Cardinal compatibility, and a question about foods  11/30/08
Hello
I recently purchased 3 orbiculate Cardinalfish, Sphaeramia orbicularis, from a local store. At the store in the same tank they had a pajama cardinal. I really liked the look of the two cardinal species together. I have heard that these cardinals are not as aggressive with conspecifics as Banggai cardinals.
<This is assuredly so... both in the wild and captivity>
Would I be able to mix the orbiculate cardinals with three pajama cardinals in a 75 gallon tank?
<Likely so>
I was also wondering how nutritious bloodworms are for saltwater.
<Quite so>
I have heard that they are higher in fat than other frozen foods. I have currently been feeding the cardinals as well as some gobie-esque fish (2 scissor tail Dartfish, 1 bar goby, 3 convict gobies) frozen bloodworms as a treat as they seem to really love them. In addition to this I have also been feeding krill, brine shrimp, mysis, daphnia, Cyclops, flake (TetraMarine Marine Flakes), pellets (Nutrafin Max Slow Sinking Morsels), raw table shrimp, silversides and a frozen food for marine angels. I generally feed two to three different foods per day. Is there anything you would recommend be added to the diet?
<Mmm, no... and I'd like to put in my formal request to be reincarnated as a pet fish in your care>
Thanks for your time
Kevin
<Thank you for sharing. Bob Fenner>

Re: Cardinal compatibility, and a question about foods  11/30/08
Thank you Bob for the quick reply. it's one of the things that makes this web site so great.
<Ah, welcome my friend. My "central thread" here is that my and friends' efforts be accurate, significant and meaningful... including, of course, timely. Cheers, BobF>

Banggai eating up all the pods! - 4/12/04 
Hello crew! 
I do not have a problem, just an observation and I want to double check with one of you. Great!> I have had a Banggai for about 10 months. He is healthy and happy. Before I purchased him, I had a nice size population of pods. I really never gave much thought about it but now that I look back, I realize that my pod population has lessened. <Well, populations do go through growth gains and losses through a cycle. Predation also seems to cull quite a few out. Banggais will eat amphipods and copepods to supplement their diet for sure. What other potential predators do you have?> Could it be?! <Absolutely> Am I actually supplying him natural food? <Sure. For how long will be determined by a refugium (place for these creatures to grow without predation) or depending on how bug the tank is> Do Banggais eat pods? <Sure> I know they are nocturnal just like the pods. <Sort of> I had worried that he only ate Mysis (which is every fourth feeding) but he has always been the fattest booger in the tank. <They love Mysis and Cyclop-eeze> That's my guess anyway. Oh, and for those that think they are slow and boring, let me tell ya, when the Mysis hit the water, he swims circles around my blue tang and Foxface. <Yeah, they can hang in most cases> He looks like a silver bullet streaking across the tank. <What type of Mysis (brand) do you feed?> They are quite fast when they want to be. <I agree> 
Anyway, take care guys and gals, <Thanks for the update. A valuable observation! ~Paul> 
Jason

Pajama cardinal/elegance coral
Hello again Bob,
I hope you can save the day again… The little pajama cardinal seems to have taken a liking to my elegance coral Always hovering.. picking at it, yet I do not see damage and the coral does not recoil..  Is the coral safe?, should I be concerned?
<These associate in the wild... no problems... the cardinals likely receive some protection from predation... Catalaphyllia sting like no tomorrow...>
The little sweetie would be impossible to catch and a shotgun to a 20g nano might prove destructive….don’t you agree?
<A twenty gallon system is too dangerously small for this Euphylliid>
Thanks for being there.
Ellen
<Bob Fenner>

Cardinal swallows shrimp, Legs still sticking out. 12-06-05
Hello Crew,
<Hello>
A pajama cardinal ate our skunk cleaner shrimp last night after it molted. The shrimp doesn't fit in the cardinal's stomach as legs and antenna are sticking out of the mouth.
<I must say this is a first.>
My wife called me with this info at work, so I haven't seen it yet. Will the fish die, too?
<The fish should be able to evacuate the shrimp on its own. If it does not do so, or looks to be laboring then you may need to help it out.>
Anything that can be done to save it? My wife saw the empty molt, so she's sure it's the actual shrimp that got eaten after it molted. The shrimp is full grown and almost as long as the cardinal and I never thought it would try to eat it.
<They will try anything that will try to eat anything that will fit in their mouth. Travis> 

