feeding bangai cardinals

[hobogato]

im sorry you feel this way. i would agree with you if we were talking about things and not live fish(or other organisms for that matter), let alone fish that are on the threatened list (link). you have to remember where you are posting, this organization promotes responsible reefkeeping and the op's practices are not following that idea. not trying to be harsh, just letting you know why you will likely get more responses like the one from justahobby if you dont change your attitude (or at least what you post) concerning the careless killing of anything.

Gosh I hope you feel better... Last time I checked this is still America and there is no law (yet anyway) saying that one can't waste their money if they want. Spend on Josh! Make this ecomony hum and more importantly, spend your money the way you want.

[msmith619]

My Bangaii experiences:
I have kept (and bred) Bangaii for about 8 years. The are carnivores and I have never had problems getting any to take meaty frozen foods....Mysis, Brine shrimp, krill, plankton. They have not ever taken flake for me or other foods like squid, blood worms, etc.
One thing I have noted, they are very slow to eat and shy. If you keep them with fast, active or agressive fish like angels, tangs, or damsels, they will not feed. The other very active fish intimidate them and out compete them for food.
They do great in a passive reef system with fish like jawfish, gobies, firefish, blennies, etc.
I kept a trio in a 55 gallon set-up like this and 2 paired off and killed the third, giving me a paited pair. I read about breeding and put a long spined urchin in the tank. The male was not eating a week later and had a mouth full of eggs. About every 6 weeks I had baby Bangaii living in the spines of the urchin. Unfortunately most became fish food for the other fsh but I would usually get 3-6 grow large enough from each brood to swap at the local fish stores in Houston when I lived there.
I STRONGLY recommend you buy tank raised. They already eat prepard foods and the wild population is currently endangered.
I have considered selling my 125 reef and putting up anther Bangaii tank, I think a Red Sea Max 65 gallow would be perfect, and trying to breed them again. They are cool fish and do well in the right environment.

[Freak On A Reef]

im sorry you feel this way. i would agree with you if we were talking about things and not live fish(or other organisms for that matter), let alone fish that are on the threatened list (link). you have to remember where you are posting, this organization promotes responsible reefkeeping and the op's practices are not following that idea. not trying to be harsh, just letting you know why you will likely get more responses like the one from justahobby if you dont change your attitude (or at least what you post) concerning the careless killing of anything.

Ace,

I am aware of the fish and all it has gone through. Also I am aware of how we all need to be responsible as reef keepers and not buy things just to spend money should they live or die. I too will only buy a fish or coral a couple of times so as to not waste money or life unless I have a specific plan to insure the success of keeping it alive.

As Kristi has a "peave" I do as well. When someone calls another "Irresponsible!" and posts in a tone that justahobby did, I have to speak up. The attitude he has falls along with carbon credits, global warming and that whole movement which I disagree with.

This is what I love about America, we can all have opinions and express our beliefs. It also gives many people the opportunity to be in such a great hobby as ours and help preserve many of the endangered creatures on our earth by raising awareness.

Rant over!

[ReefCube]

ive had glass carinals they are noted as being hardy but i have not seen or heard of anyone that can keep a group for longer than a year. Most cardinals seem to end up dieing due to stress of somekind and this leads to them not eating due to some kind of internal problem that is why when you buy 10 you may only have 3 or 4 after a month or less. Im not saying this for everyone just from what i have seen and heard. maybe these type of cardinals are different

[allan]

I'm glad this came up as I had toyed with the idea of getting another cardinal to keep the current one company. Wasn't aware that some just don't do well.

I've had mine for quite some time now, not a year yet, but will in Feb or March of next year. I do have mine in there with three tangs. When I come down in the morning (4am) I feed the sun coral, trumpets, and brain this guy is flitting back and forth I assume eating. He does come in for the occasional meal while I feed the herd of other fish, often darting into the food cloud only to disapear into his section of the tank.

I never really liked this fish. My sister bought it for the tank so I put it in there. It's getting bigger and doesn't appear stressed. Probably a tank bred fish though. Got it from AD.

[merlin0883]

Wow. A lot of activity since I last posted. For those simply responding to my questions, I appreciate the input. I also appreciate the opinions of the rest of you, whether you disagree with what I have done or have defended me to others. I have always owned animals of all kinds, and do consider myself a responsible aquarist/pet owner. Most of my previous pets were in my youth and were native fauna that I caught, housed, observed, learned about, then released in the location of collection. I am currently one semester away from obtaining my M.S. in Population and Conservation Biology, too. I know that this may not necessarily mean anything as to the nature of my character, but I assure all of you that I do care about the world and everything in it. I do what I can to conserve wildlife. That being said, I am also an avid hunter and fisherman. These are not mutually exclusive (animal loving and hunting), nor do I believe that the opinions of those of you which disagree about my "irresponsible" acts and those that claim that this is the basis of American liberty are mutually exclusive.

I bought my first triplet knowing little of the species. I was, however, informed by the pet shop that they were very hardy and that few people have trouble with them. I never noticed them taking food, tried to research it, found very little, and they eventually died. I was told by an individual who has a 75gal tank about a year later that they recommend having a "cardinal only" tank, because they are submissive to other hyperactive and large fishes. He recommended at least five per "shoal," and this is what I purchased, because he had seven in his 75gal (5 bangai and 2 pajama), and had even had one pair successfully spawn. He had the babies to prove it. However, this did not work out well for me either. It seems that his luck with this approach, although it sounded reasonable, didn't necessarily mean that it is the best approach. They died, one at a time, over the next few months. I quit buying them for a while. Then, about a year or so ago, I read an article about them. It talked of their behavior and feeding habits, as well as the potential threat to the species due to their mouth-brooding nature and persistent wild collection. Since this article, I have come across similar articles discussing this issue. I, at this point, decided to refrain from purchasing any unless they were cb or unless they exhibited a strong feeding response in the store. However, I had a hippo tang, a six-line wrasse, a royal gramma, and a flame hawk by this point, so I didn't even bother with the notion of purchasing another cardinal. Also, through this time, I upgraded my equipment (skimmer, lighting, powerheads, RO water system), and my coral has exploded over the last year or so. I gave the tang back to the owner (long story) and the gramma died (I presume of old age). The wrasse jumped (I had to remove the back two pieces of glass canopy to incorporate the larger skimmer). Since these fish have been gone, I have noticed a massive increase in various -pods. I went to a shop to get a green or red brittle star. They had some very large bangai's and a separate tank with about 10 smaller bangai's. I talked to the dude about them. He said that they ate well, and that they were "potentially cb." Well, you know as well as I do what this could mean--it means "buy my fish." Then, he said that they respond to a hand coming to the tank, because they were habituated to food coming from it. He presented his hand. They rushed it. He dropped some Rod's in there, and they went nuts. Since I figured my tank was in the best condition that it could be in, I got 3--but I didn't know what it was that they were picking out of the Rod's. I had trouble getting them to swallow food. I posted a forum about it. Then, instead of waiting for a response, I went searching for something that they might eat. I found cyclops. They love it. We'll see what happens. If they don't make it, I'll never purchase any more. I also figure that if they are wild caught, and if I can't get them to do well in my tank, that chances are they won't do that well in someone else's tank. I promise, they could be in worse hands.