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Banggai Cardinals (Pterapogon kauderni) are beautiful,
peaceful fish. Their large, seemingly expressive eyes
are hypnotic. And their dramatic finnage, bold black
stripes, and white dots over a silver background make
them a stunning addition to any aquarium. They are also one of
the only marine fish that is considered easy to breed and rear in
the home aquarium. So much so that they have been called “The
Guppy of Marine Fish Breeding” and were the focus of this year’s
easy category in the Marine Ornamental Fish & Invert Breeders
Association annual breeder’s challenge.
Breeding animals at home is always rewarding, but Banggais are
a special case. Banggais often ship very poorly, resulting in a lot
of deaths for recently imported animals. Each wild-caught fish
offered for sale can represent several that died en route. Strong
hobbyist demand for the Banggai Cardinalfish has led to their
over-collection. According to some estimates, nearly half of
the wild population may be harvested for the aquarium trade in
2008 alone. Unfortunately, and unlike most marine fish, Banggai
Cardinalfish produce relatively few offspring over the course of
their lives, so over-collecting can dramatically impact their wild
populations. In fact, Banggai Cardinalfish were listed on the
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List
as an endangered species in 2007. This listing resulted largely
from the work and research of Dr. Alejandro Vagelli, a Banggai
Cardinalfish researcher and advocate. Dr. Vagelli frequently travels
to the Banggai Islands to conduct census surveys and monitor
the population status of Banggai Cardinalfish.
If you take nothing else away from this article, we hope that
anyone interested in keeping Banggai Cardinalfish will ask their
local store to help them seek out captive-bred specimens (when
available) although they may not be the least expensive option at
the time of purchase. Any extra up-front expense is quickly offset
because captive bred Banggais are more successful than wild
specimens at adapting to aquarium conditions. More importantly,
every captive bred Banggai produced and purchased means not
one fish, but several fish, can be left on the reef to help prevent
the extinction of this treasured species. Best of all, for the new
marine breeder, the Banggai Cardinalfish represents an ideal
point of entry into marine fish breeding, and a great way to obtain
your first success.
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FISH
BREEDING THE
BANGGAI CARDINALFISHIt’s so easy, anyone can do it!By Richard Rossand Matt Pedersen
IMAGE BY RICHARD ROSS
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Banggai Cardinalfish are naturally found around Banggai
Archipelago, as well as the Lembeh Strait off Sulawesi, Indonesia.
It seems these fish were introduced to the Lembeh Strait between
2000 and 2002, perhaps for commercial purposes. In nature,
Banggai Cardinals commonly occur in pairs or small groups
and are often found amongst sea urchin spines, presumably for
protection. They are also found hosting in sea anemones, sharing
the anemone with one or more clownfish.
Banggai Cardinalfish are one of only a handful of marine fish
species that feature direct development of their offspring, meaningthere is no pelagic or planktonic larval phase during the early life
of a baby Banggai. This makes them incredibly easy to raise.
Male Banggais carry fertilized eggs to term in their mouths, and
the babies are released as fully formed miniatures of the adults.
Newly released babies are immediately ready to eat small foods
that are relatively easy to produce.
Based on the notion that most Cardinalfish species naturally form
large schools, many people will make the mistake of purchasing
a group of adult Banggai Cardinalfish to school in their aquarium.
Sadly, this is typically a recipe for disaster. Once the group settles
in, a pair forms, and in short order the pair attempts to eliminate
all the others. Only in larger aquariums, 100 gallons or more,may the keeping of multiple pairs be possible (and even then it
is risky).
While juveniles will school, once they start to sexually mature,
individuals will become aggressive to the point of murdering
conspecifics, so it’s best to keep Banggai Cardinalfish in pairs.
Banggais may be ready to breed as early as 4 months of age
for males, with most becoming mature somewhere between 6
months to 1 year. It is useful to note that Banggai pairs are non-
monogamous so it is possible to keep two males in separate
tanks, rotating the “bachelor” in with the female when the
brooding male is isolated.
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Male Banggai Cardinal-fish reorganizing theeggs in his mouth. Notethe swollen mouthand gills indicative of abrooding male. Imageby Matt Pederson.
For people with limited space, the best method for obtaining a pair
is to simply purchase a compatible pair from a reputable source
They are available, but it may take some persistence and patience
to acquire a breeding pair.
If you cannot find a pair, don’t despair. Though some claim
differently, there is no proven sexual dichromatism or dimorphism
to reliably distinguish males from females. However, sexes can
usually be identified by observing the fishes’ behavior.
