Next Fish ... Kaudern's Cardinal?

MVlk

MVlk

New member
I am starting to think about what fish I next want to add to my tank. Was leaning towards a group of fish that would school a bit. I'd love to go with Anthias, but am not ready to meet their feeding needs. Am currently leaning towards some tank-bred Kaudern's Cardinal.

Anyone have an experience with these fish? How many is recommended, 3-5?

For reference, my current fish are as follows. Although my tank is not a 'reef' yet, I am slowly moving to that. I am open to other fish suggestions as well.


Fish: ( Common Name / Scientific Name / My Family Names / Commentary )
- 1 - Yellowtail Damselfish (Chrysiptera parasema) - Leftover from the cycle crew. (Survived the move)
- 2 - Black and White Ocellaris Clownfish - (Amphiprion ocellaris var.) - Barack and Obama
- 1 - Six Line Wrasse (Pseudocheilinus hexataenia) - Rex
- 1 - Diamond Watchman Goby (Valencienna puellaris) â€"œ Carl Rove
- 1 - Sailfin Tang (Zebrasoma veliferum) â€"œ Coco
 
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Lol Michael, leave it to you to find the fancy name for a HiFin cardinal. That's what they are known as around the LFS here.

They are great fish to have and reef safe. My suggestion is you watch them in the LFS and see if any are paired and off in a corner. Juveniles it's harder to tell, but sometimes you get lucky. I recommend only going with pairs, and if you want to breed them then buy 4 or 5 and see who pairs up, then remove the rest and sell em back to the LFS (like Angela is doing)

Keep and eye on the yellow fib, he might decide to pick on them as he is mean spirited and they are very peaceful.

I liked my HiFin until he got swallowed by the intake strainer of my overflow.

I also have a great article in the annual reef magazine about them you can read. Another variety is the peacock cardinal whoa re stroking in their own way as well.
 
One recommendation. Get captive bred. I had tried several and they all lived a few months and then died. They would eat well, but would always stay skinny. I bought 3 at the frag swap from Matt and they are all 3 fat and healthy. The wild ones usually have parasites and are weakened from the start.
 
Just curious what feeding requirements your talking about with Anthias. I've had several of these fish and they eat pretty much anything you put In the tank? Much more lively and colorful fish too!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14924666#post14924666 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by poolkeeper1
Just curious what feeding requirements your talking about with Anthias. I've had several of these fish and they eat pretty much anything you put In the tank? Much more lively and colorful fish too!
Click to expand...

Count yourself lucky, most people seem to have problems getting them to eat, I suspect because they are not captive breed.
 
For Anthias to thrive, I have heard you must feed several (3-5) times a day. I do not have the ability to do so currently. I do not think I could talk my wife into doing this for me when I am at work.

My lights are not even on when I leave for work in the morning by7 AM so the earliest I would be able to feed is at 5PM when I get home and then later in the evening around 7 or 8 PM. To accomplish this, I would need to bring my Lights on at around 6 AM and go off at 9 PM. Seems like too long of a period even if most of it would be Actinic only. I do not want to turn the lights off earlier as that cuts into the time I can actually sit and enjoy the tank.

Do not get me wrong, Anthias would be my first choice. Just not sure it is practical. I am happy for someone to change my mind on that though.
 
Other note, if I go with the HiFin (Happy Andy :) ) as my original post stated, it would be a tank/captive bread. This for practicality and environmental concerns.
 
5xdaily feedings are a bad idea unless you want to have algae issues, That being said most people only feed 1xdaily or 2 at most regardless of what fish they have. Fish will adapt to your feeding routine as they have no choice!! The only ones that say feed that much are food MFG's JMHO though.
 
Hmmm... I may reconsider Anthias then. What did you feed them. I am only feeding frozen now (Emerald entree or Angela's Homemade Supreme)... I assume I would need to add to that for them?

I may have to go to lunch at the Critter today :)
 
Why not "reposition" your lighting schedule? Mine come on late afternoon and go off around 11 at night. That way you can feed the anthias several smaller meals throughout the evening.

The pacific ocean (where most of these fish come from) are hours behind us anyway.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14925932#post14925932 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MVlk
:eek1: What other fish are they eating!
Click to expand...

:lol: I have one that killed another anthia. He also likes to bully my other fish. He is agressive like a chiuaua :D. But my tank is also 1/3 the size of yours, so I don't think you will have any aggression issues with them. They are normally very docile fish, I just got one that must have Damsel in him...... I need to get another fish to ruff him up some.

BTW mine is a Bartlett. Great colors and I got them from critter about a month & 1/2 ago.
 
CeeGee, I will probably give that a try. Should be able to offset it by an hour or two and get three small feedings spaced about two hours apart.

Oh, by the way. I went to the Critter at lunch and they happened to have them ready to go. They looked good, took food without issue... and most importantly, I got permission. :)

The are acclimating in my sump right now! :) Picked up a trio of Bartlett's Anthias (Pseudanthias bartlettorum). Supposedly one male and two females.

This picture is of them in the bag as soon as I got home. Will of course try to get a better picture once they are in the tank.
BartlettsAnthias-InBag_edited.jpg
 
The barletts will all turn to male in your tank. There is a ongoing thread about it somewhere in the reef fishes area I believe.

You should find and read that thread.
 
I am not saying I know anything, but Live Aquaria and other sites I thought said one would turn to male if no dominant male exists in the group? I have not read all will? Again, I know nothing and know you can not trust everything you read on the internet. ;)

From the Live Aquaria page for the Anthias:
"Anthias species all share the trait of being hermaphroditic. If a dominant male perishes, the largest female of the group will often morph to take its place. "
 
The new trio have been in for a few hours and seem to be doing well. Just did a feeding and they ate fine.

Here is an updated photo. My camera skills are obviously lacking. The color is pretty washed out, I'll try for better once the kiddies have gone off to bed.

They are quite beautiful with the standard coloring.
Anthias04-30-092.jpg
 
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