Tips on Catching a Bully Bangaii in Large Tank

CincyReefer07 · Dec 7, 2022

Hey guys… I took my chances on 3 Bangaii Cardinals for my 310 gallon which will be a mixed reef, only about 12 corals and a nem in the tank right now. They were being sold fully quarantined as a trio. They arrived small/juveniles back in late September. Been in the tank now since then. But just in the last couple weeks I’m noticing one being a giant ******* and feel I should try to catch him and either sump him, or place in my 75g(not too fond of that idea as I have an 8 year old PJ cardinal there) or give him to my LFS.

But the real question is… has anyone had luck catching a cardinalfish in a large tank with an aquascape with a good amount of hiding places? He also seems he’s getting used to seeing me come to the tank with a fish net to try to get him and knows to hide if my arms go up to take the lids off. He is out when I’m not around, and being a bully, but then gets a little skittish when I get near the tank as if he knows I’m trying to catch him.

Tank also has a pair of yellow tangs, a gem, and a pair of two-band clowns in it currently

killer2001 · Dec 7, 2022

Night time attack probably best method. Find out where they sleep. Go in during middle of the night with a headband flashlight and net them quickly. They should be sluggish and slow moving as long as you don't give them too much time to "wake up".

dstockwell · Dec 7, 2022

Never thought I would hear Bangaii Cardinal and giant ******* in the same sentence.

diverjm · Dec 7, 2022

I had a similar situation in a freshwater setup. I left 2 nets in the tank for a couple of days on each side of the tank for them to get used to the nets, then did a surprise attack!

blaxsun · Dec 7, 2022

I have a pair of banggais and a pajama cardinal and they basically ignore each other, so I think you'd be fine putting them together.

nuxx · Dec 7, 2022

You're not going to like the answer...

I had a 10 foot tank and had to remove a fish from time to time...

The answer is you're going to need a good deal of time and patience.

More than likely you'll need to take some rock out and use some eggcrate to divide up the tank and get them "trapped".

Not fun...

CincyReefer07 · Dec 7, 2022

dstockwell said:
Never thought I would hear Bangaii Cardinal and giant ******* in the same sentence.

I didn’t think I would either, my PJ in my other tank is the most peaceful keep to himself fish in the 75g. But then I decided to try my luck with 3 Bangaii in the 310 thinking that even on the rare chance one of them doesn’t get along with the others, there is plenty of real estate for them to be in the tank away from each other. Not the case. That little ******* is a terror, chases one of them clear into the corner and up and makes him hide above the gyre on the right side of the tank daily unless I come down and scare him off and then he’ll go hide for an hour or two. And then occasionally he’ll set his sights on the other one after he’s ran the first one off.

CincyReefer07 · Dec 7, 2022

blaxsun said:
I have a pair of banggais and a pajama cardinal and they basically ignore each other, so I think you'd be fine putting them together.

If anything maybe I’m hoping if I can catch the bully Bangaii, if I put him in the 75g, my PJ is twice the size of the Bangaii right now, so a hope would be that he wouldn’t try to bully the PJ who has seniority in that 75 and is twice as large. But a concern would be my peaceful PJ becoming aggressive because of another cardinal in there. Not sure what I’m going to do yet.

CincyReefer07 · Dec 7, 2022

nuxx said:
You're not going to like the answer...

I had a 10 foot tank and had to remove a fish from time to time...

The answer is you're going to need a good deal of time and patience.

More than likely you'll need to take some rock out and use some eggcrate to divide up the tank and get them "trapped".

Not fun...

Yeah the last thing I definitely want to do is remove any rock from rock scape now that I have the handful of corals and nem in there happy where they are and placed in there just right to be perfectly stable. I’d hate to possibly mess something up with my scape to it no longer being as stable as it is now or aggravating my corals or nem. I have a 60 breeder glass lids that I haven’t been using I’ve contemplated on trying to block him off with if I can get him cornered, thinking the clear glass he won’t even notice as I slide it down and in to make a barrier. I don’t know… I’ve been scratching my head and trying to figure it out. Those cardinals are so dang fast, at least in the day time while I’ve tried to get him

feelingfishy · Dec 7, 2022

Good luck. I hope I don’t run into this situation as I feel for you. Just had to chime in and say nice coralcare gen 2’s, underrated in my opinion and one of the best if not the best option out there for many.

nuxx · Dec 7, 2022

CincyReefer07 said:
Yeah the last thing I definitely want to do is remove any rock from rock scape now that I have the handful of corals and nem in there happy where they are and placed in there just right to be perfectly stable. I’d hate to possibly mess something up with my scape to it no longer being as stable as it is now or aggravating my corals or nem. I have a 60 breeder glass lids that I haven’t been using I’ve contemplated on trying to block him off with if I can get him cornered, thinking the clear glass he won’t even notice as I slide it down and in to make a barrier. I don’t know… I’ve been scratching my head and trying to figure it out. Those cardinals are so dang fast, at least in the day time while I’ve tried to get him

I wasn't so lucky, thought I hated the scape after, but then got used to it.

Had to catch a hippo tang lol

flashsmith · Dec 7, 2022

Here ya go... If I had a tank that long I would definitely be using it to tune my lures..lol

CincyReefer07 · Dec 7, 2022

feelingfishy said:
Good luck. I hope I don’t run into this situation as I feel for you. Just had to chime in and say nice coralcare gen 2’s, underrated in my opinion and one of the best if not the best option out there for many.

Thanks yeah the situation sucks. Hate going down in my basement to enjoy the tank but then see the Bangaii terrorizing the other two. It sucks. Instead of enjoying the peacefulness of watching the corals and fish, I’m feeling bad for my other two Bangaii until I can finally get him out of there. Unless he magically stops, which I’m 99 percent sure won’t happen.

But yes, I absolutely love the coral cares. I’m a kessil fan but chose to try something new and different that not many consider. It was between these and Orpheks and then I got offered a killer deal from a buddy works for Hydros and I couldn’t pass them up then. I’ve been very very happy with them.

blaxsun · Dec 7, 2022

CincyReefer07 said:
If anything maybe I’m hoping if I can catch the bully Bangaii, if I put him in the 75g, my PJ is twice the size of the Bangaii right now, so a hope would be that he wouldn’t try to bully the PJ who has seniority in that 75 and is twice as large. But a concern would be my peaceful PJ becoming aggressive because of another cardinal in there. Not sure what I’m going to do yet.

My pajama is also larger than either of the two banggai, but I find they prefer different "swim lanes"; the banggai school and explore together - the pajama just floats in one corner of the tank.

JGT · Dec 7, 2022

Fish traps work. But again requires patience.

TnFishwater98 · Dec 7, 2022

vtecintegra · Dec 7, 2022

Last time I was in this situation, I used a piece of plexiglass to section off a few inches on the end of the tank, leaving one way in and out. Took a while, but I was finally able to chase the fish in. I closed off the open end with another piece of plexiglass, then netted it.

CincyReefer07 · Dec 7, 2022

vtecintegra said:
Last time I was in this situation, I used a piece of plexiglass to section off a few inches on the end of the tank, leaving one way in and out. Took a while, but I was finally able to chase the fish in. I closed off the open end with another piece of plexiglass, then netted it.

Think I might give that approach a try if I can. This one is smart though, he rarely ventures out outside of the rockscape towards the sides, stays close to the rockwork so he can dip into his tunnels and overhangs