Breeding Banggai in a 20 gal?

[Tennyson]

Hey guys, I have 3 bonded pairs of banggai cardinals with the intent of breeding them. The pairs are in separate display tanks (2 40 gal reefs, and a 30 gal refugium). They appear very happy. But for the sake of efficiency, space, and catching fry, I was wondering if it would be possible to house breeding pairs in a minimalist 20 gallon set up?

Thanks

[ThRoewer]

In one of the books about the Banggai Cardinals they propose such a setup, basically a 20 long divided into 3 or 4 compartments, each for one pair. After spawning the males go into breeder boxes to protect them from the females.

[Tennyson]

So each pair would have 5-7 gallons? Seems very small.

The reason I ask is because I've tried housing pairs in a 20 gallon setup before (40 breeder divided in half). I thought it would be plenty of space, but my pairs always seemed uncomfortable. Trying to figure out where my setup went wrong. Will post pics later.

[ThRoewer]

I kept a pair for a long time in an acclimatization box. These guys don't need much swim room.

Did you ever have fry? My males would eat or lose most of the eggs after about a week. After two weeks the males usually started taking food again (= all eggs gone).
And even when I actually got fry to swim free they never lasted too long.
Given the low success rate and the little money you get for these I would rather focus on easier fish with a better profit margin.

[MMacro]

Originally Posted by ThRoewer

I kept a pair for a long time in an acclimatization box. These guys don't need much swim room.

Did you ever have fry? My males would eat or lose most of the eggs after about a week. After two weeks the males usually started taking food again (= all eggs gone).
And even when I actually got fry to swim free they never lasted too long.
Given the low success rate and the little money you get for these I would rather focus on easier fish with a better profit margin.

What are some of these easier fish? AFAIK cardinals seem to be the easiest.

[ThRoewer]

Clownfish are easier, heck, I had even more success with Marine Bettas. Anything that sticks eggs on a rock or balls them up in a cave is easier to tackle. There all you have to worry about is to have the right larva food.
With Banggais the time the male can't eat is just too long. At some point he gets hungry enough that the drive for self-preservation overcomes the breeding instinct and he either eats or spits the eggs.
So with Banggais you have 3 options:

1. Steal the eggs a few days after fertilization and hatch them in an incubator. This is what the pros do.

2. Keep the males separate from the females and feed them like crazy so that they get fat enough to endure a month without food. This is a lot of work and food and the outcome is still uncertain.

3. Just let them do their thing and hope for the best. You probably have more chances of accidentally raising a clownfish in your refugium...

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[timthetoolman]

To me Banggai are the easiest fish. I've raised 80 with little effort.

Mine were in a 125 gallon long reef tank and I caught the fry after release and put them in a breeder basket in the sump.

Piece of cake!