Banggai Cardinalfish, pair (sort of)

[TexanTrail]

Ordered a bonded pair of Banggai Cardinalfish from Diver's Den. After a 1 1/2 weeks the female didn't make it out of the QT. Question: If the male of the first pair makes it (survives), can I get another bonded pair and put in the same 125 gal tank?

 

[tomtom2245]

Are you positive it was the male that survived? In my experience your best bet is to have two females and a male, not two males as they will fight each other.

 

[TexanTrail]

It was the smaller of the two that died. Just assumed it was the female. (yeah, I know was assume means.. )

 

[Fenzinna]

It was the smaller of the two that died. Just assumed it was the female. (yeah, I know was assume means.. )

You would do yourself some good to find male vs female photos of cardinals. I believe males usually have a more rounded jaw and a female has a pointier one. At least, this was my experience. I found my male carrying babies in his mouth and this was the primary way of identification between the two.

 

[TexanTrail]

You would do yourself some good to find male vs female photos of cardinals. I believe males usually have a more rounded jaw and a female has a pointier one. At least, this was my experience. I found my male carrying babies in his mouth and this was the primary way of identification between the two.

I did find this article http://www.advancedaquarist.com/blog/how-to-determine-the-sex-of-banggai-cardinalfish It's too late to check the dead one. Maybe I can see on the survivor.

 

[tomtom2245]

Yeah, you can't go off size with theses guys. The only somewhat easy way to tell is by the jaw and for that you have to catch them essentially yawning or carrying babies. The males will have the wider more expandable jaw if that makes sense. With their mouths closed, both males and females look identical.

 

[Empress]

How do you tell the difference between male and female with the Pajama cardinal? Does the male have 2 vents?

 

[tomtom2245]

I couldn't tell you on the pajamas, I've never had any of those before.

 

[Philt56]

I bought 3 couple years should and one died after the othe 2 paired off. Around June, I found a baby in the rocks and he's still going strong although growing slowly, maybe 3/4" tall. Nothing else bothers him in the tank. He is more in the open now, still stays near the rock but hangs over the top of it now vs underneath it when first found. Have no idea how many eggs or fry hatched, but amazing this one beat the odds and survived.