Banghai Cardinal not eating

[herefishyfishy]

I bought two of these fish from The Fish Gallery last weekend. One of them is very lively and swims around and through the live rock. The other is a pansy *** I guess.. because he just stays in a cave. He doesnt eat the frozen brine or flake offered. The other fish do.though. I have 3 sergant majors, 2 clowns, and the 2 cardinals..... I am I not doing something right here????? Do I have these grouped wrong? I hope this fish doesnt keel over from starvation.

[Sea-agg09]

Fish can go a long time without eating. How thawed are the brine before you add it to your tank? I doubt they will take flake right away. Do you still feed the same amount, or are you adding quite a bit extra? Until he gets use to eating with the others, you may need to add more food so he doesn't have to compete with the other fish. How does he act when the lights are off?

[herefishyfishy]

I drop a frozen cube of brine directly in the tank..... the clowns take the flake now....and yes there is extra food that floats to his cave.....and I havent tried feeding with the lights off. I will try that I guess until I get another idea.... thanks for the comment!

[soymilk]

Sometimes banggai cardinal fish just don't get along. The other one could be picking on the weaker one, causing the weaker one to hide in the cave.

The weaker one could also be sick, but sometimes it just takes them a while to get used to the new surroundings. From the short time I had 2 bangai cardinalfish, I've noticed they will go after cyclopleez but not the pellets I floated over them.

[Sea-agg09]

Try fully defrosting the frozen stuff before adding it to the tank. I think FG feeds life brine to most salt water fish. A frozen chunk may be unappetizing compared to the good stuff. Once the guy starts eating again, you can move back to adding the chunk directly to the tank.

I didn't mean to feed with the lights off, but more to just observe what he is like at night. If fish are nervous about a new place, they may come out at night, but the bright lights may startle them.

In the wild, cardinals live in or near coral and rock. A fish hiding in the rocks, especially just after being introduced, is not uncommon at all.

[herefishyfishy]

Thanks for the help the FISH DIED!!!!! I knew he was going to die the day I brought him home. Fricken Fish Gallery.....everytime I called they said he was stressed. Why are my other fish happy?.....UGhhhhh I appreciate the ideas though guys! :)

[soymilk]

Don't feel bad, those fish are pretty hard to keep alive. Not that they require a lot but they just seem to have a high mortality rate. A lot of people think it has something to do with the way the fish was captured. Ex: cyanide.

I've heard reports of someone buying 10 only to have 2 left over a span of a year. Most dying within the first 2 months. The ones that do make it seem o be hardy and are able to bred in the tank. Someone on marsh actually find a baby while doing a water change.

I tried my luck with 2 and they both didn't make it longer than 4 days. While all my other fish are healthy and stable. If possible try to buy tank raise bangai

[herefishyfishy]

Tanks Soymilk! I went to a local Bait Shop ( I live near the beach) and they said they get some pretty crazy stuff sometimes from the shrimp nets....I am thinking about getting my fish like that...instead of the traditional aquarium fish. The best part was she said she would give whatever she had to me.

[soymilk]

I'd be careful doing that. There's a lot of funky stuff out there. Most fish from the local area are big carnivores. Sometimes trying to eat something way too big. Don't be surprised if you wake up and all your other fish are gone and you have one fat full fish chilling at the bottom.

It would be alright if you dedicate a tank just for Galveston fish. But if you add clown fish n over stuff. Chances are they are gonna get eaten.

[Sea-agg09]

1. Mort rates are usually 50% from wild caught to store, at LOWEST. Some fish are sick from purchase, and sometimes S&%# happens.

2. If your fish aren't happy with their tank mates... things go badly. In a 55 gallon tank... Sergeant Majors and Clowns are both very territorial, and not exactly nice. Cardinals will definitely be at the bottom on the pecking order.

3. Getting stuff from a bait shop is a craps shoot at best. Disease and parasites are rampant, and the care is only enough to keep them alive for sale. I cought tons of awesome stuff when I went out on a few shrimp boats (Ichth collection was easy). We caught Violet Gobies (Dragon gobies in the fish stores) that were over 2 feet long. With that said, 99% is either dead, or so close that it wont make it to an aquarium. This is why "By-catch release" is a sick joke in my book. I also live by the beach, and I would never get anything wild that I don't catch myself.

3b. NOTHING cought in a shrimp trawl is suitable for an aquarium smaller than 100 gallons. PERIOD.

Final notes... Your fish death could be from any number of things. With your current stocking in that size of a tank, I wouldn't try cardinals.

[soymilk]

The funny thing is this species is on the endangered animal list. I wonder why it's still avail on the market. Almost all bangai cardinals are wild caught.

I learned this after my failed attempt at bangai

[Sea-agg09]

Some are tank-bred, but they are marketed so. They are actually more hardy than wild-caught... but some people like the challenge. It's also cheaper to pay one diver than it is to pay a group to breed them... I won't even start on buying endangered species, but I think it says something when you can buy a tiger cub over the internet for less than 1 paycheck... one of my paychecks.