Banggai Cardinal

[MnFish1]

My understanding is that Prime "detoxifies" ammonia by converting it to ammonium which is much less harmful giving system time to process it. I haven't read through the attached links yet but don't most test kits measure total ammonia which would make it difficult to analyze?

Coming from the fresh side I've used Prime extensively, mostly for de-chlorinating properties, and while I've not conducted any studies I've got a lot of anecdotal evidence of it being beneficial in an emergency. Very interesting topic.

I've not used Prime for my saltwater tank and don't really see a need to though I guess if I had an ammonia emergency I would probably reach for it in combination with water changes.

I think there are many anecdotes that prime has helped in emergencies, though it does not actually seem to lower free ammonia (which is the toxic form). Unless I had an extreme emergency with no possibility to do a water change I personally would not rely on it. (i.e. a water change would be immediately effective ). .As someone else said - the only way to tell if it 'detoxifies' ammonia would be to do the experiment - which I do not think anyone is willing to do. There was one done with amphipods, but IMHO, there were methodologic issues with that experiment.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thanks. Yes, newly acquired 6 days ago. He had been at my LFS for about 2 weeks. I'm unsure of his origin but would imagine it was wild caught though he was fairly small.

You should ask the pet store if they know if it was wild caught or raised domestically. Here is a write-up I did on this virus:

Banggai Cardinalfish Iridovirus (BCIR)
This fish was originally discovered in 1933 but then lost to science for about 60 years, when the Banggai cardinalfish (Pterapogon kauderni) was “rediscovered” and began entering the tropical fish trade. Aquarists noted how hardy the species was and that they were very easy to reproduce in captivity. A decade later, the price for wild-caught Banggai cardinalfish had decreased fivefold, but the animals were now considered very delicate, with high losses seen in newly acquired wild fish.

What was the cause of this sudden change in the apparent health of this species in captivity? Poor handling, collection with cyanide (unlikely), and bacterial disease were all suggested as possible reasons for this change. A researcher then published a study showing that the presence of an iridovirus was associated with episodes of mass mortality in newly imported cardinalfish (Weber et al. 2009). A similar virus has since been isolated from the common batfish, Platax orbicularis (Sriwanayos et al. 2013), but a corresponding high mortality in aquarium fish of that species has not been noted, perhaps because many fewer batfish are imported for the pet trade than the ever-popular Banggai cardinalfish.

Since there is no cure for this viral disease, captive-raised fish that were never exposed to wild stock, or fish that have subsequently developed immunity by surviving an infection would be the best choices for aquarists. Avoid inexpensive wild-caught Banggai Cardinalfish. Not only do they have a poor survival record, but they’re also being collected at such a high rate that wild populations are locally threatened with extinction.

 

[Fishy Guy]

You should ask the pet store if they know if it was wild caught or raised domestically. Here is a write-up I did on this virus:

Banggai Cardinalfish Iridovirus (BCIR)
This fish was originally discovered in 1933 but then lost to science for about 60 years, when the Banggai cardinalfish (Pterapogon kauderni) was “rediscovered” and began entering the tropical fish trade. Aquarists noted how hardy the species was and that they were very easy to reproduce in captivity. A decade later, the price for wild-caught Banggai cardinalfish had decreased fivefold, but the animals were now considered very delicate, with high losses seen in newly acquired wild fish.

What was the cause of this sudden change in the apparent health of this species in captivity? Poor handling, collection with cyanide (unlikely), and bacterial disease were all suggested as possible reasons for this change. A researcher then published a study showing that the presence of an iridovirus was associated with episodes of mass mortality in newly imported cardinalfish (Weber et al. 2009). A similar virus has since been isolated from the common batfish, Platax orbicularis (Sriwanayos et al. 2013), but a corresponding high mortality in aquarium fish of that species has not been noted, perhaps because many fewer batfish are imported for the pet trade than the ever-popular Banggai cardinalfish.

Since there is no cure for this viral disease, captive-raised fish that were never exposed to wild stock, or fish that have subsequently developed immunity by surviving an infection would be the best choices for aquarists. Avoid inexpensive wild-caught Banggai Cardinalfish. Not only do they have a poor survival record, but they’re also being collected at such a high rate that wild populations are locally threatened with extinction.

This was the post I found in another thread but thank you for reiterating! I was able to confirm they were wild caught; per the LFS they haven't heard from anyone else or had any deaths with the ones still at the store.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

This was the post I found in another thread but thank you for reiterating! I was able to confirm they were wild caught; per the LFS they haven't heard from anyone else or had any deaths with the ones still at the store.

Yes - if it was the virus, you would expect to see mortality in at least some of the other fish it was in with, so that could rule that issue out to some degree.

Jay