Pterapogon kauderni (Banggai Cardinalfish)

[fragman2]

Great thread guys. For what it’s worth I raised at least a dozen clutches of Banggai cardinals from multiple pairs and generations out to F3. I found a frozen food that worked really well and prevented the larval shock syndrome that happens when you feed only Baby brine shrimp. NutraMar Ova - Prawn Roe. So I used both BBS and the Prawn Roe. I didn’t have the time, space and expertise to do all of those various copepod cultures. At the very least this should help you when your cultures aren’t supplying food at the moment that you need it. Keep up the good work!

 

[Almondkc]

Mine have just started to eat both live tigger pods and tigger pod feast. I have ordered roe and more tigger feast from reef nutrition. Fingers crossed they seem to be thriving and doing well with the offered foods. Worth mentioning that I have tried rotifeast and they did consume it, only when I mixed it with tank water and then use the dropper to feed them.

They now readily come to the surface because I feed them in the same corner with a plastic dropper and they must now recognize that as part of eating. I do find myself feeding them about 5 times throughout the day.

 

[Reef Nutrition]

Mine have just started to eat both live tigger pods and tigger pod feast. I have ordered roe and more tigger feast from reef nutrition. Fingers crossed they seem to be thriving and doing well with the offered foods. Worth mentioning that I have tried rotifeast and they did consume it, only when I mixed it with tank water and then use the dropper to feed them.

They now readily come to the surface because I feed them in the same corner with a plastic dropper and they must now recognize that as part of eating. I do find myself feeding them about 5 times throughout the day.

This is really good to hear. You an also feed them TDO Chroma BOOST. In fact, some breeders have been able to feed TDO on day 1, never needing live feeds. https://reefnutrition.com/product_tdo_chroma_boost.php

Do you have a recent video or picture of them?

Best,
Chad

 

[Almondkc]

Chad: I have the three different sized of TDO Chroma BOOST and have not been able to get them to eat it yet. This is a short video I just shot of them after putting in the BBS for them to eat: Thanks for the reply.

David

 

[Almondkc]

I got my shipment from Reed Mariculture and made a small batch of feed consisting of the roe and tjgger feast and some salt water to make it disperse easily for the fry. Good news is they went nuts for it and it is step one to getting off live food. I will still feed bbs at least once or twice out of the 5 feeds a day

 

[Reef Nutrition]

I got my shipment from Reed Mariculture and made a small batch of feed consisting of the roe and tjgger feast and some salt water to make it disperse easily for the fry. Good news is they went nuts for it and it is step one to getting off live food. I will still feed bbs at least once or twice out of the 5 feeds a day

Very good to hear, David. Would love to see a feeding demo, if you have the time.

Best,
Chad

 

[Almondkc]

It has been a while since I did my last update, so I thought I would let you know what has been happening with my fry. I have lost a few (4) and it is due to the 'sudden death' where they get a bit of a fright from something. A fish net, a foreign element in their brood container like a cleaning tool. They are still feeding on the roe, tigger pods and newly hatched baby brine shrimp. I have tried to introduce pellets - extra small and no luck. I will keep trying. I must say that the adults are aggressively waiting outside the brood pen....like a shark with a diver.

Since I have a few and they will not co-exist in a 45 gallon, I spoke to a LFS I frequent and he offered $5 for each one at 2 months of age. Sure glad we don't do this for the money, there isn't any in it.

 

[Almondkc]

Lost another tonight and assume that it did not vie for food well. Tried to spread the food out each time to ensure everyone got an equal chance. I think a separate tank - say 10 gallon would have them doing better. Next time

 

[Almondkc]

Yesterday I cleaned out the 10 gallon Waterbox since the macro had some aiptasia in it and did a bit of spring cleaning (all be it winter cleaning) before putting in the fry. I moved them from the DT to the 10 gallon by leaving them in the plastic brood chamber and put another tray under it to hold in the water and make it as transparent as possible to the fry so I don't loose any more. I am now at 10 total fry. My next challenge is to get them off of BBS and onto something not as time consuming. I am going to try a few days of just the ROE and Tigger Feast watered down to help it break apart more readily in the water column. When it is used as prepared, the viscosity causes them to not be interested. When mixed with saltwater the roe and tigger move with the water flow and they go after it. Just a reminder the fry are at about 7 weeks old.

