Hi,
This is the first post I have started on this site...I just joined it today, but my husband reads and posts on here all the time. I am sure there have probably been a zillion questions about Banggais that have been answered a zillion times...but, I was not able to find the information I need. We started our tank about a year now.
We have a 90 gallon reef tank that has about 10 fish and 7 or 8 corals, along with a lot of live rock, hermits, shrimp, sand star, etc. Last week we bought 3 Banggais (we were told one male and 2 females). One looked kind of sickly when we got her (she was sort of given to us with hopes she'd make it, but we weren't surprised when she died). However, the next day, the other female died (well we think she was a female!)
From what I have read, if you are going to have a pair you want to get them at the same time, so we got another one as quickly as we could, hoping it would be soon enough. This one looks much healthier -- swimming around, very active, etc. As soon as we put her in, the male started chasing her. At first it was not clear if he just was interested in this new fish or if he was being aggressive. Soon it seemed pretty clear that he was chasing her and nipping at her and we thought he was going to hurt her, so we took her out and put her in another tank. My husband said he thought the male took a bite out of one of the female's fins.
So, here is where I am hoping all of you with experience with these fish can help.
**Can you tell me the best way to tell what sex each fish is? The man who sold them to us, said the males tended to have a flat area at the top of one of their top fins. (according to him we have a male and a female, but we aren't so sure)
**Is it possible, that with time (and more space) these two could live together (even mate?) We put them in a 10 gallon quarantine tank (then yanked one out and put it in a 55 with a hippo tang for quarantine), but they will (hopefully both) be going into our 90 gallon reef tank. I didn't realize before that they needed a larger quarantine area, so we are considering putting them in a 20 gallon.
**Is the behavior we saw necessarily aggressive...ie: could we have mistaken the behavior as aggressive when really it was a mating ritual? Would it be worth a try to move them both into a 20 gallon tank at the same time for quarantine? How much "bullying" is too much?
**What does a mating pair act like?
I hope you don't mind I am asking so many questions, I just want to do what is best for the fish and not cause unnecessary pain and/or death.
Thanks,
Watts
This is the first post I have started on this site...I just joined it today, but my husband reads and posts on here all the time. I am sure there have probably been a zillion questions about Banggais that have been answered a zillion times...but, I was not able to find the information I need. We started our tank about a year now.
We have a 90 gallon reef tank that has about 10 fish and 7 or 8 corals, along with a lot of live rock, hermits, shrimp, sand star, etc. Last week we bought 3 Banggais (we were told one male and 2 females). One looked kind of sickly when we got her (she was sort of given to us with hopes she'd make it, but we weren't surprised when she died). However, the next day, the other female died (well we think she was a female!)
From what I have read, if you are going to have a pair you want to get them at the same time, so we got another one as quickly as we could, hoping it would be soon enough. This one looks much healthier -- swimming around, very active, etc. As soon as we put her in, the male started chasing her. At first it was not clear if he just was interested in this new fish or if he was being aggressive. Soon it seemed pretty clear that he was chasing her and nipping at her and we thought he was going to hurt her, so we took her out and put her in another tank. My husband said he thought the male took a bite out of one of the female's fins.
So, here is where I am hoping all of you with experience with these fish can help.
**Can you tell me the best way to tell what sex each fish is? The man who sold them to us, said the males tended to have a flat area at the top of one of their top fins. (according to him we have a male and a female, but we aren't so sure)
**Is it possible, that with time (and more space) these two could live together (even mate?) We put them in a 10 gallon quarantine tank (then yanked one out and put it in a 55 with a hippo tang for quarantine), but they will (hopefully both) be going into our 90 gallon reef tank. I didn't realize before that they needed a larger quarantine area, so we are considering putting them in a 20 gallon.
**Is the behavior we saw necessarily aggressive...ie: could we have mistaken the behavior as aggressive when really it was a mating ritual? Would it be worth a try to move them both into a 20 gallon tank at the same time for quarantine? How much "bullying" is too much?
**What does a mating pair act like?
I hope you don't mind I am asking so many questions, I just want to do what is best for the fish and not cause unnecessary pain and/or death.
Thanks,
Watts
