Baby Banggai cards...slow growing?

Psyduck · 09-22-2002, 07:20 PM

Ok so I've had this group of now down to 11 baby banggai in a 20 gal tank for about 2 months now. I've been feeding them basically baby brine for the entire time. How fast are these guys suppose to grow?! I want to put 4 back into my main 180 gal, but I have a big green wrasse in there who I could see picking off these guys. They dont seem to be growing very fast, and I'm not sure why. they are probably the size of my pinkey nail from mouth to tip of tail. Is there something else I should be doing or does it just take them awhile to get to full size?

Mrs Smith · 09-22-2002, 09:54 PM

Yes, it will take them around a year to get "full sized." I still have a couple from a brood that is going on 6 months. They are still not near as big as the adults, so it's a tough call whether yours will survive with that wrasse.

One side note: Baby brine really isn't a good long-term food for them. Getting them onto a different, higher protein food may help. How often are you feeding them?

I had a lot of problems with poorly developing nervous systems until I began weaning them to other foods very early on. (Mine go on Mysis around day 10) They would do what I have heard described as "baby-banggai-heart-attack" when frightened - basically they do not have the wiring to cope with sudden stress, so they spazz out and die.

I don't know if I answered your question or made it worse...

Danielle

Psyduck · 09-23-2002, 07:24 AM

No, you have been very helpful. I have never used mysis before, does my LFS have them....I believe they are a live food correct? Do I hatch them like baby brine, dry eggs, or what is the procedure. I figured baby brine wasnt the greatest, but I was hoping they were not only getting some nutrition out of the other "bugs" in the tank, but the brine as well. Any other suggestions for food? Thanks for the info so far.

Brooke · 09-23-2002, 07:53 AM

I used to wean my babies onto freeze dried copepods at about 2 weeks. I would mix the baby brine and copepods together, gradually decreasing the amount of brine till they were eating the copepods with gusto. The copes are much more nutritious than baby brine. After that, mixing the pods with frozen shaved mysis was my next step. The copepods are expensive...but well worth it. You can get them at http://www.jehmco.com . I used the non-frozen variety and they last for a very long time in the fridge.

HTH-
Brooke

Mrs Smith · 09-23-2002, 07:58 AM

Mysis is "made" by Picene Energetics (it's on their web page.) It's frozen, and I usually get it in sheets, but I hear you can get it in cubes. Check with your LFS, but you may have to call around to find one that carries it. (Which makes it a lot easier that hatching BBS constantly!) Anyway, what I usually do is start offering it pretty quickly. Since the babies are so small, just dip a small frozen chunk underwater, and scrape it with your fingernail to really shred it - that's the only way they'll be able to get it in their itty-bitty mouths. I found that some will wean very quickly, but some will take longer. Just play it by ear, and you'll get to know how big of pieces they'll take.

FWIW, I have never gotten a Banggai to take flake (not that I've tried a whole lot - they just don't seem to like it.) They will take brine shrimp flake, ironically enough, but then we're back to the nutrition issue again.

It also makes it a lot easier down the road for any potential buyers.

If you want some literature to read, look for Frank Marini's articles. He's been researching and breeding the Banggai for a long time, and has written some excellent reference pieces.

I take it this is the first brood you've tried to raise? Don't worry - it took me 3 attempts before I was able to get them past about 3 months. (Aside from the fact that a natural disaster wiped out parts of broods 2 and 3...)

Good luck,
Danielle

npaden · 09-23-2002, 12:58 PM

I wean my babies off of baby brine shrimp at about 2 weeks. Not sure how much you are feeding them but your description of their size sounds very small. Mine are that big after 2 weeks. I've been selling them to the LFS for $5 each at 2 months old.

I'm bringing some to MACNA that are about 2 months old this weekend. At 2 months my babies have a body about the size of a dime. If you add in all the fins and stuff they are about the size of a nickel.

FWIW, Nathan

Psyduck · 09-23-2002, 04:36 PM

Nathan,

Do you ween yours to mysis or something else? Just curious

npaden · 09-23-2002, 04:48 PM

After about a 2 week period that I wean them with shaved frozen brine shrimp and prawn eggs they will pretty much eat anything that comes out of the turkey baster. Even flake.

FWIW, Nathan

Psyduck · 09-23-2002, 08:19 PM

Hmmm I may have to take a trip to the LFS and see what frozen stuff they got. Thanks for the help!

JennM · 09-24-2002, 06:57 AM

I'm not breeding banggais (yet...have a pair tho

) but I've taken in some of Sally's babies to sell, and they LOVE ghost shrimp!

I kept them in with my seahorses, and when I tossed in some ghosts to feed the horses, the little banggers went NUTS!

I have a couple that I've had for a couple of months and they are still small too but they eat like pigs. They eat Cyclopeeze (I carry that product, and LOVE IT!), mysis, feeders, flake, pellet -- whatever I put into the mix, they grab.

Jenn