Redspot Cardinalfish - Apogon parvulus
- Thread starter espocrespo
- Start date
ichthyogeek
New member
So LA DD sells them in groups of 5. Would it be best to get a group of 10? Or can I get by with a group of 5 in a 55, along with some banggai cardinals, zebra dartfish, Chrysiptera hemicyanea, and shrimp gobies?
AkoAung
aka -iDestroya-
I think the companion fishes you have should be fine for the most part, except for the damsel which could get aggressive towards the redspots. You might have to make a decision when you see aggression. I'd probably expect one or two shipping losses. I think your chances for success are likely increased if they are already eating frozen food at DD.
jpa0741
New member
I actually wouldn't be to concerned about losing any from shipping from DD they do a great job fatting and getting them healthy before shipping. This is something they discovered to give these fish a much better success rate
ichthyogeek
New member
Framkly, I was more curious about not having enough A. parvulus to keep them in a content school, than about shipping losses. I know that in freshwater, I try to keep my fish in groups of 8-10, but those are mostly (cheap) minnows, tetras, and danios that wouldn't school otherwise due to lack of predation. Is it a similar case in saltwater schooling species? Or do they naturally school together? Would they school together given the fish I plan to have?
Regarding the acclimating part, I've actually got most of the foods that LA says it feeds its Cardinalfish, and am ordering the Doc's Eco Eggs ASAP so that when I get all of the fish, I'll have plenty of food that they're used to. When y'all quarantined, did 3/4" ID PVC work for cover? I've got some 2 20 highs that I'm ready to use for QT, to split the zebra dartfish, banggais, and A. parvulus, and am trying to figure out which way is best to mix the fish since they all come from the same source and minimize aggression.
Regarding the acclimating part, I've actually got most of the foods that LA says it feeds its Cardinalfish, and am ordering the Doc's Eco Eggs ASAP so that when I get all of the fish, I'll have plenty of food that they're used to. When y'all quarantined, did 3/4" ID PVC work for cover? I've got some 2 20 highs that I'm ready to use for QT, to split the zebra dartfish, banggais, and A. parvulus, and am trying to figure out which way is best to mix the fish since they all come from the same source and minimize aggression.
iced98lx
New member
Update on my cardinals which came out of QT and into the DT a week ago or so. Out of the 4 I had left (one died randomly while fat and happy..) three were fat and happy and one had stopped eating and was very skinny. The cardinal that stopped eating would swim around the food as if he was going to eat, but never eat. Immediately after moving them from the socialization box to the tank my redstripe hogfish bit one of the fat and happy ones in half.
Imagine my excitement.
Anyway, the skinny one broke from the pack and ended up in the rocks, where the hogfish ate him. The other two are still grouped together, the hogfish hasn't shown any interest in them yet over the last 5 days. They are staying together, swimming together, though it could be from the obvious predator pressure.
They eat and get in the water column pretty aggressively when food hits the tank, are fat and seem to be fine so far.
This is probably the best picture I have of them in the DT, they are very handsome fish and would love to have a group of 10-15 in my DT.
Imagine my excitement.
Anyway, the skinny one broke from the pack and ended up in the rocks, where the hogfish ate him. The other two are still grouped together, the hogfish hasn't shown any interest in them yet over the last 5 days. They are staying together, swimming together, though it could be from the obvious predator pressure.
They eat and get in the water column pretty aggressively when food hits the tank, are fat and seem to be fine so far.
This is probably the best picture I have of them in the DT, they are very handsome fish and would love to have a group of 10-15 in my DT.
iced98lx
New member
Update: Still have two of them. One went down the overflow, spent a week in the sump, and then went back through the return pump to the display tank. He seems fine. They both eat fine and hang out in the front of the tank. The hogfish has not yet snacked on the remaining two.
iced98lx
New member
My two survivors:
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iced98lx
New member
Didn't bother to mention that I put 5 more into QT, still have all five, hoping for a no-loss transfer to the DT when they're ready this friday.
AkoAung
aka -iDestroya-
awww that sucks.
AkoAung
aka -iDestroya-
AkoAung
aka -iDestroya-
Just wanted to give you guys an update on my cardinals. The school of 9 cardinals were a pretty good bunch. The males held eggs more than a dozen times, though it usually doesn't last a day. The school of 9 cardinals got reduced one by one. They were all fat and eating fine. And I would begin to notice that one cardinal would begin to hang out by itself (until feeding time). There was nothing visiblly wrong with it. It was swimming normally. Comes and eats with the rest of them when I feed the tank. And in about two weeks time, I would find that my school would be down by one. Three of them did that kind of loner then disappear act. Things got pretty stable after that - the half dozen cardinals were doing great.
