Cardinals-mix and how many?

HockeyRooster · Jan 20, 2021

Is it possible to keep a pair of pajamas and a pair of banggais in the same tank? My tank is 90 gallons.
I have a foxface, cleaner wrasse, 2 clowns and orchid dottyback (in qt).

As a separate question, any chance I could keep 3 Banggais and 2 pajamas? I have a banggai that I am going to regime because I really want a pair of them.
thanks

reefz · Jan 21, 2021

Yes it is possible. I've kept pajamas and bangaiis together in schools. They wont bother each other

Zionas · Jan 21, 2021

Not sure about the Bangaiis, heard they pair off.

Haydn · Jan 21, 2021

As above with Bangaii's you will end up with either a male/female pair or, if you are unlucky and get one sex, a single fish. It may take a while, it took my group of 6 youngsters about 18 months to get down to a pair (and that is in a 2000L tank)

Zionas · Jan 21, 2021

Not sure about Pyjamas, but some have also said they pair up.

HockeyRooster · Jan 21, 2021

Thanks everyone. I’ve written about this situation before - I have an older Banggai that is fairly big and has been aggressive with the foxface and filefish(when he was still with us).
I found 2 pair of ‘usedcardinals about 6 months old. 2 pajama and 2 Banggai. Someone getting out of the hobby so I know these cardinals have paired up. I’m only allowed to have captive bred fish (family rule) so my options are becoming limited. I really like the Banggai and don’t really like the pajamas.

I think I’m going to move my single Banggai and add this pair.

Zionas · Jan 21, 2021

Good idea. Hope it works out!

Greybeard · Jan 21, 2021

I'm a big fan of Cardinals... I won't keep Banggai cards, always pick on one another for me. I quit trying. No problem, there's LOTS of other kinds of cardinals!

I've got a trio of PJ cards, a pair of ochre striped cardinals, and a pair of 5 line cardinals. All healthy and happy, in a 140g tank.

Zionas · Jan 21, 2021

I agree. Bangaiis are less appealing to me compared to the others. Plus I heard they can be prone to a mysterious kind of virus.

Zionas · Jan 21, 2021

Where I am we don’t get Captive Bred Bangaiis. There’s only one place in China that breeds them and it’s called AMF (Asian Marine Fantastic- yes lame name I know) and they only do it in super limited quantities as far as I know. The bulk of Bangaiis we get are still wild caught (unfortunately) and Bangaiis aren’t known to do well when wild caught.

footgal · Jan 21, 2021

If you're only allowed to have captive-bred fish and want a schooling effect, can I suggest chalk bass? They live naturally in groups and are pretty readily available as captive-bred. They shouldn't bother other fish (very peaceful) and are also small at adult length at 3". PJs don't really appeal to me, they kinda look like zombies with their red eyes lol and I've read (and witnessed) in many reports that banggais and PJs often just end up chilling motionless somewhere and make for pretty boring fish.

The upside is that many reefers near me have accidentally raised banggais due to their mouth brooder behavior so they are very cheap and available plus you might end up with some babies which can bring you some mailbox money down the road. That could be a very cool project and introduction to fish breeding,since you have a pair of clowns already, you will probably have the opportunity in a few years to attempt clowns if you wanted to.

Its your choice, the singla banggai will be just fine on its own if you decide to go that route too. Its your tank, put things you like into it

HockeyRooster · Jan 21, 2021

Zionas said:
Where I am we don’t get Captive Bred Bangaiis. There’s only one place in China that breeds them and it’s called AMF (Asian Marine Fantastic- yes lame name I know) and they only do it in super limited quantities as far as I know. The bulk of Bangaiis we get are still wild caught (unfortunately) and Bangaiis aren’t known to do well when wild caught.

Interesting because I thought most were captive bred now. The ones we get here are captive bred and I thought the wild population was in trouble. It’s hard to find captive bred of any type here in Canada but these are plentiful.

HockeyRooster · Jan 21, 2021

footgal said:
If you're only allowed to have captive-bred fish and want a schooling effect, can I suggest chalk bass? They live naturally in groups and are pretty readily available as captive-bred. They shouldn't bother other fish (very peaceful) and are also small at adult length at 3". PJs don't really appeal to me, they kinda look like zombies with their red eyes lol and I've read (and witnessed) in many reports that banggais and PJs often just end up chilling motionless somewhere and make for pretty boring fish.

The upside is that many reefers near me have accidentally raised banggais due to their mouth brooder behavior so they are very cheap and available plus you might end up with some babies which can bring you some mailbox money down the road. That could be a very cool project and introduction to fish breeding,since you have a pair of clowns already, you will probably have the opportunity in a few years to attempt clowns if you wanted to.

Its your choice, the singla banggai will be just fine on its own if you decide to go that route too. Its your tank, put things you like into it

Thanks! Will do some research on the chalk bass.