Adding Cardinals

[litsoh]

I’m thinking of adding a nice group of 9 Banggai Cardinals to my current 125 gal and I just wanted to see how compatible they would be with the rest of my fish. I currently have

2 clowns
1 firefish
1 royal gramma
1 flame angel
1 threadfin butterfly
1 longnose butterfly

Also would a group of 9 like that all get along with each other?

 

[littlefoxx]

I’m thinking of adding a nice group of 9 Banggai Cardinals to my current 125 gal and I just wanted to see how compatible they would be with the rest of my fish. I currently have

2 clowns
1 firefish
1 royal gramma
1 flame angel
1 threadfin butterfly
1 longnose butterfly

Also would a group of 9 like that all get along with each other?

You would be surprised with how aggressive these cardinals are. I got 3 to have one male and a female and remove the odd one out. Ended up with a male and two females. Well over night two paired up and killed the third female. Had them a week and saw no aggression when I was around but boom overnight that happened. Would not recommend a group that big from my experience.

 

[VintageReefer]

I added 2 and had no issues, then added a small third one about a year later. One big chased the new little one for a few days nothing too crazy just showing he’s the boss. Now all 3 school and stick together

 

[littlefoxx]

I added 2 and had no issues, then added a small third one about a year later. One big chased the new little one for a few days nothing too crazy just showing he’s the boss. Now all 3 school and stick together

Hum interesting! If OP could do a school that big that would be very cool!

 

[litsoh]

I’m assuming that the best bet would be to get them in while they’re still pretty small?

Are there any other alternatives that would be a better shoaling fit?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I’m thinking of adding a nice group of 9 Banggai Cardinals to my current 125 gal and I just wanted to see how compatible they would be with the rest of my fish. I currently have

2 clowns
1 firefish
1 royal gramma
1 flame angel
1 threadfin butterfly
1 longnose butterfly

Also would a group of 9 like that all get along with each other?

Expect a fight with more than one male which is hard to distinguish until breeding time.

 

[jay1976]

I added three in a tank and had absolute carnage,perhaps more will be better just don't do three they will pair up and haras the odd one out have tried it in small tank and 500 hundred liter tank same outcome.

 

[jay1976]

They were added as juveniles so don't think that will make a difference, probably would be worse if they were bought as adult's.

 

[VintageReefer]

chromis will shoal but I have tried many many times and always end up with 1…

 

[litsoh]

Yeah I originally wanted to go with chromis as my shoalers but I've read too many experiences where they slowly whittle down their numbers. What other alternatives could I be looking at that would remain peaceful in a semi-large group?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

maybe some anthias? They are very colourful and active and spend most of their time together.

 

[litsoh]

Oh yeah I love the look of the anthias species. I'll look into those as well.

How about wrasses? Does a small group of flasher wrasses generally hang around each other or do they all just cruise around on their own? The McCosker's definitely caught my eye