Tankmates for a banggai cardinalfish

[BubbleTrouble]

What fish would mesh well with one banggai cardinalfish?

 

He had a mate, but she past recently of a bacterial infection. My plan Is to let him live alone for a month or two to see how his health is before introducing any more germs. Would he allow a different fish?? I want something different than another banggai, but I'm also happy with him being a bachelor for the time being 😄

[ml86743]

I've had a few different fish with a single cardinalfish, and he was always peaceful with whomever.  Clownfish, wrasse, jawfish, and a longnose hawk all did well.   In my experience, they're not a super aggressive species and if anything, are prone to being bullied.   One of my favorites though, I always thought they look kinda  "old man grumpy" lol!  It also depends on the size of your tank as it will limit what you can and cannot add. 

 

Sorry to hear about the other fish:( 

 

Any ideas what may have caused the bacteria infection?  Water quality issues or something?

It is my understanding that fish are relatively resilient to many different bacterial strains and infection is often caused by a compromised immune system from an external factor.  

 

[seabass]

What size tank is it again?  You basically want relatively peaceful tankmates.  As ml86743 stated, if anything, your cardinalfish is a relatively timid fish.  And while it often swims out in the open, it does like areas where it can retreat to.

[demonclownfish]

If it can fit in their mouth a banggai will eat it - I've seen one eat a small goby lol. 

 

If you don't mind spending some coin - a bluespot jaw fish would be awesome or you can go with a pearly. 

[BubbleTrouble]

On 12/1/2022 at 9:26 AM, seabass said:

What size tank is it again?  You basically want relatively peaceful tankmates.  As ml86743 stated, if anything, your cardinalfish is a relatively timid fish.  And while it often swims out in the open, it does like areas where it can retreat to.

13.5!

[DaJMasta]

They're generally pretty peaceful, I've only seen them get aggressive to other banggais and to tankmates (chasing but not nipping) when they're about to spawn or when the babies are about to hatch.  Never heard of them eating gobies before, I've had small dragonets, sharknose gobies, and hector's gobies with mine before and they've gotten along fine.

I'm a fan of a lot of the small gobies, but a smaller blenny would also be a lot of personality to have around.  You may even be able to swing a possum wrasse - a little shy, but will be out during the day so long as you're not next to the tank and they are charming, curious little fish.

[seabass]

That seems like a small tank for a Banggai cardinalfish.  Granted, they seem to hang out more than swim around; but you should see them dart across a 100 gallon tank when they want to.  But whatever, I'm pretty sure it's fine.

 

The confined space does limit which tankmates you can keep.  I like DaJMasta's suggestions.  Maybe a Blackline Blenny, or a Purple Firefish.

[tviquez10]

My Pajama Cardinal (cutely named PJ😍) has done really well with a pair of black and white Clownfish. Clownfish are such goofs and are really fun to watch. Or like stated above, a bottom dwelling fish is also a good idea since Cardinals stay mid-level mostly. Goby's and Benny's are super neat fish! Let us know what you decide in a couple of months!

[sadie]

4 hours ago, tviquez10 said:

My Pajama Cardinal (cutely named PJ😍) has done really well with a pair of black and white Clownfish. Clownfish are such goofs and are really fun to watch. Or like stated above, a bottom dwelling fish is also a good idea since Cardinals stay mid-level mostly. Goby's and Benny's are super neat fish! Let us know what you decide in a couple of months!

I named my Pajama Cardinal PJ as well.  It is a well fitting name.  I had 2 PJ cardianls and my clownfish bullied them so bad.  I ended up losing one of the them and I think it was because the clownfish didn't let him eat.  I did have a blue neon goby that did really well with the PJ Cardinal.  Where your tank is smallish, the goby is a good size and so pretty!!

[BubbleTrouble]

On 12/2/2022 at 11:06 PM, seabass said:

That seems like a small tank for a Banggai cardinalfish.  Granted, they seem to hang out more than swim around; but you should see them dart across a 100 gallon tank when they want to.  But whatever, I'm pretty sure it's fine.

 

The confined space does limit which tankmates you can keep.  I like DaJMasta's suggestions.  Maybe a Blackline Blenny, or a Purple Firefish.

I'm not against being told when I'm wrong, I'd be happy to rehome if needed. A bunch of guides/threads suggested a 10g would be fine for a pair but my LFS can do swaps!!

 

Purple firefish are so cool

On 12/3/2022 at 1:50 PM, sadie said:

I named my Pajama Cardinal PJ as well.  It is a well fitting name.  I had 2 PJ cardianls and my clownfish bullied them so bad.  I ended up losing one of the them and I think it was because the clownfish didn't let him eat.  I did have a blue neon goby that did really well with the PJ Cardinal.  Where your tank is smallish, the goby is a good size and so pretty!!

I think goby is a good direction for me to look, thank you!

[BubbleTrouble]

On 12/2/2022 at 11:06 PM, seabass said:

That seems like a small tank for a Banggai cardinalfish.  Granted, they seem to hang out more than swim around; but you should see them dart across a 100 gallon tank when they want to.  But whatever, I'm pretty sure it's fine.

 

The confined space does limit which tankmates you can keep.  I like DaJMasta's suggestions.  Maybe a Blackline Blenny, or a Purple Firefish.

Well you may have been right all along, he seems to only swim towards the glass like he is trying to swim out of it. Maybe time to rehome

[ninjamyst]

The good thing is that the fluval 13.5 is longer than a standard 10g cube so more room for them.  You have to be careful adding a second banggai.  If you don't add opposite sex, they will not pair up and one will kill the other.

 

As for tank mates, tailspot blenny is a good choice.  They do perch a lot so not a very active swimmer.  Canary blenny is another good choice but be careful that blennies are jumpers.

[BubbleTrouble]

20 hours ago, ninjamyst said:

The good thing is that the fluval 13.5 is longer than a standard 10g cube so more room for them.  You have to be careful adding a second banggai.  If you don't add opposite sex, they will not pair up and one will kill the other.

 

As for tank mates, tailspot blenny is a good choice.  They do perch a lot so not a very active swimmer.  Canary blenny is another good choice but be careful that blennies are jumpers.

He seems to be swimming horizontally more than anything? Like back and forth on the short sides. He had a mate but she is the one that passed, I used a bunch of reference pics and sexed them at the pet store before bringing them home so they meshed well before she passed 😕

 

I also had a clown jump out and mummify ahhhhh. But I plan on looking for safe things to plug the few holes with so maybe a blenny would be a good idea!!