Bangaii as shoaling/schooling fish?

[nphsmith]

My first marine tank will be arriving soon. It is going to be 160*60*60cm, with a sump (70*50*45). I am thinking that my first fish obviously need to be quite tough, and would like to get a small school ideally - I worry that if I put in just one or two damsels, say, the tank will look awful empty in the early stage.

Chromis are the option I come across most often, but they...just don't excite me. I was wondering if 5/6/7 Bangaii would work in this size - I know in a smaller tank the recommendation is 1/2 of them. Or does anyone have other suggestions?

 

[Greenmaster]

Umm... if you have a proper cycle then you don't need to worry about your fish being tough...

 

[hackteck]

thats not completely true if your new to saltwater fish keeping after your tank cycles you want to start with hardy fish because their easier to care for if you happen to make a mistake along the way you dont want to get an expensive fish then have it die on you

 

[Fishbone13]

I recomend do'n a fishless cycle. Someone one here has a link that explains it pretty good or you can look it up on the web and get the low down. And I agree with green master, If you have a proper cycle and get all you're water parameters in order you should'nt have to worry about what type of fish to start off with (with the exception of difficuly of care level).

I also recomend for you to start out slow so you dont stress out the fish and shock you're tank with so much at once that you put everything in danger of die'n and you're tank crash'n.

Once you get the parameters right and have you're live rock in the tank during the cycle process then you can add some crabs or snails or shrimp with maybe one or two fish at a clip. Then see how everything pans out, do a couple water changes (10% - 15% a week) for two weeks maybe three then try add'n another fish and keep go'n that rout till you have the amount of fish you want and the tank look'n the way you want it to .

I know it's gonna look empty for a while and you are probably like me and want everything all at once but... for the safety of the fish and the best way for you to not spend a million bucks replace'n dead livestock you gotta take it slow. You'll be thankfull in the long run.

Just check out what you have to do to cycle you're tank before you start add'n anything and follow it to a tee and you will be good to go.
Good luck

 

[joy13]

Here is something I found interesting on the bangi. You might want to try to fine one male to a group of females for a more peaceful tank.
Reefs.org: Where Reefkeeping Begins on the Internet - Captive care and Breeding of the Banggai cardinal fish Pteragon kauderni
I guess I should check for myself to see if anyone has any young ones for sale for the swap, tank bred ones are much hardier if you can find them.

 

[nphsmith]

Guys, thanks for the input. I'm aware of the need for cycling and taking it slow and easy. My mention of robust species was because:
1) I'm in IT infrastructure. My work thinking is all about risk minimisation, assuming that systems will fail, and putting 'robust' contingencies in place.
2) I have no doubt that either I or someone else will do something stupid at some point, which a more robust fish is more likely to survive.
3) Robust fish are less likely to suffer from disease. Psychologically, I'd prefer my first experience in new hobby to not be dealing with ich etc and/or losing a fish.
4) Even less stupid mistakes (Such as missing a feeding) will likely be mitigated by a more mature tank with established refugiums etc...so I am thinking eg Anthias I will likely put them in later when the tank is more established.

Thanks again for the input - it's undoubtedly worth reemphasising these things!

My real question though was this: does anyone have experience of keeping a larger group (5/6/7+) of Bangaii in one (larger) tank, and if so are there aggression issues? The literature I can find on them suggests that you can have a few in a larger tank, but most people seem to stick to one/pairs.

Unfortunately, the article Joy linked to (thanks) doesn't address this.

 

[carey]

I just read this:

Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Aquariums: Kaudern's Cardinalfish

It says they get aggressive in large numbers. :-(

Best info I could find real quick.

 

[Maya]

I have zero personal experience but from my research of the fish as a possible addition to our tank, the juveniles school. As they reach adulthood they become more territorial and less accepting of others. Many people keep them as mated pairs but some say that the "third wheel" is constantly picked at. But again, I have no personal experience. I just wanted to commend your attitude! It's lovely to see someone research well. I'm the exact same way... Research and pre-plan to overcome my own stupid mistakes. I have made several and will undoubtedly
make many more. Good luck and let us know what you decide and how it works out.

 

[Greenmaster]

For a shoaling/schooling fish I like the Zebra Dart Goby... It's not too expensive and schools quite nicely for me... I'm not sure on the hardiness of them, but so far I'm happy with what I have... if you want I could post a short video of them schooling in my tank.

 

[carey]

I believe orange cardinals also school. They are still in the running for the open spot in my tank lOL

 

[Fishbone13]

I had 4 spotted cardinals when I started my firs salt water tank, and from my experience which was 2 years with them and from what I heard about their hardiness (which is why I got them in the first place)... They school well and are a tough fish. Plus they look like little Parana's. I dig the red eyes. Check out the link let me know what ya think.

Spotted Cardinalfish

 

[nphsmith]

Many thanks for suggestions, guys -
Zebra Dart Goby - I like the look of these, could you maybe post video?
Spotted Cardinalfish - I love their look, almost as much as the Bangaii, but they always seem a bit...static. Am I wrong? I have an image of my school flashing around the tank together, splitting up and then coming together (Which may be completely unrealistic of course)! Also I will be going heavily into shrimps etc so that's a bit of a worry with them.
Orange Cardinalfish - Not sure. They don't immediately appeal, but thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Fishbone13]

I had a fire shrimp and a banded coral shrimp when I had my cardinals and there were no probs. Plus I had and still have about 6 each of electric orange and electric blue hermit crabs. I still got the shrim too by the way.

I'm not sure what you mean by static with the spotted cardinals but mine would seperate and do there own thing for a little bt them come back together often. They would do alot of hover'n and are a pretty slow fish if you ask me. But I don't think they are any faster or slower than the Bangii.They seem more peacefull to me but thats just my opinion.

 

[Greenmaster]

I got a Video of my zebras doing some schooling. The darts tend to separate a bit because there isn't enough other fish in the tank... also because they have so many, so they can divide into smaller schools.

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[nphsmith]

Thanks for that, lovely. I can see why you like them. Now I'm jealous of your Tang school, of course