bangai question

[Geoff]

i just got 3 bangai's the other day. they are reluctant to feed, or more specifically more reluctant to swallow. they do not seem to like either of the 2 frozen concoctions i use. one is more veggie than meat and the other just the opposite. what should i use to get them to actually eat.

G~

[Captain]

Mine wolf down frozen mysis. That is about all they will touch. It did take a couple weeks for them to settle in and begin to eat regular. Good Luck.

[Joel]

mine eat just about anything I put in the tank and occasionally will eat a little nori.

[MontanaRocknReefer]

Maybe they need time to acclimate in your tank if you just got them!

Mine loved my homemade "Mush" which consisted of raw shrimp, scallop, clam, nori, etc.

I also bought a medley of seafood which is sold by the pound which consists of bits and pieces of all kinds of fish, etc. for $2.99 a pound I believe and took it home and grind it all up and flatten it out in a freezer bag and broke off quarter size chunk to feed the reef and puffer loved it!

[blckmstng]

i find that if fish don't eat right away, trying live food helps. You can try feeding brine shrimp the first few times and slowly get them to eat frozen or even small guppies.

[Mrs Smith]

I had a pair once that really liked live blackworms. (And wouldn't eat much else.) Theoretically, if they're hungry enough, you should be able to wean them to frozen. I try to wean my babies to mysis as soon as possible.

Sometimes it does take them awhile to settle in - and do remember that they can go longer than other fish between meals. As mentioned, they might still be stressed.

Oh, and knowing bangers, they'd just look at the guppies funny. (That is a really funny image...)

Good luck,
Danielle

PS. Why 3? Three is not a good banggai number. Keep an eye on them, and when 2 pair off, get that 3rd out of there ASAP. On the off chance that they're all female, you'll be ok. On the other hand, if they're all male, you'll eventually only have one.

[Geoff]

Danielle-thanks, the reason there are 3 is because the 4th one did not make the trip from CA. looking at them, it looks like i have 3 females now. the one that did not make it looked like a male. this is just conjecture on my part, but looking for the normal cues in fish this is what i have come up with. right now the three are all hanging out together without any hostilities towards one another at all.

i will try some live stuff tomorrow.

thanks,

G~

[Mrs Smith]

Good luck and keep an eye on them. I thought I had a pair once, but it turned out that they were so stressed from being held in a tank with a more dominant true pair that they buddied up for protection. Once they had their own space and settled down, one make short work of the other...

Behavioral clues have worked for me before, except they were backwards. IME, the females are more aggressive than the males. Think lions. I don't know that aggressive is the right word, but I had a female battle to the death (long sad story) to protect a pregnant male.

Anyway, good luck. I hope they stay peaceful - Banggais are just great fish.

Danielle

[CAT]

They can be picky eaters. IME, carnivore diet only. Mine likes raw frozen shrimp, mysis and tiny plankton only - spits out everthing else

Good luck, nice little fish but pretty much hide most of the day.