Cardinal Breeding.. How complicated is it?

one of my cardinals looks a bit blowted and I thought.. same thing again... some parasite
but this morning when I switched on the light, his colors were very fade and could easily see the eggs inside.
Obviously cardinals are in the same tank with discus, other cardinals and another 27 rummy's. my other 2 tanks are occupied by shrimp.
Any ideas?

Cheers,
Marius

Spawning cardinals is not too difficult, but raising the young is a tad tricky.
Many are probably spawning quite often in fish tanks.

The water needs to be mature, but with a decrease in conductivity.
You need males as well. !!

The spawning and egg-hatching water should be the same water.
Feed the parents well on live-food (to stimulate them a bit).
Bring the conductivity down very low with additions of fresh clean and quite pure water added to an aged tank with minimal bacterial count.
The water should have a slightly acid pH just under pH 7. The slightly acid pH should be due to peatyness or carbon dixoide rather than just adding simple mineral or non-gaseuous acids.
No lights.....or just distant low-lighting with no direct sunlight hitting the tank.
First food needs to be small.....but if you have aged water, then you should have plenty of infusoria/rotifers in it anyway.
Have some freshly hatched brine-shrimp or microworms ready to add to the newly


Apart from that brief outline, the rest is just fine detail.


ian

As Ian has mentioned...and of course remove the parents after..the fry will get eaten if any other fish in the tank.

Gavin

Fishowner wrote:

As Ian has mentioned...and of course remove the parents after..the fry will get eaten if any other fish in the tank.

Gavin

Ah, I forgot to mention that. So cheers for adding that important bit of detail Gav.
The female is the main problem.....she'll soon get there for dinner before the male.

ian

I think I'll need a separate tank for them anyway. eh another tank needed here come the negotiations

You could breed these in a clip-top clear plastic box.
Negotiation line....."clear clip-top plastic boxes always come in handy for loads of things"

igmillichip wrote:

You could breed these in a clip-top clear plastic box.
Negotiation line....."clear clip-top plastic boxes always come in handy for loads of things"

Did you have in mind item like "Breeding box/external filter/acclimatisation box" spoken about in this forum?

smitas5 wrote:

igmillichip wrote:

You could breed these in a clip-top clear plastic box.
Negotiation line....."clear clip-top plastic boxes always come in handy for loads of things"

Did you have in mind item like "Breeding box/external filter/acclimatisation box" spoken about in this forum?

Not for cardinals....way too expensive for them: at 20 euro you could get six 16-litre clear clip-lid plastic boxes from Tesco to breed cardinals in.

But you could use one for transferring the reasonable sized young fish between tanks.

For the OH or whoever looking on, they don't look anything like a 'fish-keeping thing' (know what I mean). The advantage of breeding small fish in plastic containers is that you can cart them around, shove them here, shove them there, without risk of shattering the glass.

I dare not set-up another tank just yet.....80-litre plastic boxes at 11 euro are the next good option for growing young fish in.

ian

You mean sea-through plastic storage boxes, seen them with small wheel in woodies if remember correctly.

smitas5 wrote:

You mean sea-through plastic storage boxes, seen them with small wheel in woodies if remember correctly.

Yep. I wouldn't get the ones with wheels as that could be a weak spot within the plastic if you have loads of water in them.

igmillichip wrote:

smitas5 wrote:

You mean sea-through plastic storage boxes, seen them with small wheel in woodies if remember correctly.

Yep. I wouldn't get the ones with wheels as that could be a weak spot within the plastic if you have loads of water in them.

why would a plastic box have wheels?

derek wrote:

igmillichip wrote:

smitas5 wrote:

You mean sea-through plastic storage boxes, seen them with small wheel in woodies if remember correctly.

Yep. I wouldn't get the ones with wheels as that could be a weak spot within the plastic if you have loads of water in them.

why would a plastic box have wheels?

I think so you can move it around when there is things in it, or for sliding under the bed if you are storing it there etc.

PompeyBill wrote:

I think so you can move it around when there is things in it, or for sliding under the bed if you are storing it there etc.

oh right, i was thinking of the small food container plastic tubs.

derek wrote:

PompeyBill wrote:

I think so you can move it around when there is things in it, or for sliding under the bed if you are storing it there etc.

oh right, i was thinking of the small food container plastic tubs.

I've got some of the ones with wheels...they hold 20 to 30 litres, but the pressure on the corners might (but maybe not) give way.
The long shallow 20litre boxes are not a good idea either as the water slops from side to side and over the top when moving them around (again...experience and tellings-off)

Tesco have 6 and 16 litre clip lid boxes at present at only 2.75 a piece. I got a few and use them for small fish raising. Great little things.

Thats a good idea for quarantine tank...
I know how it goes in my house... first its a quarantine tank, then when I don't need it, becomes some other purpose tank. When I need it again, it's occupied and storry repeats itself
Thanks Ian for advice. I have to set this up first.

How do you go about the light? Kev told me you need red light in order for the eggs to survive. where would you look for one?