Bangaii Cardinal Pairing Method
 

I would like to get a mated pair of Bangaii Cardinals in my reef. What is the best way to start with this species in order to get a pair? Do I purchase about 5 of them and remove the ones that I see fighting and hope that I have a pair remaining? What are some of the experiences of those of you that have this species of cardinal?

Hi
Can I recommend you do a search, this topic is frequently discussed here. Besides the search, I posted this earlier this month

Here is a freebie from an upcomming husbandry article

Generating pairs: it is still possible to generate breeding pairs without knowing the sexes of the fish. finding compatible mates takes time and careful attention, and I have used these approaches below varying degrees of success

Method #1- A group of sub-adults (3 to 5 individuals) are placed together in a communal tank where they develop pair bonds as they mature. Once pairs are formed and move away from the group, the “outsider” fish are removed. It is important to note that any BC seen with dark coloration and cowering in a corner must be removed immediately or it will soon die.

Method #2- Place a fish of unknown sex with a known “sexed” fish. Back in 1995 I had a male banggai who was 100% accurate in sexing. When a new BC was placed in his tank, he did one of two things. A) Try to beat the snot of out him (new fish=male) or mate with it (new fish=female). This technique often requires a bit of time as initially the established known sexed fish will display and present to either sex, but within 30mins the display are over and the fighting or mating starts. What I found useful was a small breeding net with thin mesh webbing, this way the established fish can view the new fish, but not get access to the new fish.

Method #3- purchase two BC’s from an LFS that has a tank full of multiple BC’s and choose the two fish that’s are “hanging out” together, frequently away from the other fish.

My personal choice when obtaining pairs or broodstock is to obtain many young (small) BC and allow them to pair up as they mature. Frequently multiple pairs of BC can be obtained this way.

frank

I have been reading the articles on this subject and I have seen all three methods discussed. I want to raise from a captive bred pair and as we know they are the more costly choice, but zero impact on the environment. If me getting 5 individuals is the easiest method, then I will take that path. I want to be sure of a direction and stick with it as I will have to do the ordering of the individuals online (no LFS stores care these as captive bred) As with my false percs, I won't support wild caught anymore and that is all they will deal with because of cost savings to them and the ability to move the fish with lower prices. Except for the live rock that I have had for 15 years, most everything has come from frags or from captive breeding. But I digress.....I am guessing that if I start with 5 BC's then remove the remaining 3. I could end up with another pair coming from the remaining 3 and end up with a loner. BUt I would guess that this would be a rare occurrance.

Thanks for the tips,
Rich

What i have done is observe a group of young (nearly mature)bangaii's. A pair that is forming will tend to stay away from the group and closer together. Then just remove the pair. Also i find adult females to have a rounder belly and males have a straight belly.

I got lucky and bought two tank raised bangaii's and one was a male the other a female.

PS. If u r in western pa the seahorse gets tr bangaii's. That's where i bought mine.

good luck

Thanks for the tips.... I am also led to believe that if I were to buy 5 CB Bangaii's at the same time that I more than likely will have brothers and sisters. This would start a complete genetic deficiency from the offspring, right?