bangaii cardinal help

[SighKenny]

So on saturday I purchased 3 bangaii cardinalfish and noticed one of them had something like a plant fiber stuck in his mouth after many google searches i found out he wont eat until its unlodged so i had to pull it out with a pair of tweezers but he still hasnt ate and that was on sunday so that makes 3 days in my tank he hasnt ate and im very worried about him
Attached are pictures of him with it stuck and a picture of what i assume is a plant fiber after i got it out

 

[SighKenny]

hes pretty much hid alone since hes been here but the other two are acting a bit more comfortable

 

[Silent]

He might have thought he had babies in his mouth. Weird it was a plant fiber. Males will hold the babies in their mouth for about a month and not eat. You can see them in there when they get big.

 

[SighKenny]

He might have thought he had babies in his mouth. Weird it was a plant fiber. Males will hold the babies in their mouth for about a month and not eat. You can see them in there when they get big.

could that maybe be why hes not as active with the other two as well? he kinda just hides behind a rock in the middle of the tank
edit: hes now hiding at behind a rock and sitting near the very bottom of the tank near the sandbed

 

[SighKenny]

I’m really worried

 

[Silent]

Anything is possible. They can go a long time without eating so I would just try to get him to eat and monitor him. He will come around I imagine.

 

[SighKenny]

Ah okay im going to buy minced garlic today and use the juices to soak my food and hope that entices him a bit more as well

 

[mattzang]

well idk about the non eating issue, but bangaiis pair up and will likely kill a 3rd bangaii, so i'd suggest taking that one back anyway

 

[DMG Reef]

well idk about the non eating issue, but bangaiis pair up and will likely kill a 3rd bangaii, so i'd suggest taking that one back anyway

^^^^This!!^^^^ I bought 3 bangaiis for my frag tank and after one week, 2 of them paired up and killed the third one. It happened at night, so yours is probably getting picked on.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Three days, no food of no alarm. They are pretty much frozen meaty food eaters and wil attack brine shrimp, but mailly a base such as Rods foods, LRS and similar diet.

 

[Isaac Alves]

Same as above. It was a nighttime assassination.

 

[SighKenny]

Oh wow I read a lot of places that it’s better to get them in odd numbers

 

[SighKenny]

bump: I changed my aquascape and added 2 more bangaii to see if thatll help with them excluding one
if not i'll have to resort to rehoming