 

[Almondkc]

Very good to hear, David. Would love to see a feeding demo, if you have the time.

Best,
Chad

Chad...I will try to get the feeding demo done this week and posted. Things have been a bit hectic. Thanks for your patience. David

 

[sabeypets]

It has been a while since I did my last update, so I thought I would let you know what has been happening with my fry. I have lost a few (4) and it is due to the 'sudden death' where they get a bit of a fright from something. A fish net, a foreign element in their brood container like a cleaning tool. They are still feeding on the roe, tigger pods and newly hatched baby brine shrimp. I have tried to introduce pellets - extra small and no luck. I will keep trying. I must say that the adults are aggressively waiting outside the brood pen....like a shark with a diver.

Since I have a few and they will not co-exist in a 45 gallon, I spoke to a LFS I frequent and he offered $5 for each one at 2 months of age. Sure glad we don't do this for the money, there isn't any in it.

The "sudden death" you are experiencing is called Sudden Fright Syndrome (that Chad mentioned) and is caused from a diet of baby brine shrimp. I have raised several hundred and been very successful with feeding only TDO from day 1.

 

[Almondkc]

I have purchased the TDO extra small and haven't had any luck getting them to eat it yet. I will keep trying, perhaps now that they are in the 10 gallon and not the DT they won't be distracted. My fish in the DT love the TDO and certainly my LPS do as well. Thank you for your reply.

 

[Almondkc]

Well, for what ever reason. The BC fry aren’t eating the roe, the tigger feast or the TDO extra small. I am culturing more bbs and perhaps need to wait a little longer to change the food

 

[sabeypets]

Well, for what ever reason. The BC fry aren’t eating the roe, the tigger feast or the TDO extra small. I am culturing more bbs and perhaps need to wait a little longer to change the food

That's the second biggest issue I had, getting them hooked on live food not wanting to switch over to dry or frozen. TDO B1 is the size I started with

 

[Almondkc]

Sabeypets, thank you for the response. The B1 is less than half the size of the X-Small. I will order the B1 and if it doesn't work for this brood - I can start out with that for the next one. Really appreciate your help.

 

[Almondkc]

Sabeypets: Do you let it float, or push the TDO into the water column, or soak it first?

 

[Almondkc]

I got the B1 TDO today and can't believe what a difference the size is...almost not granular, but 'grains'. I just fed BBS so at the next feed will try the B1 and fingers crossed, they will take to it. I think the key is going from live food to prepared.

 

[sabeypets]

They like to eat out of the water column at first so I push it in to the water. Try feeding TDO during the day and the last feeding feed brineshrimp.

 

[Almondkc]

They like to eat out of the water column at first so I push it in to the water. Try feeding TDO during the day and the last feeding feed brineshrimp.

Thank you

 

[Almondkc]

I have been using the 10 gallon tank to grow an amphipod culture and so I left the light on all the time so the macroalgae would continue to grow. I never thought of what the impact is to the fry. Last night I corrected the error of my ways and shut the light off consistent with the DT lighting where I raised them from first release. This morning I got a bit of a start as they were all hovering just on the Cheto and I thought something was terribly wrong. Once I turned the light on they 'started to wake up' and then within 5 minutes were swimming in the water column as normal. Guess they need their rest to grow and stay healthy...probably not the first silly mistake I will make, nor the last. Today I am going to try the B1 TDO during the day to get them to transition to other than live food (BBS). I will still give the last feed of the day as BBS noted by sabeypets (thank you).