PJ Cardinals Eggs

[reefing102]

Ok, one of the employees i work with has a pair of PJ's that had eggs. She has hence put them in a breeder net because she doesn't have a spare tank right now. The thing is though that when she netted the fish it spit the eggs out. Will it recollect the eggs or will the eggs end up dying

TIA

[JetCat USA]

No He won't pick them back up. they'll get a fungus on them unless you wanna put forth ALLOT of effort and PJs just aren't worth that effort. it's best to keep track of the time he's been holding and net him just before they are due to be spit, you can see them (eyes) in his mouth at that time too.

[Atticus]

Originally posted by JetCat USA
No He won't pick them back up. they'll get a fungus on them unless you wanna put forth ALLOT of effort and PJs just aren't worth that effort. it's best to keep track of the time he's been holding and net him just before they are due to be spit, you can see them (eyes) in his mouth at that time too.

Your eyes are better than mine if you can see planktonic fry eyes... It is possible, but not probable for him to pick them up. Your best bet would be to let them go and catch the male after about 8 days and try to raise the fry. They do not release little fish like bangaii. You will need rotifers and green water. If you don't want to give up on them... Buy a brine shrimp hatcher that holds a 2 liter bottle upside down. Throw a heater, some tank water, and the eggs in there. Keep the bubbles to a slow steady stream, just enough to keep the eggs in suspension and pray... Good luck.

[bangaii man]

My only experience is with Bangaii cardinal fish. when one of the fish stop eating you can then start to see the red eggs in his mouth. about 20 days later I try to net him. if I can get him quickly then I can transfer him with the eggs in his mouth. If I stress him out a lot he will spit out the eggs in the net. in about 8 spit out batches I have never had them picked up again by the male. I made my own egg tumbler for about $2.00. I took a small airstone and cut the netting out of a small green fish net. I took the netting and put it in the center of 2-6" pieces of 1" diameter clear pipe (looks like it was a riser from an old under gravel filter). I put the airstone on the bottom and the eggs in the middle and set the airstone to just a small trickle of bubbles which accumulate under the netting and then bubble through every minute or so juggling the eggs. if you leave the top just below the top of the tank water, when the eggs hatch the fish can swim out, you just have to be sure that the unhatched eggs don't bubble out.

the baby bangaii eat live Baby brine shrimp

good luck

[driftin]

There's probably an update from the OP available by now, just noticed how much time has gone by...

My experience with the PJ's in my tank, similar to Atticus's post:

Day 1 is the first day the male is carrying the eggs in his mouth. They eggs look pink at this stage. By day 5 the eggs have silver coloration and shortly thereafter the eyes are visible. My male seems to release the night of day 8.

I would say the closer to Day 8 your coworker tried to net him the better the chances... however - the larvae that are released need a source of food, ie rotifers. I wouldn't expect a high survival rate in the tank.