Cardinal Fish ??

[Alice]

If you've really decided on the Banggai, I'd wait until you can locate them. Most LFS will special order in just about anything without a big price hike. Banggai aren't that hard to find and usually aren't that fragile but any stock will suffer if it's exposed to the cold during shipping. You might want to check your local area (Aquarium Clubs, on the BB's etc) to see if anyone is tank raising them.

If you are going to be adding corals later you won't be able to have many fish in this tank so plan carefully and get just what you want.

~Alice

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Reefkeeping is my life; I can't afford a hobby too!

[Drew]

William,

I must say that I think this is a great choice in fish, I have a pair in my 45 gal reef. They are wonderful! They are easy to care for (for marine fish) and will eat just about anything you give them. Banggai are active swimmers and are always in view. They have a special swim baldder which gives them the ability to "hover" in the water. When I got mine, they hid for about three days, but now stay in full view at all times. And although it has been written that cardinals are nocturnal, I have found this to be untrue...to some extent. My cards are ALWAYS out during the day, ALWAYS. But, they are also out at night too. It seems like they never sleep, so dont worry about never seeing them! They are mouth-brooders, and the fry are pretty easy to raise, should the opportunity arise Banggai are relatively new to this hobby, but are now fairly easy to get. As for where to get them, I got mine from Flyingfishexpress.com and they arrived healthy and active. When the weather is cold, they ship them with heat packs in a styrafoam container, but by no means are they immune from the cold up there. And since FFE is in LA, they would have a long way to go. Since my personal experiences with FFE are good, with the exception of one, I would say to go for it and order thwo from them. FFE has a good policy also, 5 day guarantee on all fish BUT the temp during shipping cant go below 40 F. So if you are going to order do it now. Otherwise, you could also probably special order from your LFS at little extra cost. This may also give you the chance to get tank-raised fish. One note though, once a male Banggai has established himself, he WILL kill any other male Banggai introduced into the tank. So be carefull. This is a great fish and a beautiful addition to any tank! Happy reefing!

Drew

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"Im learnding"
"Thats my sandbox, I can't go in the deep-end"

[MyFirstFish]

Hello again everyone.

I have finally decided on all the hardware I will need for my 30 gallon tank that I will be setting up soon.

This is Going to be a FOWLR tank, (to start out) and then I will be adding some inverts and such after a while when I get things going.

I have been doing a lot of reading latley, and I think I have decided to go with some Banggai Cardinalfish. I have read that they make great first fish.
Does anyone have any good/bad experience they wish to share?
How many would be good to start out with?

Also, I live in Central PA, and there are very few dealers around here, and none of them have the cardinals. I have been thinking that I might have to order them online,and have them express mailed to me.

Has anyone ever done this with such a fragile fish, and had success (even in the cold winter??) I am really worried because it gets down to the 30's-40's here in Pa ,and soon it will be getting colder.

Is this a good idea, or should I wait and get something else (like a clownfish) locally?

Thanks again,

William

[MyFirstFish]

Thanks for all the advice guys.

I don't even have the tank set up yet, I am just planning for when I do have it set up.
So I would have to wait till spring to mail order the fish.

With a Brand new tank, Would it be better to start out with fish or with a few pieces of live rock?

I know that new tanks have a "break in " period, to establish bacteria and what not.

I know that during this break-in period the likelyhood of fish dying is greater.
So I am wondering should I start out with some rock, then wait a few weeks then add the fish?

I want to do this the best way possible.

Thank you very much,
William

If you are planning a reeftank or a fishonly with live rock there is no reason to jeapordize fish to cycle the tank. There are enough bacteria of the type required to establish the nitrogen cycle rather quickly. If you use cured rock that has been at dealers for a while this may take place in a few days. Fresh live rock thats just come in will take a little longer as there will always be some dieoff during shipping but still a milder ammonia/nitrite cycle. Uncured rock takes the longest time and should be cured in a seperate tank or container, as it can get really funky smellin during the curing off process. Adding live sand will help jumpstart the process and strengthen your biofiltration capacity. You dont mention a sump so I'm guessing thats not in the plans at this time, but worth thinking about. It helps with O2 levels, gives you more room in main tank cause you can hide heaters and paraphanalia in sump rather than cluttering up the main. It will also give you some where besides back of the tank for a Protien Skimmer. Definatly a good piece of equipment to have esp on a fish tank.
You might want to do a search here for cycling and or skimmers for more input,HTH

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I thought I was me, but we were wrong
email: geeflipr@internetcds.com

[MyFirstFish]

Thank you for the advice.

I have read a lot of the old posts about "cycling" new tanks.

It seems that its best to start out with some live rock, and then after a few months add the fish if the water parameters are stable (ammonia, nitrates, etc..)

I guess I don't relly want to risk the loss of a fish just to help break in the tank.