Is this male Bangii mouth brooding?

[chaostactics]

Pic from a friends tank and behavior described as the following:
The male (the larger one)* stopped eating about a week and a 1/2 to 2 weeks ago. He still comes out and swims through the cloud of food during feeding time but does not eat any. He has yawned at least once so it seems mouth is functioning. The fish Swims just fine and doesn't seem to be listless or breathing quickly or have any other signs of stress. And when compared to the female who has a more over all streamlined body the male looks more like it has a John Goodman-esque double chin and flared cheeks. *sec assumption is based on size alone as they were the same size when purchased months ago.

 

[Reefing_addiction]

Interesting. Free bump for you, hopefully someone has answers.

 

[Auquanut]

It sure looks like it. Is he eating? If it looks like he's interested, but won't eat, I'd bet he's packing. It may get to the point that you can actually see the little tails sticking out of his gills. He'll also occasionally open his mouth and you can see the little guys in there.

 

[sabeypets]

Yes it is

 

[chaostactics]

It sure looks like it. Is he eating? If it looks like he's interested, but won't eat, I'd bet he's packing. It may get to the point that you can actually see the little tails sticking out of his gills. He'll also occasionally open his mouth and you can see the little guys in there.

Will run into the cloud of food with the rest of the fish including his mate but won't actually take any food into his mouth. Was eating great up until he stopped cold turkey.

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

I manually strip my female cichlids. Reduces stress on them so they can eat and I out the fry/eggs in a tumblers. Not sure if you can do that with him but might be worth looking into

 

[ThRoewer]

I manually strip my female cichlids. Reduces stress on them so they can eat and I out the fry/eggs in a tumblers. Not sure if you can do that with him but might be worth looking into

That's what many commercial Banggai breeders do. I'm not sure if it is really good for the fry but it definitely is taking a strain off the male.

I never had much luck with Banggais - the males would always lose the eggs halfway through the "pregnancy". I'm certain it has to do with how well you feed them - where I was definitely lacking due to having them in a reef system. I think, to have the male successfully carry the eggs to term, you need to stuff him to the max in the short periods he isn't having his mouth full of eggs. It may also help to separate male and female for a while after he carried a clutch so that he can recharge for the next time. If he runs out of reserves he either drops the eggs or eats them.