The most effective manner to sex Banggai Cardinalfish is to “test”
them against fish of known gender. When placing a banggai with
another of the same sex there is typically a relatively quick fight
reaction. If they ignore each other, or hang out together, then the
odds are good that they are of different sex and can be paired
for breeding.
Many aquarium stores house Banggai Cardinalfish in groups while
on display for retail sale. If the fish are mature and healthy, it is
possible to observe the group and make a good guess as to the
sex of an individual. The ‘ringleader’ of the group should be the
female. In extreme cases, she may dominate a large portion of
the aquarium with all the other fish occupying the left over space
Watch which fish the ‘ringleader’ chases, and pay special attention
to those that she doesn’t chase. There is a good chance that any
fish being allowed to routinely remain in the ‘ringleader’s’ vicinity
is likely a male. Ask the LFS to catch the suspected male first, as
it will be easier to find the ‘ringleader’ female again after the fish
calm back down.
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Although it is possible to breed this fish in a ‘community’ tank, to
maximize reproductive activity, pairs should be kept in isolated
quarters. A young pair can successfully be kept in as small as
an 18-gallon tank with moderate to high flow. They often tend to
prefer to have some macro algae to hide under, so floating a ball
of chaetomorpha may be helpful. Put the tank in a low traffic area
if at all possible.
It may also be possible to isolate the pair within an existing reef
set up. Sumps and refugiums are often underutilized as areas to
keep fish, and they may be perfect areas to house a breeding pairof Banggai Cardinalfish. These areas often have an abundance of
live foods and may be hidden away in stands, giving the happy
couple the privacy that can help them get in the ‘mood’. Banggais
are generally easy to feed, eating a wide variety of prepared foods
including frozen mysis, brine shrimp and just about any chopped
meaty food or small crustacean.
Banggai Cardinalfish, once established as a pair, prove to be
willing and reliable spawners. They may spawn as frequently as
every 30 days if given the opportunity, although there is evidence
that females are capable of producing eggs as rapidly as every 2
weeks, faster than a single male can handle. After a year or two,
this reproductive behavior can slow down dramatically – a fish atthis age is likely past its natural life span and could be considered
“old”, though Banggais can live up to 6 years in captivity.
Courtship starts in the afternoon and is initiated when the female
swims parallel to the male, and begins to quiver rapidly. She will
then drop behind the male and quiver rapidly along his other side.
This back and forth vibrating dance may occur on the day of,
or the days preceeding spawning. The courtship dance in itself
does not mean the fish will mate on that day, only that the fish
are getting ready to mate. Interestingly, the courtship dance may
even continue in the hours immediately after spawning.
Banggai Cardinalfish are paternal mouth brooders, meaning the
male keeps and incubates the eggs in his mouth as they develop
During spawning, the transfer of eggs from the female into the
male’s mouth takes only seconds, so it may not actually be seen.
Confirming a spawn, however, is very easy because its effects are
quite obvious. The male’s mouth and the area behind and below
the gill plate become distended (giving him the appearance of a
fat mouth), and he will also refuse to eat any food. The female
may “guard” the male following spawning typically for at least a
couple days.
Make sure to note the date of the spawn, so you will have a good
idea of when to expect the baby fish to leave the safety of the
male’s mouth. This is especially important because the male can
actually eat the babies once they hatch.
Incubation will typically last between 21 and 25 days, during
which time the male will continue to refuse to eat. Many breeders
will isolate the male completely during incubation. Some isolate
him after the first few days after spawning, some starting around
day 15 and some don’t isolate the male at all, preferring to strip
(more on this below) the babies just before he would normally
spit them out.
Extreme care must be taken when moving a brooding male as
the stress of moving him may cause him to spit out the eggs or
babies before they are mature. A clear plastic bag, deli container
or plastic cup rather than a net should be used to catch and
move the male to the ‘nursery’. A refugium makes a particularly
good nursery as it is filled with good potential first foods for newly
hatched Banggai Cardinalfish.
As fry release becomes imminent you will begin to see the fry’s
eyes or fins popping up above the lip of the father’s open mouth –
a very exciting and satisfying experience. Some breeders will pu
the male into a freshwater livebearer breeding box for the release
These breeder boxes can be obtained from your local aquariumstore. Once the fry emerge, they will swim down through the slats
in the box into the nursery tank while the father remains trapped
in the box, unable to eat the newborns. Some breeders will allow
the release of fry to occur naturally, while providing cover, often in
the form of a fake or real sea urchin, where the babies can hide
from predators. Other breeders ‘strip’ the babies from the mouth
of the males as soon as they are observed peeking out in order
to remove any possibility of the father eating the fry.
