Bangai not eating

[wantvws]

I added a bangai cardinalfish to my tank a few weeks ago and he started out great...eating, exploring. Then his appetite seemed to go away and he died a few days later. No visible signs of anything wrong. He would hover in the corner, but they aren't the most active fish from my experience. This was about two weeks ago. My other bangai who has been in the tank for around 6 months and is huge, and usually has a pretty good appetite is not eating this evening. Maybe I'm just paranoid...but he seems to be acting the same as the new one did before he kicked off. All the other fish are fine. Ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates are all at 0, PH is 8.4, temp is 79-80.
Is there anything that these fish are susceptible to that the rest aren't?
Thanks!
Robbie

[wantvws]

Ok, I may have been concerned over nothing. I was going to wait until the next feeding to try feeding some frozen brine, but I would not have been able to sleep tonight so I did it just now. That lit a fire under his butt....he's eating like a pig...maybe he's just tired of the other stuff.
Robbie

[Catpicklesdog]

He could also be missing his mate. From my experience thay are one of the hardiest fish around. Mine have live through extortionate phosphates, nitrates and salinity levels (when I was a newbie) and nearly 4 years later I still have them!!!

[wantvws]

He didn't really seem to get too close to the new one....I still cannot figure out what killed that one-no one was harassing him or anything. My tank has been stable since I set it up...I guess I just got a bad one. I did see him eat at the LFS for two or three weeks though....strange.
thanks!!
Robbie

[wantvws]

Crap. I got excited a bit too early...came home this evening and found my bangai dead. I have no idea what could have happened. He looked fine except where something gnawed on his carcass. He has thrived in my tank for 6 months or so, almost doubling in size, and now two have kicked off in a week.
Any ideas?:help:
Robbie

[nycsicktank]

sorry to hear this robbie.

[Arakkis]

Maybe stress? Did you have a bunch of males?

[wantvws]

I doubt it was stress...no one in the tank ever pestered either one of the bangais.
Thanks!
Robbie

[Riverserver]

They're social fish, you shouldn't keep less than 3 or 4 at a time. It could be stress.

But all your other fish are doing fine?

[Catpicklesdog]

I actually heard something quite interesting today at my LFS who also has a problem keeping Banggai Cardinals alive. His theory is that if they're tank bred then they have a hard time adapting to "shop" conditions and stop eating and unfortunately die. It is only his theory not a scientific reason but it doesn't sound unreasonable to me. I just wonder if your LFS had had them in for a while and the damage was already done.

[wantvws]

I actually heard something quite interesting today at my LFS who also has a problem keeping Banggai Cardinals alive. His theory is that if they're tank bred then they have a hard time adapting to "shop" conditions and stop eating and unfortunately die. It is only his theory not a scientific reason but it doesn't sound unreasonable to me. I just wonder if your LFS had had them in for a while and the damage was already done.
The first one I had (for about six months) was very healthy up until the last couple of days. Even then he tore up the brine shrimp when I put it in. He thrived (IMO) in my tank....at least he almost doubled in size. Although I guess if he was stressed over not having another couple of bangais in there perhaps he just didn't show it.
The other one ate like crazy in the LFS for two or three weeks...in fact the guy there told me he was the first one to eat from that shipment. And he ate here for the first day or two. It just baffles me....I can't imagine the older one was terribly stressed over the death of the other one...they didn't really seem to buddy up.
River, the other fish are doing great...thanks for asking. At least so far they are. The tank seems quite healthy....there is a nice crop of coraline algae spreading all over....green, maroon, purple....
Robbie

[nycsicktank]

any updates?

[wantvws]

So far everyone is fine. It's got me baffled as to what might have happened to these guys. I suppose it could have been a coincidence that both of them kicked off within a couple of weeks of each other.
Thanks for asking!
Robbie

[Arakkis]

I dunno, baby fish mortality is always high. My LFS has raised many generations of bangai cardinals and I have seen them grow up from eggs to 1+ inch babies with good success.
It's my understanding that WC bangais are the ones who don't fare well. Captive raised ones had already gotten used to commerically available foods where as WC still prefer moving prey and have to endure the stress of being transhipped.