Keeping a Pair of Banggai Cardinals

[roibenami]

Ok... so I have a pair of Benggai Cardinals, I've had them for about 6 months now... a few months ago the female laid eggs but the male never catched them.. ended up as a meal to my tube anemone (which they love). about a month and a half ago she laid eggs again and the male took them.

for the next 3 weeks the male didn't eat anything and one day I wake up and no eggs and no fry and no nothing... (something ate them, maybe him).

3 days after he spat the babies (yes they already hatched i've seen them in his mouth) the female spawned again and he took the eggs again!

Now it's been a week and he hasn't eaten all that time. Obviously this fish won't do well eating 3 days a month... and if the female keeps making eggs as fast as he can take them... Anyways i'm just really worried about the male.

From what I've read on breeding information they say to separate them for a month after breeding but I really don't have any other place to put one of them (other than in the sump in the small return chamber). And also I really don't care about keeping the fry, I just want to keep the pair of Benggai Cardinals I've got and for them to be fat and happy.

Surely anyone else who keeps a pair must have encountered this problem, Any help would be highly appreciated!

Quick video of my tank from about 2 months ago...

 

[Dcrowejr]

I have a pair that's about a two years old now and every three to four weeks she lays her sack and he takes them and carries. When I watch him he will loose weight and when he is smaller than the female he will eat the eggs and than he will eat for three days than he will let her spawn again and he starts to carry again. He will also start to eat a little when the babies are hatched in his mouth. My male will eat for one day before he carries again and the female has picked up on that. I also feed my tank up to 5 times a day so I guess he recovers fast. This has been going on for about a year and a half now.

 

[roibenami]

I have a pair that's about a two years old now and every three to four weeks she lays her sack and he takes them and carries. When I watch him he will loose weight and when he is smaller than the female he will eat the eggs and than he will eat for three days than he will let her spawn again and he starts to carry again. He will also start to eat a little when the babies are hatched in his mouth. My male will eat for one day before he carries again and the female has picked up on that. I also feed my tank up to 5 times a day so I guess he recovers fast. This has been going on for about a year and a half now.

So just do nothing and hope the male manages to not kill himself? When I got them he was bigger than the female, now she is bigger than him slightly... I only feed twice a day, frozen mysis (enriched + i add vitamins). I feel like doing nothing is kind of my only option... other than removing one of them which I really really don't want to do.

I can see how people think they are boring fish... but when they start their mating dance... They are sooo cool to watch and add so much movement.

 

[Dcrowejr]

I didn't do anything I just let them go and hoped for the best and they picked up a routine. My female is active around the tank and defends the male right after than kind of just leaves him in a corner and moves about the tank. I have about 16 other fish in the tank so they keep them moving about and active.