Hey y’all!
I’ve been looking for Ochrestriped Cardinalfish for three years and have finally gotten the chance to order some. I now have a shoal of five in my twenty gallon long.
I would really like to attempt breeding them.
I don’t know that it’s been done, but I’ve seen a few attempts on the forums. Apparently they do hold the eggs in their mouths as most cardinalfish for some time but then spit out a pelagic larvae.
This thread will be for advice and suggestions from you all, and for my own personal record of the project.
For some system background; I’ve been feeding a frozen reef mix and pellet food mixed together, every other day. I dose phytoplankton daily. And the reef is a high flow sps dominated tank with codium, halimeda, and mangroves. I’ve mainly had low nutrients in this system and concentrate more on target feeding to give the corals the nutrients they need. The other fish in this system are gobies, and one very small banggai and a very small chromis. I do have Floridian Ceriths breeding in the tank as well, which is a little reassuring when I’m attempting a breeding project.
There so far is one pair of cardinals, they hang out together beneath a frag rack on the right hand side. There’s another pair kind of forming, but they don’t seem as committed as the first pair. The largest cardinal occupies a shaded area beneath a rock ledge on the left hand side, and is somewhat territorial but not harming anyone. They’ve kinda grouped up throughout the day to swim together, especially during feeding time, but about fifty percent of the day they’re within their areas.
(Pair beneath frag rack)
This pair was actually displaying breeding behaviors today. Flaring the gills and following each other, swimming to the side and upside down chasing each other. That’s the first time I’ve seen behaviors that deliberate. Cue Marvin Gaye’s Got To Give It Up.
(Cerith Eggs on glass)
(Full tank shot)
I’ve been looking for Ochrestriped Cardinalfish for three years and have finally gotten the chance to order some. I now have a shoal of five in my twenty gallon long.
I would really like to attempt breeding them.
I don’t know that it’s been done, but I’ve seen a few attempts on the forums. Apparently they do hold the eggs in their mouths as most cardinalfish for some time but then spit out a pelagic larvae.
This thread will be for advice and suggestions from you all, and for my own personal record of the project.
For some system background; I’ve been feeding a frozen reef mix and pellet food mixed together, every other day. I dose phytoplankton daily. And the reef is a high flow sps dominated tank with codium, halimeda, and mangroves. I’ve mainly had low nutrients in this system and concentrate more on target feeding to give the corals the nutrients they need. The other fish in this system are gobies, and one very small banggai and a very small chromis. I do have Floridian Ceriths breeding in the tank as well, which is a little reassuring when I’m attempting a breeding project.
There so far is one pair of cardinals, they hang out together beneath a frag rack on the right hand side. There’s another pair kind of forming, but they don’t seem as committed as the first pair. The largest cardinal occupies a shaded area beneath a rock ledge on the left hand side, and is somewhat territorial but not harming anyone. They’ve kinda grouped up throughout the day to swim together, especially during feeding time, but about fifty percent of the day they’re within their areas.
(Pair beneath frag rack)
This pair was actually displaying breeding behaviors today. Flaring the gills and following each other, swimming to the side and upside down chasing each other. That’s the first time I’ve seen behaviors that deliberate. Cue Marvin Gaye’s Got To Give It Up.
(Cerith Eggs on glass)
(Full tank shot)
