Follow my Oceanic 144g half circle reef tanks progress. 
Getting to know my Bangaii Cardinals
Posted 01/14/2012 at 05:53 PM by Aaarrrggg
Isaac & Miria (Bangaii Cardinals) have been coming out of their shells in QT. They're quite picky eaters, but will happily except the larger meaty bits in frozen food, especially when it whizzes by them in the current. When my father-in-law met them he said they look like "Italian Piranhas!" 
They were spitting out more food than I liked, so I started spicing it up with a little Garlic Xtreme & Selcon.
[IMG]http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r161/TheAaarrrggg/food-ads.jpg[/IMG]
That was a big hit and now they rush to the front to see me!
[IMG]http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r161/TheAaarrrggg/hungry-cardis.jpg[/IMG]
I noticed one of them looked a little pinker than the other. You can kind of see it in the following picture; the left one has a slightly darker body than the right one (it's a more pronounced in person.)
[IMG]http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r161/TheAaarrrggg/cardis-QT2.jpg[/IMG]
At first I thought something might be wrong, but after researching it turns out that it could be a sign the female is getting ready to lay eggs!
Now that it was easier to tell them apart (and they were readily coming over to say "Feed me Garlic!") I started noticing more differences. The (presumed) male is slightly smaller and has longer dorsal fins. Apparently males often have longer dorsal fins, although not always.
[IMG]http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r161/TheAaarrrggg/cardi-m.jpg[/IMG]
In comparison the (presumed) female's dorsal fins look blunted.
[IMG]http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r161/TheAaarrrggg/cardi-f.jpg[/IMG]
She's also more feisty and keeps having amusing bouts of "shadow boxing" with her reflection! This is in line with the male/female roles; as female has to defend her chap while he's busy holding the eggs/fry in his mouth.
[IMG]http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r161/TheAaarrrggg/cardi-box-1.jpg[/IMG]
This is my first time QTing and it must say it's surprisingly fun! You get to know the new fish a little better (and them you!) and it's exciting to look forward to the release date. It does suck having to go 4 weeks before purchasing anything else, but it feels good doing it the "right way" at last (there was only so long I could have gotten away with being lucky!)
Speaking of new purchases, it looks like I'm going to have to pass on the Blue Spotted Jawfish. I knew they needed deep sand for a burrow, but I had thought they were like Pistol Shrimp / Gobies which dig sideways; allowing the hole be quite deep in relatively shallow sand. Alas, this is not the case for Jawfish; who prefer to build their burrows straight down in 6" of sand (4" in a pinch.) There's no way my sand is anywhere near that depth, so bye bye Blue-Spot... Bah! Being responsible can suck sometimes!
They were spitting out more food than I liked, so I started spicing it up with a little Garlic Xtreme & Selcon.
[IMG]http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r161/TheAaarrrggg/food-ads.jpg[/IMG]
That was a big hit and now they rush to the front to see me!
[IMG]http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r161/TheAaarrrggg/hungry-cardis.jpg[/IMG]
I noticed one of them looked a little pinker than the other. You can kind of see it in the following picture; the left one has a slightly darker body than the right one (it's a more pronounced in person.)
[IMG]http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r161/TheAaarrrggg/cardis-QT2.jpg[/IMG]
At first I thought something might be wrong, but after researching it turns out that it could be a sign the female is getting ready to lay eggs!
Now that it was easier to tell them apart (and they were readily coming over to say "Feed me Garlic!") I started noticing more differences. The (presumed) male is slightly smaller and has longer dorsal fins. Apparently males often have longer dorsal fins, although not always.
[IMG]http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r161/TheAaarrrggg/cardi-m.jpg[/IMG]
In comparison the (presumed) female's dorsal fins look blunted.
[IMG]http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r161/TheAaarrrggg/cardi-f.jpg[/IMG]
She's also more feisty and keeps having amusing bouts of "shadow boxing" with her reflection! This is in line with the male/female roles; as female has to defend her chap while he's busy holding the eggs/fry in his mouth.
[IMG]http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r161/TheAaarrrggg/cardi-box-1.jpg[/IMG]
This is my first time QTing and it must say it's surprisingly fun!
You get to know the new fish a little better (and them you!) and it's exciting to look forward to the release date. It does suck having to go 4 weeks before purchasing anything else, but it feels good doing it the "right way" at last (there was only so long I could have gotten away with being lucky!)Speaking of new purchases, it looks like I'm going to have to pass on the Blue Spotted Jawfish. I knew they needed deep sand for a burrow, but I had thought they were like Pistol Shrimp / Gobies which dig sideways; allowing the hole be quite deep in relatively shallow sand. Alas, this is not the case for Jawfish; who prefer to build their burrows straight down in 6" of sand (4" in a pinch.) There's no way my sand is anywhere near that depth, so bye bye Blue-Spot... Bah! Being responsible can suck sometimes!
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