aggressive banggai cardinal fish.

[coffeetwitch]

its in a 40 gallon breeder with ample live rock and room. i like the banggai cardinal fish so much i tried to get a second one.

i believe i have a female, she is bigger than the new one and hates him(actual sex of the new one is undetermined).

i tried putting "her" in a net for 10 minutes and is still very aggressive to the new fish. so i put "her" in my refugium. how long do you guys recommend "her" staying isolated from the dt before trying to introduce them again?

thanks

 

[coffeetwitch]

did a bit of reading. found out that im not experienced enough to sex banggais. and that either they are the same sex or just not a compatible pair.

my original doesnt like the new one and i have to wait to find another one at the lfs and try again (thursday or friday). ill see if sweetie pie wants this banggai in her tank or hold it in my refugium and see if i can exchange him for the second try.

 

[joy13]

Males are usually the ones that fight from what people that have tried to breed them told me. I am wanting a tank bred one.

 

[coffeetwitch]

tank breed are hard to come by around here. i would like two too.

 

[coffeetwitch]

local fish store got some more in. first one i brought home it was immediately obvious it wasnt going to work. i was floating the bag and my guy rushed it and flared up at the new one. the new guy returned the greeting. so back to the store. tried to find another one. this time my guy creeped up to the bag and flared only a little then swam off. guy in the bag just sat there. i took this to be a good sign and continued to acclimate.

once it hit the water it followed my guy behind the rocks then they where both puffing up at each other. i dont know whats up. ive looked online and found nothing that definitively helps.

this morning,one full night together, neither of them are shredded. neither of them hide in a corner. no rushing each other in an attack. but one will always have an eye on the other. and flares from time to time. it appears to me that there are some attempts at intimidation and nothing really happens from it.

i thought only males flared their throats out as a sign of aggression. one article said in 10 minutes you would know. well i still dont. any help would be appreciated.

 

[mfdrookie516]

This is interesting. I wasn't able to find any solid answer as to whether groups were ok. The most common recommendation I have found is to have one, or 3+. The tank I got mine from had 5, the guy said they had been there for a few weeks and all got along well. No idea how true that is, but they all seemed content. I do see mine flare up at the reflection in the glass sometimes though. I think I'm just going to stick with one in my small tank, though if I ever go bigger, I'm most definitely getting more. This is one of the most beautiful fish I've found. Good luck with yours, wish I had something better to offer.

 

[coffeetwitch]

thanks and best of luck and enjoyment to you with your tank. i have been told groups with banggais are bad. pair only in smaller tanks like ours.

until ive started wanting a pair my guy never puffed. it was neat to see. this is just kind of frustrating. lack of experience and my difficulty in finding answers is a bother.
ive seen fish fight and this is not it to me.

 

[dwint]

i had alot of them and you have to have o in your tank.buy two from the store then they get along great.i have done this three times and they were always hanging out together.same goes for clowns

 

[coffeetwitch]

the lfs really helped me out on this one. i brought one home and it was obvious before i even started the acclimation process that they where not going to get along. took that one back and they let me see how the rest of them react to him. found one that didnt care and brought that one home. in the beginning it was worrisome. but they are getting along great.