Cannibal Cardinal

wvfeefkeeper80

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I purchased two black and white cardinals a month or so ago. I recently added a wrasse, and while I thought the royal gamma would pick the wrasse apart, they acclimated very well. Fast forward a few weeks and I notice one of my cardinal is hiding anywhere it can find, top fins chewed off. As I observe, I see the dominant one hounding the second relentlessly. Cardinal comes out to feed and looks healthy but for the hiding and battered fins.

What can I do? Should I let them work it out? Will those fins welcome disease? Death or removal?
Tank is:

32.5 Marine Fluval
Marine lighting
Water levels at optimal perimeters
Weekly water changes
Protein skimmer
UV filter
2 clown
1 goby
1 royal gamma
1 wrasse
2 (ish) cardinals
Soft/LPS coral
Peppermint x 1
Hermits
Rock Anemone
~5 month age tank
**In photo, cardinal is at rock base**

D63CB1FE-F25D-4918-A8E5-51C222A69A70.jpeg
 
I purchased two black and white cardinals a month or so ago. I recently added a wrasse, and while I thought the royal gamma would pick the wrasse apart, they acclimated very well. Fast forward a few weeks and I notice one of my cardinal is hiding anywhere it can find, top fins chewed off. As I observe, I see the dominant one hounding the second relentlessly.

What can I do? Should I let them work it out? Will those fins welcome disease? Death or removal?
Tank is:

32.5 Marine Fluval
Marine lighting
Water levels at optimal perimeters
Weekly water changes
Protein skimmer
UV filter
2 clown
1 goby
1 royal gamma
1 wrasse
2 (ish) cardinals
Soft/LPS coral
Peppermint x 1
Hermits
Rock Anemone
~5 month age tank
**In photo, cardinal is at rock base**

D63CB1FE-F25D-4918-A8E5-51C222A69A70.jpeg
Separate them, you have 2 males, one will kill the other
Well, sharks tooth! lol Getting fish out of a tank, as a newbie, just seems so impossible. Not being lazy, it just creates chaos and skill I’ve yet to master.
I suppose in this amount of space, a territorial shifting of rocks would make little impact?
 
Nope, I have had males seek out and kill each other in 500g
Wow. Thank you for the assistance and knowledge. Do you know of a way to find the right sex moving forward?
 

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