Aggressive Banggai Cardinal

[Flexin]

Has anyone experienced an aggressive Cardinal before? I started with a few fish, two cardinals, two young frostbite clowns, and three Vanderbilt Chromis and a very young Tomini Tang. Before the tang was introduced all ate well but the second cardinal started to stay away from feeding and the group. Next day, dead. I got the tang. It’s been a month since adding the tang. All eating well, none shy. Fed on Monday as usual, Tuesday evening, two Chromis gone. One died before another guessing since the body was not picked apart when I got home. Took pics. The remaining Chromis is now in hiding. The cardinal, tang and clowns are not behaving odd. I’ve observed the cardinal encroaching on other fish, backing up into them. This I’ve observed since day 1. It’s just odd to have fish eating healthy and then dead. Any thoughts are welcome. The pics are of the same fish I was able to retrieve. Not sure how long it was dead, however it was not surrounded by hermits and snails.

 

[Doclight]

YES!! Weird huh.. Supposed to be a community fish. I had 3 in a 75 gallon. 2 got along fine, and one might as well be Rudolph.. No fish games for him!!! LOL. He was picked on, and kept away from all the other fish. Eventually he jumped the overflow and got chewed up in the pipes.

My psuedochromis is my new bully.. He kills everything except my Maroon Clownfish. Bastige!

Fish are still wild animals. Behavior isn't always what it says in the disclaimer..

 

[Flexin]

I may find him a new home, I may place him with my larger clowns in their 32.

 

[Rakie]

Mine is the most aggressive fish in the whole tank. The only thing that calmed him down was adding lots of fish, he had too many targets now and just doesn't attack anything because of it. Spreads the aggression out

 

[Flexin]

Now to catch him, lol.. To be continued...

 

[1stNoel]

I just put a school of 5 in my tank, and they seem pretty laid back.

The funny thing is that when I typically release new fish into the tank, all the others will surround it to get a peek. When I released the banggais, the entire tank backed away in a "what the f*** is that" manner. And these are large angels and tangs I'm talking about.

 

[Philt56]

I only had problems when I bought 3 and 2 paired off and killed the other.

 

[4FordFamily]

I’ve never witnessed any aggression other than inter-species with these guys! This is fascinating to me!

 

[Rakie]

I’ve never witnessed any aggression other than inter-species with these guys! This is fascinating to me!

It could be a tank size thing too. Mine is in a 45g cube, and claimed the center of the tank as "his spot", nobody is allowed in his spot lol.

 

[Stigigemla]

I added 5 pairs of the Banggais in my 10 foot tank. 3 pairs divided the tank and the other 4 just had to stand at the surface by the front glass. But i have never witnessed aggression towards other fishes than cardinals.
The pyjama cardinal is much weaker and dont have a chance even if they are much bigger.

 

[Flexin]

I like the pjs especially in a school, if that is possible, lol. I have a camera watching now so if something happens I can scroll back. I hope to have time to go fishing this weekend. And catch him. I got a pair but the second was killed within a week. The remaining one does pick a spot and tries to back everyone else away. Then changed his mind to another spot and does the same there. All the other fish go about their routine, this is the only ones making a claim. Also the surviving Chromis was running scared in general and sciddish.

 

[Stigigemla]

The pyjamas go well in a group of maybe 10. Normally no aggression and brooding males stay in the group.
Apparently your banggai pair was two of the same sex. I believe females are a bit more aggressive but it can just as well be a male.
But i would try to replace it in a tank of at least 6 foot.

 

[Flexin]

Lost another Chromi in the 65, the last one, unfortunately he was pinned on the power head so could not tell what happened. However, while inspecting all the fish, I came across what appears to be a bite mark on my Tang. https://www.instagram.com/p/BcV1jQKj7MX/

Got the net out and got lucky. He is now out of the 65 and in the 32 with the larger clowns and one larger chromis. So far so good.

 

[Sump Crab]

Mine is in a 40B and definitely Showed my newest inhabitant that he was there. He was not overly aaggressive, just asserting his dominance in his part of the tank. Things have calmed down now. His behavior was as you described, backing into the new fish and shacking.

 

[Scottland]

I put a pair of cardinals in my tank a week ago, the only other fish I have is a small clown. Everyone was cool for a week. The cardinals stayed paired. Now the bigger of the cardinals is being aggressive towards the smaller cardinal. But not the clown. Weird. Any thoughts? Tank is 3 moths old. Water quality is good. And all are eating well.