Banggai Cardinal refusing to eat

poaks

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 13, 2023
Messages
30
Reaction score
2
Location
Detroit
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I got a banggai cardinal 5 days ago and I've been feeding him little by little to see if he would eat the frozen food, which he always did. Today, he refused to eat any of the food given. Some of the food dropped literally on his mouth and he just turned the other way. Any help on this? I am feeding him brine shrimp, I tried feeding mysis shrimp on the previous days, but he refused to, but would always eat brine shrimp. Any tips on this?
 

ndrwater

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
May 7, 2015
Messages
3,880
Reaction score
8,020
Location
Anaheim, CA
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Ever had a day where nothing to eat sounded good?
Fish have those days too.
Unless it has been quite a while (like a week or more) I wouldn't stress too much.
Brine and or mysis usually bring a hungry fish around.
 
OP
OP
P

poaks

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 13, 2023
Messages
30
Reaction score
2
Location
Detroit
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Ever had a day where nothing to eat sounded good?
Fish have those days too.
Unless it has been quite a while (like a week or more) I wouldn't stress too much.
Brine and or mysis usually bring a hungry fish around.
I tried feeding it again today with no luck again. How long do you think it's going to take for this behavior to pass? Or how long should I wait before I should get worried about him not eating?
 

ndrwater

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
May 7, 2015
Messages
3,880
Reaction score
8,020
Location
Anaheim, CA
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Fish can go quite a while without eating. Weeks is not catastrophic If you can, try live brine. That almost always gets a finicky eater going
 

vetteguy53081

Well known Member and monster tank lover
View Badges
Joined
Aug 11, 2013
Messages
96,707
Reaction score
215,505
Location
Wisconsin -
Rating - 100%
15   0   0
I got a banggai cardinal 5 days ago and I've been feeding him little by little to see if he would eat the frozen food, which he always did. Today, he refused to eat any of the food given. Some of the food dropped literally on his mouth and he just turned the other way. Any help on this? I am feeding him brine shrimp, I tried feeding mysis shrimp on the previous days, but he refused to, but would always eat brine shrimp. Any tips on this?
Mine eats frozen only and generally in the evening. rarely does it attack during the day, but it prefers chunky over fine like brine shrimp
 
OP
OP
P

poaks

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 13, 2023
Messages
30
Reaction score
2
Location
Detroit
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Mine eats frozen only and generally in the evening. rarely does it attack during the day, but it prefers chunky over fine like brine shrimp
I just tried feeding during the night and it's still not eating and the banggai cardinal has been hiding behind this rock for the whole day now. (The blue circle is where he would usually be at). The firefish that used to hide all day is now the one going out, but the banggai cardinal that used to be out all day is now the one hiding (There was a point of time where both of them were out and everything was fine, it's just that the banggai cardinal hides now). Any thoughts on why this happens?
20230118_225353.jpg
20230118_225358.jpg
 

dedragon

5000 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 23, 2019
Messages
6,109
Reaction score
4,535
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Mine eats frozen only and generally in the evening.
exactly why i dont keep banggais, a lot only like to do this and only like to eat larger mysis shrimp.

This tank looks extremely new and also very small and this could be causing the fish to stress out and not eat.
 
OP
OP
P

poaks

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 13, 2023
Messages
30
Reaction score
2
Location
Detroit
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
exactly why i dont keep banggais, a lot only like to do this and only like to eat larger mysis shrimp.

This tank looks extremely new and also very small and this could be causing the fish to stress out and not eat.
The tank is new (it finished cycling about 9 days ago and the fish was added 6 days ago), and it's 55 gallons, is that too small, I know that they can get territorial, but I thought that 55 gallons should be enough. I know that fish takes time to get used to a new environment, the firefish hid for a few days, but it's now used to the environment so it's coming out a lot more and being more active, but the banggai cardinal only hid to go to sleep and it was always active and eating well, so that's why I'm so confused about its behavior now.
 

vetteguy53081

Well known Member and monster tank lover
View Badges
Joined
Aug 11, 2013
Messages
96,707
Reaction score
215,505
Location
Wisconsin -
Rating - 100%
15   0   0
The tank is new (it finished cycling about 9 days ago and the fish was added 6 days ago), and it's 55 gallons, is that too small, I know that they can get territorial, but I thought that 55 gallons should be enough. I know that fish takes time to get used to a new environment, the firefish hid for a few days, but it's now used to the environment so it's coming out a lot more and being more active, but the banggai cardinal only hid to go to sleep and it was always active and eating well, so that's why I'm so confused about its behavior now.
Not a good first fish. It should come around and eat as long as you are not going through ammonia and nitrate spikes.
 
