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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.

6

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.

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