Red Spot Cardinalfish

[LisaP]

I am considering introducing some Red Spot Cardinalfish, Apogon parvulus, to my Reefer 170. However I have read in Scott Michael's '101 Best Nano-Reef Species' book that these fish may be a threat to nano gobies. The tank presently is home to several nano goby species and I'm really rather fond of them so I do NOT want them to end up as a Cardinalfish snack or chased into constant hiding.

Is this a real concern with these Cardinals and should I therefore avoid them??

Thanks!

Regards

Lisa

 

[damienpbuckley]

Hmm. I'm interested in these too for my 250. Following"¦


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[OrionN]

Here is a really informative thread from long ago to last year. I read through it and decided not to add them into my tank.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1739827

 

[LisaP]

Hi there,

Thanks for the link, I have read it already in my quest for knowledge regarding this species. I do know that these fish sadly have a reputation of difficult to keep long term, I was just hoping for some specific information regarding keeping them with nano gobies. I have been watching a group of these fish at my LFS for a couple of months at least, they seem to be settled and eating well.

Regards

Lisa

 

[rhdoug]

I can't imagine they would be a threat (to anything), they ignored all my other fish when I had them, and the other fish all ignored them. They are only about an 1.5 inches long. However, I didn't have any nano gobies.

 

[Half Vaped]

They're definitely a finicky species. I have two going strong for about 1.5 years. And one that was just over a year when it passed.

But they started as two groups of five from DD in Fall '15. The ten died one by one until I was down to three in maybe two months. The three were doing well together until one died last year. I got ten more and those ten again dwindled down to three after a few weeks.

I now have five active Red Spot Cardinals. They stay out in the open, in a tight group. They chase each other a little, but they don't seem to be aggressive at all otherwise. I keep them in a 40 Breeder with a Neon, Yasha and Yellow Rose Gobies and Two-Spot, Barnacle and Sailfin (the 1.5 inch one) Blennies. I never saw them harass any of the nano fish.

I feed them at least twice a day, usually thrice. It seems that after the die-offs in the first month or so, the ones that make it do okay. My record is slightly worse than one-in-three chance of success.

 

[LisaP]

Thank for all the responses so far. Having seen the fish in the flesh I cannot imagine that they would be a problem, but I guess somebody must have for Mr Michael to have included it in his book.

I just can't decide if a) it's worth the risk and/or b) if they are just too delicate to try.

I'm really struggling to find fish for my tank that are small, peaceful, completely reef safe and swim out in the open. I have rock huggers (Possum & Pink Streaked Wrasse), sand sitters (Trimma cana & T. nudus gobies) and a burrow dweller (Whitecap goby with shrimp buddy).

What else is there that fits those requirements other than Red Spot Cardinals? :hmm2:

Regards

Lisa

 

[rhdoug]

Threadfin or blue eyed cardinals (different name, same fish) are a good choice. Yellow assessors are nice, but do hide a lot until they get used to the tank. I'd go with captive bred ones from ORA if possible. I currently have a pair (well, 2 individuals) of radial filefish also from ORA which are so far very peaceful and interesting. I haven't had them long but they are very small and "seahorse-like" in their behavior. I've had trios of chalk bass that have worked well but did not live long enough to reach a large size so take that for what it's worth. None of these fish have ever bothered anything in the tank.

I would really like to try the redspots again, if we got better reports of hardiness from other reefers in the future.

 

[LisaP]

Threadfin Cardinals are a possibility too. I had not really considered an Assessor before but they do look really lovely. One to keep an out for I think.

The filefish so look awesome but I've just read that they aren't entirely reef safe, how have you found them to be?

Thanks for the suggestions.

Regards

Lisa

 

[rhdoug]

I have a trio of yellow assessors and they are a great fish, beautiful and peaceful. I've only had the filefish for a couple of weeks so too early to say anything except so far so good.

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

My suggestions are Trimma rubromaculatus (1st recommendation) and Coryphopterus personatus (2nd).

You mentioned T. Cana. In the past year I have gone on a kick of keeping groups of small gobies including T. cana, T. rubromaculatus, and C. personatus. I highly recommend T. rubromaculatus as a suitable replacement for redspot cardinals. These fish are always out in the open, hang out together, and will swim up in the water column vs on the rocks. I have also found them to be hardy and fine for long term on 1-2 feedings daily. These fish are very different than T. cana. C personatus also swim in the water column but hide a little more and I have found them to be a little less hardy.

