Banggii Cardinals

[Joe Fish]

I can't understand why I cannot keep these fish. I just lost my 2nd one from a 2nd supplier. This will be the 5th cardinal I lost. When I first put them in my tank and soon after they were eating and swiming around. Then they start to breath heavy and it gets worse and worse.

Anyone else experience this issue? All other live stock is eating well/swiming. I tested the water last night and everything is where I want it to be.

I really want to keep these fish, but I'm starting to think twice about it now.

 

[TRe]

ive tried twice n both times failied..... i gave up tho

 

[Airborneguy]

I had the same thing happen with a pair. I have never lost another fish, and then these two come, appear fine, and one dies that night, the other two days later. I didn't know how hard they were to maintain. I won't be trying them again.

 

[Joe Fish]

I want to keep them, but don't feel like loosing anymore money. I wonder if they were getting stressed or something. They were eating fine.

 

[TRe]

next time i try ill defintly make sure i find a healthy pair in an lfs (eating,been ther a while, ect...)

 

[Joe Fish]

I wish I had this option.... Other than petco.

 

[Lotus]

It could be that the ones you're getting have flukes. It could possibly be your acclimation procedure, too. How long do they last in the tank before they die?

 

[Joe Fish]

I read quite a bit about how carefull you need to be when acclimating banggai cardinals so that could very well be it. The first I had; 1 lasted maybe a day or so, the 2nd was close behind, but the 3rd lasted a few days. When I put them in they all ate and where swiming around. I used the drip method for at least an hour, which has been fine with all my other fish. Will fresh water dips get rid of flukes?

These last 2 I followed the LFS's acclimating instructions just because it said i had to in order to get the 15 day guarentee. One lasted a few hours the other about a day. I floated the bag for 15 minutes then rolled down the lip and put 1/2 cup of my tank water in the bag. When the bag was almost full empty the bag and do it again. Then I put the fish in.

 

[Lotus]

If they're dying within a day or two of going into the tank, I'd suspect an acclimation problem. Flukes will show up weeks/months down the road.

I'd say a half a cup of water is too much to add at once. A drip acclimation is preferable, but I usually use about 1/4 squirt from a turkey baster every 15 minutes for an hour or two. There's an outline of the drip method here: Acclimation Procedure for Aquatic Life: Welcoming Home New Arrivals I guess they recommend that for sensitive fish.

 

[Joe Fish]

I ususally do the drip method for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. I never had an issue before, but I guess these fish are a little bit more sensitive. It's going to be a little while before I add anything else so I'll have to wait until then to try again.

 

[Lorna]

Bangaiis tend to be more nervous when first introduced and often it isn't water acclimation that is the problem but surroundings. They have been known to die just from fright, especially wild caught specimens.....(which as a good concientious aquariusts that you are, you are only buying captive bred ones right?) The drip acclimation is good but netting and then placing them may be adding more stressers to them. Once acclimated you need to just slide them into the tank. I know the lfs' here have over 50% loss rate on their shipments. That sucks as these fish once acclimated and adjusted to their surroundings are really quite hardy and easily kept. I had 3 before the pair I have now that died. This pair I have had for over 2 years and they spawn about every 6 weeks......eat like crazy and are model citizens. I also have one of their offspring now residing in my fuge......he's about a month old now and the size of a pencil eraser....eating cyclops and nibbling on frozen brine...

 

[Joe Fish]

Thanks for the info Lorna. Yes, they were captive. I try to only buy captive stuff.

I thought it might be my light too as they would come out more when the haliades and vho's would go off. I'm sure i'll try again but I need to hold off for a bit. They have a few at Petco but I want to watch them for a while before I buy. I'll probably wait until my QT is setup.

 

[Lorna]

Joe you will have better success with larger older specimens I think the younger juveniles are harder to move and stress too easily. This pair I have were larger and about the size of a 50cent piece when I purchased them. There were about 10 in the lfs tank and these two segregated themselves from the others and were hanging by themselves so I assumed they were a pair.....which they turned out to be.

 

[Lotus]

Mine weren't too small when I got them. More or less almost grown. Mine were wild caught, but I guess I got lucky with mine.

I actually dropped the fish bag (still sealed) when I bought mine home. The one that took most of the force played "dead" for a couple of hours and had me really worried.

I QT all fish, because I like to be able to make sure they're happy and eating before I add them to the main tank, in addition to the disease prevention.

 

[Lorna]

I sort of thought the qt was pretty much a given......but yes the more mature the more hardy they seem to be. Wild caught sometimes suffer from cyanide poisoning which is another issue to watch out for. Good luck Joe, and hopefully you luck out with a pair

 

[Joe Fish]

Yeah QT should be a given, but it was something I decided not to do. Other than the cardinals I've had no problems. My QT will be up and running by the time I add any more fish.

 

[Lorna]

good work!.....