Black Bandit ANgelfish

[jnc914]

If your spending that much on a Bandit your being ripped off Bandits normally run 500-600 for a small one

:lmao:

When and where did you purchase your small $500 Bandit? I am not saying you didn't buy it at that price, I am saying that a small size Bandit is not "normally" that price; unless you are paying wholesale. The prices I listed are clearly retail. Also, those prices are for healthy specimens. There is another diver in HI that offers cheap Bandits, but they come in looking rough, sickly, and have a high mortality rate because they are not decompressed and handled correctly.

I used to pay close to wholesale for a majority of my fish, but those sources have dried up in the current economical climate. Rufus Kimura (freedive43) is one of the main collectors of Bandits, and primarily ships them to Japan (Blue Harbor) and some trickle into US wholesalers and private collectors. Some of the quotes, especially for the juvi and smaller sized Bandits, came directly from him. I would only purchase my Bandits from Rufus or Matt in order to guarantee health.

 

[RayL]

It stares at a rock all day, but doesn't pick at it. I am not sure what I can smear in between the rocks.

See, I knew the rule for the bandit and thats what I told the person to get me that size. They heavily emphasis it was 3.5...but from tip of the beak to end of the tail, it looks more like 5....so i am pretty ****ed about it.

It does suck that you didn't get the size you wanted but in a couple weeks your fish will be eating and be healthy. At that point the larger size wil be very nice. Good luck with the fish. Post some pics of him

 

[pktech]

Does it have tankmates? Not sure if the SG or temp is different for them. I'm imagining it's still in shock from being in the ocean to your tank ... Any idea how long they had it before you received it? Just thinking out loud ...

 

[Psionicdragon]

It does suck that you didn't get the size you wanted but in a couple weeks your fish will be eating and be healthy. At that point the larger size wil be very nice. Good luck with the fish. Post some pics of him

Well I just noticed theres a bump under the anus. so...not sure if thats a good sign. Smaller than a cherry but bigger than a peanut.

 

[Psionicdragon]

Does it have tankmates? Not sure if the SG or temp is different for them. I'm imagining it's still in shock from being in the ocean to your tank ... Any idea how long they had it before you received it? Just thinking out loud ...

1 "nemo" clownfish lol and a giant 20 inch carpet.

Other than that, no other tank mates.

Based on my understanding of the time line:

2 weeks in the diver's holding tank where it was trained to eat.
3 days in the wholesaler's holding tank
1/2 day at LFS
1 week as of tomorrow with me.

 

[jnc914]

Well I just noticed theres a bump under the anus. so...not sure if thats a good sign. Smaller than a cherry but bigger than a peanut.

Could be damage from being needled. IS it discolored at all?Do you happen to know who the diver or wholesale resource was? You can PM if you don't want to post.

 

[Psionicdragon]

Could be damage from being needled. IS it discolored at all?Do you happen to know who the diver or wholesale resource was? You can PM if you don't want to post.

Shot you a PM.

Its a little discolored. Its still swimming fine and doesn't look stress. The bump developed over the past few days. It wasn't there the first few days.

In regards to the price point, the above mention is very close to what I paid.

My criterias were very simple:
1) small under 3 1/2 inches
2) eating

The second criteria was somewhat met as a video was sent to me with it chasing after live brine. The first actually failed. I am not even sure how the wholesaler measured it. Don't you measure a fish's size from the tip of its mouth to the tail?

I am by no mean rich, but I wouldn't mind paying a little more to know that a fish will live and eat...

 

[RxMike]

Bandit

Bandit

There a local fish store here in NJ that has a nice specimen it is about 3 or 4 inches. they are asking 1800.00 for the fish which is insane price. They are trying to sucker someone into paying price on tank. Anyone interested in fish make an offer and you can probably save very good money.

Important tip, i know someone who tried three bandits he said they all developed a pimple on their side and then died. I bet this has something to do with decompression and needling.

 

[Psionicdragon]

There a local fish store here in NJ that has a nice specimen it is about 3 or 4 inches. they are asking 1800.00 for the fish which is insane price. They are trying to sucker someone into paying price on tank. Anyone interested in fish make an offer and you can probably save very good money.

Important tip, i know someone who tried three bandits he said they all developed a pimple on their side and then died. I bet this has something to do with decompression and needling.

i am sad now.....

 

[RxMike]

Bandit

Bandit

My bad,
Best of luck..I hope it is not the same issue. The guy who mentioned the issue works in this store selling the bandit for 1800 bucks. He had three bandits back like ten years ago. They all died the same way. He said back then prices were very different. A bandit was like 60 bucks back then.

 

[Psionicdragon]

 

[RayL]

I love the fish, I really hope he pulls through what ever this thing is he has.

 

[Psionicdragon]

sorry, trying to get a better pic going. damn sd reader ain't picking up my thing

 

[jnc914]

Try a broad spectrum antibiotic (Maracyn). Hopefully it will begin to feed soon. A lack of proper nutrition plus a potential infection does not bode well for any fish. Good luck, keep us posted.

 

[Psionicdragon]

Thanks for the pms jason.

 

[Psionicdragon]

thanks to all that responded. hopefully this bugger doesn't end up in my compost bin...

 

[Psionicdragon]

finally got a better pic. look at the black box and theres were the bump is.

 

[sedgro]

I am by no means an expert, but I can't say I see anything abnormal there. It does not look like the swollen anus that jnc914 discusses from needling. Like jnc914 I have had several bandits over the last 5 years. The best were from Rob Lower and ate out of the bag. I have not been lucky enough to get any from Rufus. My current came from eBay believe it or not -diver direct for $416.67 shipped. It is 3.4-4 inches. Like I said before, it was a challenge at first but eventually came around. I hope yours will do the same.

 

[Psionicdragon]

Thanks

I hope that pimple isn't what Jason is talking about either! But that bump wasn't originally there when it arrived and slowly grew over the past few days.

Sed, how long did it take for yours to eat and would you mind pming me the ebay person you bought it from?

 

[paka]

It could be that the bump is not a problem and is just looking like a growing bump as the abdominal area around it gets thinner. Having said that, I agree with treating him with a broad spectrum antibiotic just to be safe.
Hang in there, it sounds like you know what you're doing and it can take a while for the larger bandits to settle in and eat.