ThRoewer
New member
I got a pair of fully grown wild caught Banggai Cardinals for breeding last Saturday and the male died Monday night.
He started loosing color starting from the back. I noticed this first on Sunday but attributed it to the stress of being relocated and carrying eggs.
Monday during the day he was a bit reclusive, again nothing overly uncommon with a "pregnant" Banggai male, especially in new environment.
In the evening I found him leaning against the eggcrate divider that separated him from the female. He also had expelled the eggs.
An hour later he was dead.
Except for the lost color and the fact that he is dead he looks OK, no signs of any skin parasites, weight loss or other causes I could recognize.
He also never displayed rapid breathing or
The female did and still does well and shows no signs of disease or significant stress (other than being in a new environment and shy being alone now)
At first my biggest worry was that this could be a case of BCIV, the dreaded Banggai Cardinal Iridovirus (Megalocytivirus) infection - details see here:
Systemic Iridovirus Infection in the Banggai Cardinalfish (Pterapogon Kauderni Koumans 1933)
(All those that think they can get away without quarantine should have a look at this. You get this type of virus into your tank and you can start over from scratch.)
This pair had been at the store in the same tak for at least half a year and Iridoviruses usually show up faster. Also the symptoms they describe are different.
At this point I have no good explanation for its death and am open for any ideas.
He started loosing color starting from the back. I noticed this first on Sunday but attributed it to the stress of being relocated and carrying eggs.
Monday during the day he was a bit reclusive, again nothing overly uncommon with a "pregnant" Banggai male, especially in new environment.
In the evening I found him leaning against the eggcrate divider that separated him from the female. He also had expelled the eggs.
An hour later he was dead.
Except for the lost color and the fact that he is dead he looks OK, no signs of any skin parasites, weight loss or other causes I could recognize.
He also never displayed rapid breathing or
The female did and still does well and shows no signs of disease or significant stress (other than being in a new environment and shy being alone now)
At first my biggest worry was that this could be a case of BCIV, the dreaded Banggai Cardinal Iridovirus (Megalocytivirus) infection - details see here:
Systemic Iridovirus Infection in the Banggai Cardinalfish (Pterapogon Kauderni Koumans 1933)
(All those that think they can get away without quarantine should have a look at this. You get this type of virus into your tank and you can start over from scratch.)
This pair had been at the store in the same tak for at least half a year and Iridoviruses usually show up faster. Also the symptoms they describe are different.
At this point I have no good explanation for its death and am open for any ideas.
