Finicky eating Banggai Cardinal??

whyamisofl

whyamisofl

Active Member
I have had my Banggai Cardinal for 2 weeks now and never once have seen him eat! I bought him from an established tank and the guy had him for about a year. I brought him home and dropped him in the tank with my pair of Oscellaris clowns. I feed the tank once a day at 7pm sharp. I feed a mixture of squid, mysis, scallops, crab, octupus, and Nori seaweed. The clowns eat it up like its candy, but the cardinal just seems to go hide in the rocks as usual.........
Water param's
Ammonia - .05
Trate - 10
Trite - 0
Calcium - 420
Alk - 9
I haven't tried using garlic yet......but I was hoping I didn't have to buy anything more!
Any suggestions??? Should I pull him out of the DT and throw him in the QT until I see him eat?

 
metweezer

metweezer

Active Member
Ammonia is stressful/deadly for fish. Do you have any LR in the tank. I assume your tank has been set up for awhile.
 
whyamisofl

whyamisofl

Active Member
Originally Posted by metweezer
http:///forum/post/2628768
Ammonia is stressful/deadly for fish. Do you have any LR in the tank. I assume your tank has been set up for awhile.
I have 130# of LR in a 60g tank. I know ammonia is bad, but I didn't think .03ppm higher than the ocean was going to cause effects like this. All of my corals (zoa, anemone, ricordea, frogspawn) are thriving!
 
wishihadatank

wishihadatank

Member
Try feeding them just mysis shrimp at night. They are nocturnal. And they may be confused with all the different food choices you are giving them. If they don't like one of the things in your food mixture they aren't going to keep picking until they find something they like. I hope that helps.
 
whyamisofl

whyamisofl

Active Member
The guy I got the cardinal from moved out of state and changed his number. The cardinal is all over the tank, mainly at night (actinics) he will cruise the front of the tank.
 
whyamisofl

whyamisofl

Active Member
Just tried feeding with the actinics on.....he is out swimming happily. I drop in some mysis and he flies behind the rock as usual..............
WTF
 
gatorwpb

gatorwpb

Active Member
Mine eats everything I put in the tank, flake and homemade food, but Ive had him for 1.5 yrs.
They are nocturnal, so try feeding him your mixture at night when the lights are fully off. Also, maybe gentlely add it to the tank so it doesnt disturb him. Once he adjusts to your feeding schedule, he should start eating.
 
alohami

alohami

Member
Was there another Bangaii in the previous tank with this one? If there was, it is a possibility that he is a male holding eggs.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by whyamisofl
http:///forum/post/2630027
Just tried feeding with the actinics on.....he is out swimming happily. I drop in some mysis and he flies behind the rock as usual..............
WTF
Alright, he may still be nervous. Try sneaking some food in without scaring him.
 
guyerson

guyerson

Member
I got mine to start eating with Brine soaked in garlic. Do you know if it is wild caught or not? Tank raised specimens are much hardier and less finicky when it comes to eating.
 
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