 

[WLachnit]

I have a trio of yellow assessors and they are a great fish, beautiful and peaceful. I've only had the filefish for a couple of weeks so too early to say anything except so far so good.

Do your yellow assessor hang out in the open? Or are they usually hiding? And what other species do you have them with?

 

[LisaP]

My suggestions are Trimma rubromaculatus (1st recommendation) and Coryphopterus personatus (2nd).

You mentioned T. Cana. In the past year I have gone on a kick of keeping groups of small gobies including T. cana, T. rubromaculatus, and C. personatus. I highly recommend T. rubromaculatus as a suitable replacement for redspot cardinals. These fish are always out in the open, hang out together, and will swim up in the water column vs on the rocks. I have also found them to be hardy and fine for long term on 1-2 feedings daily. These fish are very different than T. cana. C personatus also swim in the water column but hide a little more and I have found them to be a little less hardy.

T. rubromaculatus sounds like a perfect fit then, the trouble is I've not seen any of those for sale in any of the shops I've visited so far. Perhaps I can order some in, I will check.

Thanks for the suggestions. I do love the nano gobies, this is my first time keeping them (now that I have a suitably sized tank), here's a shot of my T. cana. They may be small but they are big on personality.

Regards

Lisa

 

[rhdoug]

Do your yellow assessor hang out in the open? Or are they usually hiding? And what other species do you have them with?

The assessors, or at least some of them, are visible most of the time. That is partly due to the way I feed. I hang a "Julians Thing" full of a frozen mix inside the canopy in front of one of the mp10's. It slowly drizzles out over the course of about an hour. I do this several times during the day, so most of the time the fish are out actively hunting food. It aloso keeps the sun corals open during the day. I also have tons of hiding places. I find that fish, like reptiles, are more comfortable knowing that they can dart out of sight in an instant, and seem to remain in the open for longer periods of time because they feel safe.

I have a breeding pair of occelaris clowns living in a sebae anemone, a CB marine betta, scopas tang, CB neon goby, chalk bass, 2 pajama cardinals, 2 CB radial filefish, and the 3 CB assessors. I think that's everybody.

 

[pfan151]

I'd go with the threadfins. I have a group of 8 in my tank. They definitely look a lot nicer in person than in pics. The blue eyes really glow under LEDS. Still not a flashy fish but pretty much the best choice for a shoaling fish in an aquarium IMO.

 

[LisaP]

I checked out the Red Spots again today at my LFS, they are all still there. I didn't purchase any though, the sales assistant said they didn't do well with lots of flow. Ho hum, I guess they are just not meant to be. Unfortunately they had no Trimma sp. available at all The Vanderbilt Chromis looked nice but not sure if they will coexist peacefully long term. I'll keep searching.

Regards

Lisa

 

[pfan151]

I checked out the Red Spots again today at my LFS, they are all still there. I didn't purchase any though, the sales assistant said they didn't do well with lots of flow. Ho hum, I guess they are just not meant to be. Unfortunately they had no Trimma sp. available at all The Vanderbilt Chromis looked nice but not sure if they will coexist peacefully long term. I'll keep searching.

Regards

Lisa

I think the lfs employee is mistaken about the flow

 

[MarkW64]

My suggestions are Trimma rubromaculatus (1st recommendation) and Coryphopterus personatus (2nd).

You mentioned T. Cana. In the past year I have gone on a kick of keeping groups of small gobies including T. cana, T. rubromaculatus, and C. personatus. I highly recommend T. rubromaculatus as a suitable replacement for redspot cardinals. These fish are always out in the open, hang out together, and will swim up in the water column vs on the rocks. I have also found them to be hardy and fine for long term on 1-2 feedings daily. These fish are very different than T. cana. C personatus also swim in the water column but hide a little more and I have found them to be a little less hardy.

LobsterOfJustice could you share more info about your T. rubromaculatus? How large of a group do you have? What other fish are they with? I'm wondering if they stay out in the open with larger species present.

 

[rhdoug]

I think the lfs employee is mistaken about the flow

I agree

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

LobsterOfJustice could you share more info about your T. rubromaculatus? How large of a group do you have? What other fish are they with? I'm wondering if they stay out in the open with larger species present.

I have 5 T rubromaculatus, 4 C personatus, and 1 T cana. They live in a 180g with other medium (wrasses, anthias, chromis) and med-large (angels, butterfly) fish.


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