Cardinal Breeding

[Str8linespeed]

I was lucky enough to have a breeding pair of Cardinal. I let daddy do his thing for the last 3 batches but he ate everyone. I decided to try to make my own tumbler, but that didnt tumble and the eggs all rotted. So I bought tumbler. Mommy just had another batch of eggs about an hour ago and I already have them into the tumbler.

Im just wondering if anyone on here has had luck with egg hatch for Cardinals?

[JonezNReef]

You should try letting daddy do his thing the first 26 to 28 days and they basically get him to release the fry. I am hoping to attempt this if I ever find two that will pair. There are quite a few good sites if you google it.

[Str8linespeed]

Well like I mentioned I did let him try the first 3 batches. The 3rd batch, he ate within 2 days. I think the first batch he held the longest and that was about 1.5 weeks. Although during that time he was slowly eating them. Hence why I decided to give the tumbler a try.

I did find a couple of sites for Cardinal breeding. I was simply curious if anyone on here has had any luck breeding there own.

[sde1500]

I think a few people on here have, I'd have to dig for some threads though. I was looking to get a breeding pair myself, but not sure I want to put in the time haha. You have to feed them like crazy, really fatten up that daddy before he goes on his hunger strike to hatch the eggs.

[farfromsea]

Yes you may need to separate the pair for a bit and let him eat before his mouth is full of eggs again. There is an enlightening article in Coral magazine floating the web that could provide some insight too. I know some reefers feel like the mated pair usually fail as first time parents and eat the eggs but after a bit they finally get a hatch. But definitely if the dad eats them he is likely super hungry...


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[Str8linespeed]

Just an update on my Cardinals. I have 5 that made it out of 20+. What I noticed is the Cardinal eggs stick together in the tumbler and dont independently float around. At about the 12day mark, I noticed almost all the eggs had tails, and every egg had eyes. They were all still stuck together tumbling around. At about 15 days I was starting to get some rotten eggs. So I took my pipette and decided to blow water at the eggs, they came apart more, and I was able to suck out the rotten eggs. The eggs that floated independently are the Im pretty sure the 5 that are still alive. Pretty much every egg that was stuck to another egg rotted away.

I have some ideas to try for the next batch, but Im pretty excited to have these 5 cardinals.

[JonezNReef]

Congrats! Keep us updated on how things go and what you figure out

[Str8linespeed]

Well good time for an update...

Sadly 2 of them have did not make it so Im down to 3. Of those 3, one looks like a typical Cardinal. Two of them have what I would call a birth defect. One of them does not have the long pectoral fins, the other one has only one of the fins and its other fin is tucked tight against its body. Funny thing is the one without the lower pectoral fins is quite the swimmer and is all over the 10gal. tank.

Today was the first day I introduced frozen. It was not the whole mysis, just a little bit of the liquid from thawing. The three of them seem to be very happy and healthy so far and growing well, other than the defects.

Daddy Cardinal is carrying a mouth full of eggs which happened on the 6th. We are going to let him go with this round. This is the longest he has ever held them in his mouth with out eating them. I think Mom Cardinal yelled at him. Seriously, she used to just lay the eggs, dad would take them and she had nothing else to do with him. This time around, she is by his side day and night. I have to say the personality of fish is one of the funniest things to watch.

[edandsandy]

Have you tried to feed the pair a heavy amount of mysis shrimp in between the breeding cycle?

Normally the male will eat the eggs during incubation if he's not feed enough between the breeding cycle...

[Str8linespeed]

Originally Posted by edandsandy

Have you tried to feed the pair a heavy amount of mysis shrimp in between the breeding cycle?

Normally the male will eat the eggs during incubation if he's not feed enough between the breeding cycle...

No I have not. Her breeding cycle is all over the board. Sometimes it might take her 2 months, other times just 1 month. He is also in the DT, so I dont want to feed really heavy in that tank. Im not certain I want to take them out and just breed them, but I figured I would try this experiment and see how it goes. So far he has held the eggs and does not seem to be eating them. If he does so be it, well thats nature I guess.

As for the babies. I thought they were deformed but some where just slow to develop. They all have there fins and are doing well. I've been slowly trying to get them to eat frozen but they have not taken to it yet.

[farfromsea]

Glad to hear the babies are not mutants. Post some pics!


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[Str8linespeed]

Here are 2 of the 3. The 3rd one was hiding behind a rock and I could not get a good pic. You can see the 1/4" air line tubing next to them to give a size reference.

Babies.jpg

[farfromsea]

Looking good!


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[JonezNReef]

They are looking good.
Have you gave the babies a place to hide? In nature they hide in the spines of a urchin so some people will give them something similar. Just a suggestion but not mandatory.

[Str8linespeed]

Originally Posted by JonezNReef

They are looking good.
Have you gave the babies a place to hide? In nature they hide in the spines of a urchin so some people will give them something similar. Just a suggestion but not mandatory.

Thank you, I did make an urchin for them as well as put some live rock in there tank. They would rather hang out by the air line tubing and heater. LOL

Still working on getting them to try Mysis, they will go up and inspect it but that is about it I also try squirting some of the water the mysis was thawed in to see if they will go for the flavor of the water... Of course that is hard to tell, but it was an idea.. Do any of you have any thoughts to get them to eat the mysis? Perhaps garlic flavoring?

[farfromsea]

Maybe the mysis is too big? Some people do report their fish like garlic.

[Mashaw]

Cardinal need to learn how to raise there young, so the more batches he holds the better succses rate you will have, once he has spat the fry out you need to power feed him as much as you can when he has no eggs,

Dont split the pair up to fed him as this can upset the breeding relationship,

[Str8linespeed]

Well my one lonely survivor is finally eating frozen food, its been just over 2 months and its doing great in the 10 gallon tank. My question is at what point can I move it to the display tank along with my other fish? I dont want it to become fresh food for anyone....

[farfromsea]

How big it is and what other fish do you have?


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[Str8linespeed]

The baby is about the size of a quarter, including it's fins. In the DT i have.... 2 Cardinals, 2 clowns, 1 starry blenny, 1 diamond goby, 1 people firefish, 1 royal Gramma, 1 Christmas wrasse

[Str8linespeed]

Well crap, I waited a few days before I put the baby in the DT. I saw the daddy cardinal picking on it before the lights went off and today I can not find the baby anywhere. 4 months of work growing the lone survivor and gone overnight...

Still holding out hope that the baby is just hiding really good somewhere in the rock work.

[farfromsea]

Oh no!! Next time do an acclimation box. They will breed again!!


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[JonezNReef]

Sorry to hear that. Atleast you have the experience now and know what to expect in the future. I am sure you will get another chance and this time it might even be easier with a higher success rate.