Banggai cardinal, will it grow back?

Girthrockwel · Jul 8, 2017

i just got two cardinalfish home and in the tank and one of them bit the others longest dorsal fin about half off. Will it grow back?

jrwoltman · Jul 8, 2017

The short answer is, yes. As long as it is eating, the fin will heal and should be completely healed in less than a month.

Girthrockwel · Jul 8, 2017

Good to hear. Although it would go with the rest of my tank. One of my clowns is missing a chunk out of her dorsal that's never grown back.

Whipples · Jul 8, 2017

Feed it a higher protein diet and try to keep it as stress-free as possible. My banggai lost part of his tail fin about 2 months ago and after 3-4 weeks it grew back. Keep an eye out for any signs of infection while it heals!

Girthrockwel · Jul 8, 2017

What would be a good high protein diet? I currently feed everything brine shrimp and flake.

Whipples · Jul 8, 2017

I feed in no particular order LRS Reef Frenzy, PE Mysis, and NLS pellets. Anything meaty is good for him to recover, and a touch of garlic oil every now and again won't hurt!

Girthrockwel · Jul 9, 2017

Whipples said:
I feed in no particular order LRS Reef Frenzy, PE Mysis, and NLS pellets. Anything meaty is good for him to recover, and a touch of garlic oil every now and again won't hurt!

I've been looking at the NLS pellets. They have a huge variety. What's a good size pellet for fiss that are less than 2 inches. Both clowns and cardinals are pretty small.

Whipples · Jul 9, 2017

My clowns are about 2" long now, and the banggai only a hair bigger and I use the NLS Marine formula, don't think it comes in different granule sizes but it's got a flame angel and a yellow tang on the label. My banggai won't eat it though unless it's softened a bit, their pellet food is pretty hard so I sometimes soak it in a little tank water or garlic for a minute or two to soften it up for him. He's on the pickier side...

http://m.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=8054

eatbreakfast · Jul 9, 2017

If the bangai was injured by the other bangaii it is likely they are not a true pair. If this is the case one will eventually kill the other, so be aware of one keeping the other away from it. If they are a pr, then they should be staying pretty close to each other.

Girthrockwel · Jul 9, 2017

I don't know if they're truly a pair or not but they are staying super close. If one turns the other turns. I haven't seen any aggressive behavior from them. I don't know when it could've happened.

Pinback · Jan 21, 2018

How did it shake out?

Whipples · Jan 21, 2018

Good news: tail grew back without a problem! Bad news: he recently passed away

Pinback · Jan 23, 2018

Sorry for your loss

marcwjj · Sep 23, 2020

Whipples said:
Good news: tail grew back without a problem! Bad news: he recently passed away

I’m getting a issue which sounds similar, two banggai cardinals , they swim always together in the qt tank, but one seems to lose part of the fins while the other looks healthy.

lve now separated the two and leave the weaker one in QT with medicine for bacteria infection. I hope he recovers...

A sea K · Sep 24, 2020

Girthrockwel said:
I've been looking at the NLS pellets. They have a huge variety. What's a good size pellet for fiss that are less than 2 inches. Both clowns and cardinals are pretty small.

A little late to the party but as an FYI most of my fish are less than 3 inches and I feed the NLS pellets in the 1mm sinking size.