Pajama Cardinal Advise Needed

[beth]

Bang Guy, or someone with cardinal knowledge, please advise.
I've been wanting a pajama for some time and when I saw a bunch come in at the local pet shop, I decided to "save" one of them as they were all pretty sickly looking with ich. He has been in QT for 3 wks and was eating some brine and mysis but he is very finicky. It is not that he doesn't want to eat, but he is just very particular. At this point, he takes in the brine and then usally spits it out.
Anyone have exp or advise on these fish? I'd like to make sure I do good by him even though I did get him sickly. He's looking much better since I placed him in hypo in my QT. However, I see eating as being a potential long term problem. He refuses my fresh seafood mix which my other fish, inverts, even my polyps and anemone just devour. Again, he is not disinterested in eathing which would signal to me "unhealthy", he just seems to be excessively finicky.
Suggestions?

 

[vibe]

well ive had my PJ cardinal (Oscar) for some time now. he accepts mysis but he doesnt like it as much as spectrum! he chows down on spectrum. i know people are skitish with feeding dry foods, but PJ cardinals love this stuff. my friends Pj is the same way, and so is the cardinals at my LFS's. i would try spectrum (maybe get a little sample thing with some spare change) and try it. if not then give him time.

 

[bang guy]

IMO Frozen Mysis would be the perfect food to get it back to healthy. They can go 3 or 4 weeks without food so don't panic. They are natural planktivores that feed at dusk & dawn. Perhaps timing is a problem? Another is the fact that it takes them a while to accept dead food. The Ick isn't helping but I know you know how to take care of that.
Bang

 

[vibe]

bang guy is the best :happy:

 

[cincyreefer]

Beth,
Chances are the cardinal also has digestive parasites... It seems to be the reason why they will spit out food often. I have always found that wild caught cardinals are very similar to wild caught clowns in that most seem to come in with digestive parasites. The poop is always white and stringy, and they will often eat a couple pieces of food and then spit everything else out once they put it in their mouth. I always have pretty good luck of getting rid of them by soaking the food in pipzine, but it would probably be easier if you just treated the whole Q-tank once the hypo is done.

 

[streetdoc]

Not sure what to tell you. I have 2 PJC's and they eat up Ocean Nutrition and kent plantinum reeef herbivore. Not sure if it is because they lke it, or " Hunger is the best seasoning" but I have had then for almost a year on the stuff and they show no signes of going away. Hope it helps

 

[vibe]

is it tank raised?

 

[streetdoc]

Not sure:notsure:

 

[beth]

Hey, guys, thanks for the responses.
However, this PJ is eating well, as long as it is brine shrimp or mysis. He just won't eat much else. He spits out other foods offered.
Guy, I find frozen foods to be so nutritionally poor that I guess I just have a hard time accepting that the fish prefers this to a nice fresh seafood mix that I prep. Are you saying that you can keep healthy cardinals just on frozen mysis or brine?
He's looking good and has fattened up. He's painfully shy though, of course he is nocternal. I think once he's in the tank he will feed off my reef's pod population. I am also feeding the newly acquired sun coral brine as well as my own mix.
Thanks again all! If you'll have any PJ pics, I'd love to see them.

 

[vibe]

Beth meet my PJ Cardinal, Oscar. i absolutly love this fish! not only my longest living fish but the only one to ever eat from my hand!:jumping: i bought him when he was the size of a nickel. now hes about the size of a half dollar. my girlfriend and her friends think its the cutest thing ever (samething with my step-mom. i guess its a female thing). anyways heres my tough guy

 

[bang guy]

Beth - i don't feed frozen Brine. They are useful to get a fish to eat dead food, ot to raise nitrate levels in the water but not much else IMO. Frozen Mysis are not nutritionally poor if you get the high quality brands. Sally's is good Pycine Energetics is awesome. Once they get used to everything & they look healthy you can stop feeding then for a week & introduce your seafood mix with success.
lotso luck!!
My PJs will eat anything. I have been able to get Banggai into breeding condition on exclusively Mysis. But I agree, the fresh seafood mix produces the best results.

 

[beth]

Nice PJ there! Good to see him out and about and not hiding.
Thanks for the tips, guys.

 

[bang guy]

Look who has eggs.

 

[fishlovr]

Mine loves PE frozen mysis and small pieces of squid.....spits out everything else!

 

[beth]

Wow. You are just a regualar baby factory Bang! What would you suggest about introducing a mate for my PJ?

 

[krowleey]

i have 2 myself, but i think i must have gotten two males or two females. they dont seem to like eachother very much they dont hang much anymore. mine wouldnt eat at first as well, woul spit the the food out, but garlic helped me. i feed mine everything and they eat it all now including flake. Bang u know how to --- these things? they all look the same to me but i wouldnt mind having a mating pair, i thought these guys would change --- if they had too....

 

[bang guy]

Originally posted by Beth
What would you suggest about introducing a mate for my PJ?
I do not know how to tell Male & female apart (except when holding eggs).
They are born either male or female and do not change ---.
My suggestion Beth, is to use trial & error. I obtained four from someone that was moving. I think I have 3 females and one male. They squabble a little but not anything like Banggai would. I do eventually plan on removing the extra females because they do not school for me like the literature would suggest.
The eggs are tiny compared to Banggai, about the same size as Scarlet Cleaner Shrimp eggs. The newly hatched larvae are about 1/4 the size of Ocellaris larvae. The parent does not hold the larvae as a Banggai would.
Bang Guy

 

[fishtails]

I also have a PJ Cardinal and it's picky when it comes to feeding. I've had the PJ for about 4 months and it's doing well so far. It readily accepts frozen Mysis, Brine Shrimp, and Phytoplankton by Gamma. I try feeding dry foods and the PJ refuses.
Other than the female clown harassing him most of the day, the PJ is a great addition.

 

[misty927]

Hey Beth, I'm wondering about your fresh seafood mix. What do you include and how do you prepare, store yours?? I too prepare a mixture of foods, but I'm curious what all of you pros use!

 

[beth]

Well, here he is! Out of the QT. No more Ich. No more ragged fins. Eating and settling in fine to his new home.
Thanks all who helped "me acclimate" to the needs of finicky pajama cardinal.