulties in purging out the excess air in such food considering their age.

[NicoleC]

Interesting idea about injesting air, FuEl. I would think that would apply to flake food then as well.

I have seen fish turn up their noses at cyclopeeze flake and freeze dried, but eat frozen with enthusiasm. Or, they just don't response to the non-frozen as well.

I have to say that I vastly prefer my steak frozen over freeze-dried, so I can't blame them!

[FuEl]

Yep, the ability to expel excess gases might be limited in young fish due to the swim bladder being newly developed. Frozen food does have its advantages as some chemical cues that stimulate feeding response might be destroyed from the freeze-drying process. And not to mention that frozen cyclopeeze retains the shape better, most of freeze-dried cyclopeeze are not in their whole form (most are partially dismembered).

[spk]

Some superb ideas and thoughts.

To get round the float, what I was doing was to place a couple of pinches in water letting them soak for a while, then using a pipet to deliver the resulting mix locally to where the fish are.

Steve

[spk]

Hi

Thought I'd keep you updated.... It looks like we're now going to round three!!! Daddy Bangai is looking thoroughly fed up & very fat lipped & of course not eating again! Can't help but feel sorry for the poor guy, I feel really bad feeding the tank as he just sits in the corner and looks at the glass til it's all over.

Vikki

[spk]

Ok, another update, rather a sad one I am afraid.

Last week the Babies were released into the main tank. Unfortunately they become breakfast/lunch/supper. I made the decision not to move the male till this weekend thinking we had a few days.

How wrong was I :mad2: Now we will move the male a week before due date next time. That is if I can count.

Steve

[Kathy55g]

Oh, ... sorry. But the hopefull thing is you get to try again with the next batch.

[spk]

Kathy,

I could jsut kick myself. I should have moved him before I flew out, but time was just not there. Oh, well you are right i will attempt again with the next one.
The goosd news is that the LFS wants more and more, so there is a huge demand in this area.
:D

Steve

PS: How are yours doing?

[BlackOnyx]

what do you do with all your young Doc?

[spk]

Doc,

I wish I had that propblem. My first hatch consisted of 6, all of which will be taken to the LFS on Saturday. The second batch consisted of 8, of which 5 are still alive.

I am not sure why I do not get anywhere the numbers that hatches reach over there. I wish, as I have a market over here for Captive Bred Bangaii.

Thanks

Steve

[Doc Hollywood]

One of my mates owns an aquarium over here. I dive and collect for him, so my Bangaiis and Zenia and all other propogations etc go to him.