Banggai Cardinalfish - How Quickly Do They Pair Off?

[CaptainRon]

I picked up a trio of Banggai Cardinals from BRK yesterday. I've only had them one other time so don't really know a lot about how they act. I got three of them at the recommendation of John and based on what I've ready in the past. I've always heard both that they will do well in groups and also that they'll go highlander unless you get a pair that gets on well.

 

Well with having a trio, I was hopeful that I'd see two of them pair off. Not being sure what to expect, I'm not sure if it's possible that they could have paired off already.

 

The three of them have only been in the tank since yesterday afternoon and by yesterday evening it looked like two of them may have paired up. All day today there's been two of them together and one by himself at the other end of the tank.

 

I put them all in my frag tank so that I could relatively easily make some fish moves if needed.

 

Is it really possible that these two guys have paired off already? If so, I'll grab those two and put them in the display.

 

Thoughts? Thanks!

[John Ford]

turn on some Marvin Gaye. That'll help speed things up

 

Good luck with them. My wife has been pushing me to get one for awhile now

[Cheshireboxers]

I have a breeding pair. The male will hold the babies in his mouth and not eat for 27 days until babies are released. The female belly will have a reddish glow when she is about to release eggs and will cycle about every 6 to 8 weeks. So if your pair starts to breed you'll need to have a tank set up for the babies with a divider so you can put the male on the other side to fatten him up a bit prior to letting him get near the female again. Babies will need freshly hatched baby brine. That's if your interested in raising their young. anyhow good luck with your new addition.

[CaptainRon]

Not really looking at breeding potential as much as I'd just like two of them and I don't want the two I have to end up killing each other.

 

I'll keep an eye on them for a couple more days and if they look to be consistently pairing off, I'm putting the pair in the main display tank.

[Sharkey18]

Yes, they can and will pair up immediately. Pluck out those two and put them in your display. 

 

You can confirm they are a pair by their behavior. Watch them a bit, especially a little later int he day. Pairs will swim side by side with one usually a little bit behind and to the side of the other. They will switch position often. When "courting" you will see some shivering behaviors. 

[CaptainRon]

Thanks for the comment Laura! I'll pluck them tonight!

[CaptainRon]

 

Seriously??

 

I grabbed the two that paired off and placed them in the display, and this is what I see five minutes later. This is one very frightened fish! At least that's what I assume. Little guy was captured using one of those large clear plastic fish boxes that fish stores use to bag fish so it was never out of the water and no net.

 

Its still like this after about 15 or 20 minutes in the tank. Got upright in the corner once but looked like he went out of his way to make as small a target as possible.

 

Silly fish. Hope he/she is really just frightened and realizes it's being silly soon.

[CaptainRon]

This crazy fish is playing opossum! I just walked up to the tank and he/she was in the corner, upright and floating. As soon as he saw me, he flopped back on his side!

 

I'll report back on him again tomorrow.

[YHSublime]

Too funny