OP
OP
P

poaks

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 13, 2023
Messages
30
Reaction score
2
Location
Detroit
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Not a good first fish. It should come around and eat as long as you are not going through ammonia and nitrate spikes.
I asked for first fish advice on reddit and to my LFS and gave them my stock list and both reddit and LFS recommended me to get firefish and banggai cardinal first since they are more peaceful. I just checked my ammonia and nitrate and there are no spikes.
I checked on my aquarium and the banggai cardinal is gone, like completely gone, can't find him. How long can they hide for?
 

vetteguy53081

Well known Member and monster tank lover
View Badges
Joined
Aug 11, 2013
Messages
96,707
Reaction score
215,505
Location
Wisconsin -
Rating - 100%
15   0   0
I asked for first fish advice on reddit and to my LFS and gave them my stock list and both reddit and LFS recommended me to get firefish and banggai cardinal first since they are more peaceful. I just checked my ammonia and nitrate and there are no spikes.
I checked on my aquarium and the banggai cardinal is gone, like completely gone, can't find him. How long can they hide for?
Mine never hides but they are more active in the evening and foid should have brought it out
What test kits are you using?
 
OP
OP
P

poaks

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 13, 2023
Messages
30
Reaction score
2
Location
Detroit
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Mine never hides but they are more active in the evening and foid should have brought it out
What test kits are you using?
I just fed the tank and it didn't come out, but the firefish did come out, should I feed during the evening with the lights off? I see some people do that.
I'm using salifert test kits
 

Cichlid Dad

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 20, 2022
Messages
4,203
Reaction score
13,746
Location
Auburn
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I got a banggai cardinal 5 days ago and I've been feeding him little by little to see if he would eat the frozen food, which he always did. Today, he refused to eat any of the food given. Some of the food dropped literally on his mouth and he just turned the other way. Any help on this? I am feeding him brine shrimp, I tried feeding mysis shrimp on the previous days, but he refused to, but would always eat brine shrimp. Any tips on this?
Do you have a large copepod population? If so he may be eating those. I had one that never ate. And I mean ever. After a month or so I saw him just kiss a rock. He would not move from that spot, so I kept watching, pretty soon he did it again. Then I started looking at the rocks and sure enough he was eating the pods. He never ate anything I put in the tank.
 
OP
OP
P

poaks

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 13, 2023
Messages
30
Reaction score
2
Location
Detroit
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Do you have a large copepod population? If so he may be eating those. I had one that never ate. And I mean ever. After a month or so I saw him just kiss a rock. He would not move from that spot, so I kept watching, pretty soon he did it again. Then I started looking at the rocks and sure enough he was eating the pods. He never ate anything I put in the tank.
The tank is new (around 9 days since cycled), so I don't think there's a huge copepod population in the tank.
 

vetteguy53081

Well known Member and monster tank lover
View Badges
Joined
Aug 11, 2013
Messages
96,707
Reaction score
215,505
Location
Wisconsin -
Rating - 100%
15   0   0
I just fed the tank and it didn't come out, but the firefish did come out, should I feed during the evening with the lights off? I see some people do that.
I'm using salifert test kits
Banghai is no
Going to eat copepods
Evening feeding likely won’t work
I sigges
Looking in the overflow box in case it got in there and regretfully on the floor around the tank
 
OP
OP
P

poaks

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 13, 2023
Messages
30
Reaction score
2
Location
Detroit
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Banghai is no
Going to eat copepods
Evening feeding likely won’t work
I sigges
Looking in the overflow box in case it got in there and regretfully on the floor around the tank
I looked everywhere and the banggai cardinal is nowhere to be found, but the firefish that I got with the banggai cardinal is doing great though. I have 2 trochus snails, would that be enough to clean up the corpse (if it really did die) within like 6 hours ish? (The tank is 55 gallons and there's 1 trochus on each side of the tank)
 

vetteguy53081

Well known Member and monster tank lover
View Badges
Joined
Aug 11, 2013
Messages
96,707
Reaction score
215,505
Location
Wisconsin -
Rating - 100%
15   0   0
I looked everywhere and the banggai cardinal is nowhere to be found, but the firefish that I got with the banggai cardinal is doing great though. I have 2 trochus snails, would that be enough to clean up the corpse (if it really did die) within like 6 hours ish? (The tank is 55 gallons and there's 1 trochus on each side of the tank)
Trochus are aggressive scavengers and sure can. Any remnants if this occurred will end up at intakes of the powerhead
 
OP
OP
P

poaks

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 13, 2023
Messages
30
Reaction score
2
Location
Detroit
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Trochus are aggressive scavengers and sure can. Any remnants if this occurred will end up at intakes of the powerhead
I checked the powerhead and shifted the sand and the banggai isnt there, if it did die and get eaten by the trochus snail, any ideas why the banggai died? The firefish I got at the same time is doing just fine, so Im a bit confused.
 

vetteguy53081

Well known Member and monster tank lover
View Badges
Joined
Aug 11, 2013
Messages
96,707
Reaction score
215,505
Location
Wisconsin -
Rating - 100%
15   0   0
I checked the powerhead and shifted the sand and the banggai isnt there, if it did die and get eaten by the trochus snail, any ideas why the banggai died? The firefish I got at the same time is doing just fine, so Im a bit confused.
It can be as simple as the quality of the fish and source where it came from or adjustment to tank, and even proper acclimation. If you get another, ask to see it eat and assure normal breathing, and no mouth deformities
 
Back
Top