Stripping sounds scarier than it really is. Usually, all it takes to
get the male to spit the fry is netting, or touching him with your
finger. If netting or touching is unsuccessful, gently hold the male
in wet hands; gently pry his mouth open with your fingernail, or
the round end of a paperclip like a tongue depressor. Dunk the
male head first into a container of tank water, and then pull him
backwards, up and out of the water. The water should back-flush
through his gills and out his mouth, causing the fry to spill right out
Make sure to open the mouth and look inside for any stragglers
Afterward, make sure to return the male to the water face up, and
open the mouth one last time to allow any air trapped inside his
mouth to escape. After he calms down from this activity, make
sure to feed him so he can begin to recover from all the time he
didn’t eat while brooding.
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Banggai eggs in a homemade ‘egg tumbler’ at14 days of develop-ment. A simple eggtumbler can be madefrom a glass and anaqua lifter pump tokeep the eggs tum-bling. Image by MattPederson.
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Newly released Banggai Cardinalfish will eat immediately. Live
baby Brine Shrimp (Artemia nauplii) are the reliable standard first
food for newly hatched Banggai Cardinalfish, although there are
some reports of success with non-live foods. Since hatching
baby brine shrimp is easy and inexpensive, as well as fun, our
suggestion is that it should be your first choice. If you can locate
decapsulated brine shrimp eggs, they are by far the easiest to
use, although any brine shrimp eggs will suffice. Other first foods
or supplemental first foods may include any of the commercially
available live copepods. Newly released juveniles should be
fed a minimum of 3 times daily, with 5 feedings per day being
suggested by Banggai breeding pioneer, Dr. Frank Marini.
Fry can be weaned onto other frozen foods of the appropriate
size within 30 days, at which point growth rates will increase
dramatically. Secondary foods include Cyclopeeze, Cyclops,
Arctipods, Prawn Eggs, Brine Shrimp and Mysis Shrimp (shaved
or grated into bite-sized pieces).
Feeding a wide variety of foods is always a good idea, and
seems to develop healthy fish faster than a single feed diet.
Furthermore, fry fed solely on baby brine shrimp seem prone to
Sudden Fright Syndrome (SFS). During a bout of SFS, the fry
will start twitching uncontrollably, sink to the bottom and stop
breathing. Sometimes they recover, sometimes they don’t.
Enriching the baby brine shrimp from the very first days with
Fatty Acid Supplements (such as Selcon) is helpful in reducing
SFS. Branching out to additional prepared / frozen foods as early
as possible can also reduce the risk of SFS. SFS seems often to
be brought on by an external stimulus like a sudden loud noise,
or bumping the tank, so keeping the fry in a quiet, low traffic area
of the house is recommended.
Most pitfalls in the breeding process have to do with males
refusing to hold eggs through to term. Stripping of the unhatched
clutch, followed by artificial incubation with an egg tumbler, may
be necessary for deadbeat dads. The most successful artificial
incubation attempts seem to occur with eggs that have undergone
a week or more of paternal incubation (for more information about
artificial incubation see the MOFIB’s “Cardinalfish - Pterapogon”
forum at www.marinebreeder.org).
There is a lot of speculation regarding why males will consume
or spit their clutches prematurely. Common theories includeexcess stimulus (in the form of a crowded or small tank, or
external movement by the breeder), and insufficient nutrition/
nourishment, especially in pairs that spawn repeatedly (remedied
by providing the male some rest and relaxation following the
breeding cycle before reintroducing him to the female, another
reason why rotating two males is a good strategy).
Keeping and breeding the Banggai Cardinalfish can be fun and
rewarding. It’s also easy, so if you have a fishless sump or a
refugium, or an extra tank collecting dust, get to work!
For more information on keeping and breeding the Banggai
Cardinalfish, check out the Marine Ornamental Fish & InvertBreeders Association (MOFIB) at www.marinebreeder.org.
Special thanks to Dr. Frank Marini for his input on this article.
A school of 25 dayold Banggai frytaking refuge in anartificial sea urchinmade from epoxyputty and black zipties. Image by MattPederson.
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A school of 22 dayold Banggai frytaking refuge in anartificial sea urchinmade from epoxyputty and black zipties. Image by MattPederson.