Picky Bangaii Cardinal

[Cbryant54]

So I have a bangaii cardinal that's as picky as a toddler. It takes one bite of PE mysis and ignores everything else. I've tried adding selcon but that doesn't entice it. It won't touch pellets or flakes. Does anyone have experience what their bg like?

 

[ichthyogeek]

Could be wild caught, those take a while to get onto frozen if ever. Here're a few tips:

• Feed the fish at warmer temperatures (80-85 F). They get more lethargic at colder temperatures, which makes them less likely to go after food.
• Feed the fish in a high flow environment. Similar to fly fishing, if the fish only have a split second to determine if something is food or not, they're more likely to go after dead foods.
• Wean the fish: start with something like adult brine shrimp, and slowly incorporate the frozen equivalent (like frozen brine shrimp) into the diet until the fish recognizes frozen as a viable food strategy.
• Use a smell cue: lots of people recommend garlic as an appetite stimulant. I'm of the opinion that it's more of a smell cue, something that signals the fish "hey! dinner time is here!"

Good luck!

 

[Jman76]

Mine is equally picky...took awhile to eat, and now it will only eat PE Mysis. Been that way for months. I've read that blackworms work really well, but never had luck finding any...

 

[Cole.mormon]

GARLIC XTREME

 

[jjencek]

I do the following when I try to train a Bangaii to eat ...

1. Give him live Brine Shrimp
2. Take the same Brine Shrimp and freeze it before feeding
3. Then come the frozen cyclops
4. Frozen Brine Shrimp ... much bigger then #1
5. Frozen mysis
6. And dried food - which does not always work

 

[HB AL]

Mine only eats natural food and won't touch pellets, just keep feeding a variety of frozen foods and it will be just fine.