Banggai Cardinals won't Eat

[ashnat]

I bought three Banggai Cardinals from my lfs last Sunday. They had 6 or 7 and I asked them to feed them to see if they would eat. I saw all of them react and several of them eat the pellets they gave them so I bought three. None of mine will eat anything I have. Liveaquaria indicates that blood worms are a good food source for them which is one of the primary foods I use along with mysis. The lfs gave me some feeder guppies and two of the three each got one or two along with my solar wrasse that got at least 3. After that they still don't seem interested in eating. One of them occassionally takes in something but usually spits it back out. I went back to the lfs and got some minnows which were significantly bigger then the guppies and again at least two of the cardinals ate several of them. As did my solar wrasse.

Any ideas of what I can do to get them to eat?

Thanks

 

[LH77]

You should get a good feeding response with live black worms, can't emphasize this enough. They'll eventually take frozen mysis, blood worms, and other frozen foods. I never got them to eat pellets or flake.

 

[ashnat]

Unfortunately my lfs doesn't carry live black worms.

 

[griseum]

Are they captive bred or wild caught?

I suggest and advocate buying captive bred Bangaii Cardinals.

Try live Mysis shrimp. Or PE (Piscine Energy) Mysis if that's not the Mysis you are using already. They are freshwater Mysis that are much more oily, and the invoke a better feeding response, as well as being gut-loaded with Phytoplankton.

 

[ashnat]

The lfs thought they were captive bred. They don't carry any live food for saltwater. All they have are feeder fish such as minnows and guppies which two of the three will readily eat but that is all.

 

[MikeTR]

see if a garlic soak sparks some interest.. you can use fresh garlic, just squeeze the juices off.

 

[ashnat]

I was thinking of trying that but I have never done it before. All I have is the chopped garlic in a jar so I was just going to drain some of the juice from the jar. Will this work or are there preservatives or other things in the jarred garlic that you would recommend against this?

 

[small alien]

This species can only be kept in pairs or alone as adults. Watch yours carefully. If two are hanging out and peaceful, return the third and assume/hope you have a pair in the other two. You could try garlic. What other foods have you tried? How long has it been? Good luck.

 

[small alien]

Also, your LFS should KNOW if they're captive bred. These animals are struggling in their limited home range due to over harvesting for the aquarium trade. Only CB should be purchased.

 

[ashnat]

None of them have shown any signs of aggression to one another.

I have tried spirulina flakes, Reef Nutrition arcti pods, Omega One Marine Pellets with garlic and red and green marine algae as well as the frozen blood worms/mysis shrimp mix.

 

[MathiasM.]

Hello,

try Cyclop Eeze, my Bangais love it! Then slowly start adding small Artemia.
After that they will eat everything =)

Greetings
Mathias

 

[griseum]

I didn't want to get on a soap box, but yes, I advocate Captive Bred Bangaii Cardinals because of the dwindling wild population and the over-collection of these fish. Plus with Captive Bred you get all the benefits of stronger Immune Systems, less disease prone, easier to feed (hopefully) and easier to acclimate to aquarium living.

Good luck with the feeding and as small alien stated, they will pick off each other one by one, until you are either left with a Pair or with one Alpha fish.

GL.

 

[ashnat]

I will confirm that they are captive bred. The employee that was on the day that I bought them is not the saltwater guy so I will ask the guy who places their orders. I am pretty sure they are captive bred.

Is this true with all Cardinals that they should not be kept together. I thought I had read numerous posts of keeping them in groups?

 

[ace_92101]

Maybe you might want to try another LFS. Yours doesn't sound very helpful or knowledgeable.

 

[ashnat]

I don't live in a big city so you get what you get.

 

[small alien]

I will confirm that they are captive bred. The employee that was on the day that I bought them is not the saltwater guy so I will ask the guy who places their orders. I am pretty sure they are captive bred.

Is this true with all Cardinals that they should not be kept together. I thought I had read numerous posts of keeping them in groups?

Some will live in groups like the glass cardinal. Bangaiis will not. I have heard of a successful trio of one female and two males where the males alternated holding the eggs. I would watch for pair behavior and then rehome the odd man out. Cheers.

 

[Beefy_Reefy]

Mine only eats frozen brine shrimp. Try to get spirulina brine.

 

[Wolverine]

I didn't want to get on a soap box, but yes, I advocate Captive Bred Bangaii Cardinals because of the dwindling wild population and the over-collection of these fish. Plus with Captive Bred you get all the benefits of stronger Immune Systems, less disease prone, easier to feed (hopefully) and easier to acclimate to aquarium living.

Good luck with the feeding and as small alien stated, they will pick off each other one by one, until you are either left with a Pair or with one Alpha fish.

Completely agree on all points.

Is this true with all Cardinals that they should not be kept together. I thought I had read numerous posts of keeping them in groups?

There are people who get away with it, but it's the exception more than the rule. In a really large tank, sometimes the two adults will tolerate their own children, and you can get pretty big groups that way, but even then there tends to be aggression issues as the juvies get bigger. Then you also get into inbreeding problems.