i bought a pair or banggai's a while ago and now one of them i believe to be the male, his lower jaw seems to be getting larger. what should i look for to be sure that he is carrying?? can anyone offer any tips.

Talk to Aquatic Aquaman or AnnArborBuck, Scott (AA) has Bangaii's that breed for him and Doug (AAB) has his children raise them.

I do believe the male stops eating when he is carrying the eggs.

ok thank you for the info.

I have bred many a bangaii...  Keep an eye on who you think is the male.  He will not eat at all from the time he's carrying until release which can be up to 26 days!  You will see the lower jaw bow out.  The babies will be ready any time between day 18 - 26.  It all depends on your water quality and temperature.  The longer he holds the less babies you'll have born.  If you're looking to raise the babies start setting up a couple of 10 gallon tanks and make yourself a sea urchin, buy some live baby brine and I would sugguest stripping the babies to get the most out of your batch.  But the night before you strip start cultivating live baby brine.

Last time I stripped we got 32 babies.

If you need help let me know.  Also try not to spook the male as he will spit out the eggs.  Most likely if this is his first time carrying the eggs he won't make it past day 7.  But don't worry as long as You don't change anything with your tank keep up with normal water changes ect, he'll have eggs in his mouth again within a month.

Just an FYI..  Bangaii's of the same sex will fight to the death unless you have 90 gallon tank or more with good hiding spots where they can avoid each other.

This only happens when they reach maturity approximately around 6 months old.

wow thanks. thats some good info. i just fed my tank and i noticed that he did not eat at all. i did notice that he was doing a gulping motion as if he is moving the eggs or something. does that sound normal. i have a 150 reef with lots of rock work. it is a constant 78F. i dont really understand what you mean by stripping..please explain. if you dont mind. i am fairly new to saltwater. about 4yrs. what are the possibilities in getting babies in my tank?  i just dont think i will be able to catch him without tearing out my rock. he has a very good hiding spot. thanks again.

More inlikely your babies won't survive in a 150 gallon tank.  They won't swim far to get food and generally will only eat what comes near them.  Thats why setting up some 10 gallon tanks would be wise.  And use the water from your main tank to set them up so its already cycled and ready.  I would do this soon to start getting the baby tanks ready if you want to raise them out.

To strip them is fairly easy.  Before the male spits them out into the water column what you can do is attempt to catch the male in a large net.  As soon as you pull him out of the water he will spit out the babies.  You then quickly put everyone into a bucket.  Then use a smaller net and scoop up the male again and put him back into your display tank.  He will glup around a little bit at the surface of the water trying to get rid of the air caught in his mouth from the displacement of the babies.  Soon he'll be back to swimming normally and you'll have a ton of babies to raise.

If you need a hand with this let me know in about 20 days and I could probably take a look at him if he's still carrying and see when we should do this.

LucidProp said :
I'm looking for some more Bangaii, so if you do breed them I'll buy some off of you for my new 125g tank.

Doug aka AnnArborBuck has serveral of my babies he would be willing to sell.  Contact him via PM.

i want to give it a shot and see if i am able to get them to survive. i will keep an eye on him and make sure that he keeps ahold of the eggs. i'm not totaly sure how long he has had them in his mouth 3-4 days maybe. i have noticed his enlarged chin for 2 days now i will keep you up to date on the status of him. i would very much appreciate whatever help you can give. wether it is in person or just advice via trac board. it all will be very helpful. thanks again for your help thus far.