What a good little daddy fish!!

[Greg Hiller]

Sorry guys...long story, but informative if you have the time to read, IMO.

So...a few nights ago I trapped the gravid male of my mated Pajama cardinal pair (got from Ken when he moved to NC, BTW) in a small container. Male cardinals hold the fertilized eggs of their progeny in their mouths while brooding them. Banggai cardinals hold the eggs until they hatch, and then hold them about a week longer until they have used up their yoke sac and are ready to start feeding (about 3 weeks total). Pajama cardinals however hold their eggs (as far as I have read) only until they hatch at about 7-10 days (data on the length of time is pretty sketchy as far as I can tell). Banggai cardinals can take newly hatched brine shrimp immediately upon ejection from their fathers mouth, and therefore are trivial to raise. Pajama cardinals however are MUCH smaller, and more numerous when they are ejected. I believe or is it HOPE (again meager data) that they can take rotifers upon ejection.

Anyhow...I used the light shock method that Joe Yiullo (I know I'm speling his name wrong, sorry Joe) mentioned at his talk at MACNA. You leave the lights off for an hour or so then suddenly turn them on. The fish cannot see and are easy to catch, even in a tank with lots of rockwork. Anyhow...the male freaked (as he did the last time I tried this) and spit out the whole ball of eggs. BUMMER!!! But this time I decided I'd try something different. I'd heard that Banggai cardinal will sometimes scoop their egg ball back up after spitting out in fear. So maybe it would work with Pajama's. So, I gently transferred the male and the eggs into a 2.5 gallon tank with black walls (so they cannot tell how small the tank is) and left the room lights on. Next morning he had scooped them up and was seemingly brooding them again.

What a good little daddy fish!!

 

[davidrupe]

That is awesome! So what are you going to do with the babies? Can i call dibbs on a couple of them?

Why does it matter how big the tank looks?
Also, can I use that light shock trick to catch fish in my tank that don't want to be caught? Like my mean spotted hawk I was told was a falco...?
I can use a flashlight to see where he is sleeping and then flick the lights on and scoop him up?

 

[Moe_K]

Cool story, Greg.
I wish you luck in breeding them. PJ cardinals are so colorful.

David, you might try a red lens on the flashlight.
Also, you can try baiting a fly fishing hook and go fishing for the hawk. Don't laugh - it works.

 

[denvig]

Great Greg very interesting and educational, good luck with the babys.

 

[Greg Hiller]

>That is awesome! So what are you going to do with the babies? Can i call dibbs on a couple of them?<

I'm going to try and raise them and distribute as I can. These are pretty easily available in the trade, but it's always nice to have tank raised ones of course.

>Why does it matter how big the tank looks?<

Fish sometimes freak if they think they are in a really small tank/box. Having a black backround makes it impossible for them to judge how small of a box they are in.

>Also, can I use that light shock trick to catch fish in my tank that don't want to be caught? Like my mean spotted hawk I was told was a falco...?
I can use a flashlight to see where he is sleeping and then flick the lights on and scoop him up?<

Yup, and Moe's advice is good too. Fish don't really pick up red light very well because there is no need to. Red light is the first to be filtered out under the water, so evolution has removed the ability to see read, and you can use it to your advantage.

 

[Ray]

David if you put them in a tank with a loin fish they wont last long