Then one late night I turned on the lights of the room the fish were in the middle of the night, and the cardinals got all jumpy and were dashing about like mad trying to hide from the light. The next day I found a dried out fish on the floor. my fault. so now it's down to five.
The males which tends to be the bigger ones would hold eggs now and then for about a day. It does seem the spawning happens in dawn hours because it is usually in the mornings I would find one male with a big fat mouth. And surprisingly, with just five they are still spawning. I found one male holding eggs yesterday. As of today, it's still holding. Here's a few shots of him, and the sunburst anthias that likes to photobomb all my tank pics:
The one with mouth slightly open is the male holding eggs
He is the bottom left one
And now he is nicely back-dropped by the photo-bombing sunburst anthias
Then one late night I turned on the lights of the room the fish were in the middle of the night, and the cardinals got all jumpy and were dashing about like mad trying to hide from the light. The next day I found a dried out fish on the floor. my fault. so now it's down to five.
The males which tends to be the bigger ones would hold eggs now and then for about a day. It does seem the spawning happens in dawn hours because it is usually in the mornings I would find one male with a big fat mouth. And surprisingly, with just five they are still spawning. I found one male holding eggs yesterday. As of today, it's still holding. Here's a few shots of him, and the sunburst anthias that likes to photobomb all my tank pics:
The one with mouth slightly open is the male holding eggs
He is the bottom left one
And now he is nicely back-dropped by the photo-bombing sunburst anthias
AkoAung
aka -iDestroya-
The one with mouth slightly open is the male holding eggs
I'm shocked that this male is still holding eggs to this day. I have been in and out of the tank for maintenance a little more than usual this week due to introduction of some new corals which inevitably add stress to the fishes in the tank. That didn't seem to have deterred him. At feeding time, he would chase after morsels of food but does not eat. Does anyone know how long non-bangaii cardinals incubate eggs? Thanks!
ichthyogeek
New member
What might be happening, is that the eggs are hatching, the fish are eating the fry, and before you know it, the male has another clutch of eggs in his mouth. How long ago did you notice the eggs again?
I think the average time it takes for eggs to hatch in marine species is around a week to 10 days. Banggai cardinals take longer because the fry emerge as juveniles and not larvae.
Just make sure to check for malnutrition in the male. If he starts getting skinny, you may need to isolate him to get him fat again.
I think the average time it takes for eggs to hatch in marine species is around a week to 10 days. Banggai cardinals take longer because the fry emerge as juveniles and not larvae.
Just make sure to check for malnutrition in the male. If he starts getting skinny, you may need to isolate him to get him fat again.
AkoAung
aka -iDestroya-
thanks for that info! just what I was curious about. It was six days ago I noticed this male holding eggs. so I guess I'll wait a few more days and see what happens. He is not getting skinny yet, to my surprise. what would one feed the tiny fry?
ichthyogeek
New member
All of the following is based off of what I've read and not off of experience:
It depends on the size of the fry, really. You could try them on a mix of S and L strain rotifers to start with. Buuuut, I'd rather start them on a mix of Tetraselmis microalgae, and Parvocalanus copepod nauplii. From what I've read, ocellaris clownfish fry eat prey items that are approximately 10x smaller than they are at hatching....I'd need to compare mouth size to prey size to give you a good estimate of a first food really.
Blue spot
Member
Well I've only just found this thread and had no idea these fish were so tricky to keep. I've had a group of 13 now for around 5 months . I have lost 1 in that amount of time, went in the sump , found it late so it was really pale looking when I added it back in the tank so this one didn't make it, apart from that they eat really well but I notice the best feeding responce when I add live pods, I do this every other day as I keep a lot of pipe fish. Maybe sometimes ignorance is bliss as i have just left them to get on with it. Lol, but I'll keep an eye on them from now on. I was interested to read that these fish may only live for 12 months, has anyone kept them for any longer than this ?
AkoAung
aka -iDestroya-
the 7th day
the 7th day
So this is the 7th day. I got up around 8 am and went to check on the cardinals. Behold! the male is no longer holding eggs! And the fry are no where to be found. So Mister Ichthyology, you are right. They do incubate for 7 days! :bounce1:
someone had suggested that cardinals release the larvae into the spikes of sea urchins. I'm afraid of pricking myself on those things accidentally so I don't have one.
the 7th day
So this is the 7th day. I got up around 8 am and went to check on the cardinals. Behold! the male is no longer holding eggs! And the fry are no where to be found. So Mister Ichthyology, you are right. They do incubate for 7 days! :bounce1:
someone had suggested that cardinals release the larvae into the spikes of sea urchins. I'm afraid of pricking myself on those things accidentally so I don't have one.
AkoAung
aka -iDestroya-
mouth size, makes sense.