Re: Cardinal swallows shrimp, Legs still sticking out. 12-06-05
Thanks for the reply, but it turns out my panic was unwarranted.
<That is good. Always better to waste worry than to be right for worrying.>
Over the course of the day, the legs and antennae slowly disappeared into the fish until they were gone a few hours after my initial mail... and it grabbed the largest piece of food at dinner time when I fed the tank.
<Sea pigs.>
I assumed the shrimp was too large to fit in the cardinal's mouth. It seems I was wrong. 
<It does seem so...>
Pajama cardinals won't be going into my next reef.  I'm looking at threadfins to fill the niche instead, in hopes that they won't eat my beloved Lysmata shrimps.
<You will greatly enjoy the thread fins. They can also be kept in schools which is nice. Travis>
Thanks, Ben 

Mixing Cardinals
As always you guys rule. 
<Thank you>
I have 3 PJs whom I love, living in my 75. One has been with me for years and years, she's my "other woman." It's her eyes :). (I know its a she because one of the new guys had to carry her eggs quite a few times).
Anyways, I have some space for a few more fish, not many but like maybe 2. I always wanted Banggais, and I am trying to find out if 3 PJs and 2 Banggais would be happy in my tank. My utmost concern is for the PJs with the usual irrational exuberance for new fish that is shared by most people with my affliction as a secondary issue.
The only other top fish is a royal Gramma and a tomato clown that has a anemone. Lots of rockwork.
Thanks again and again for all the information over the years.
<James, definitely go with the Banggais. The tomato is not a good choice to mix with cardinals. James (Salty Dog)> 

Seahorses and Cardinals    9/22/06
Hi, (to whom gets to answer my questions today:)
<That would be me, Leslie>
I have a 30 gallon hex tank with 2 captive bred seahorses (I'm not sure what kind they are, but they are about 4" long) a yellow Watchman Goby and a Cleaner Shrimp. For filtration I have a Rena 3 canister filter with the flow turned down so the seahorses don't go flying around the tank. The whole setup has been running and happy for over a year now and the question that I have is.....would it be okay to add 2 or 3 PJ Cardinals to this system? Some websites say yes others say no and on WWM I have not been able to find an answer.
<Well they would do fine with seahorses and do well in small groups. They do however get to be close to 4 inches long and are wide dorso-ventrally. IMO a 30g hex is to small and does not have enough horizontal swimming space. Instead you might want to consider a captive bred Pseudochromis fridmani (Orchid Dottyback); an Assessor either the A. flavissimus (Yellow Assessor) or the A. macneilli (Blue Assessor); a Firefish either the N. decora (Purple Firefish) or the N. magnifica (Fire Goby); or a Ecsenius midas (Midas Blenny)>
Thank you for your time and expertise, Diana
<You’re most welcome, Leslie>

New aggression in Cardinalfish   1/23/07
Hi, I have a 75 gal FOWLR tank that we just recently got back together after a nasty bout with Ich - lost many of my fish... 3 blue green chromis, 1 Banggai cardinal, 2 yellow tail blue damsels and 1 Foxface rabbit survived  - I broke down the tank, put them into a quarantine tank for 45 days - copper treatment - and then put them back into the big tank which also has 3 cleaner shrimp, 3 peppermint shrimp, 2 oysters, a featherduster and a few hermit crabs and snails ... they were all fine with each other before and also in the q tank but when they went back into the big tank the damsels attacked and almost killed the cardinal - all his fins were gone and he was bleeding... a peppermint shrimp had dragged him under the rocks for a snack - he shot out of the rocks and I scooped him out and ran him into the q tank which was still operating - it is an absolute miracle that he survived... he didn't eat for over a week and then I tried feeding him live feeder shrimp ... It took over a month but he has grown all his fins back,
<Good. This is a quick recovery>
is eating his regular diet (frozen and pellet) and I moved him back to the main  tank , caught the 2 damsels (with the help of a trap) and returned them to my LFS (very nice people there),   I decided to add just 2 more special fish to the tank and to keep it that way for a while - I bought a Majestic angel (3 1/2 inches)
<Yikes... a touchy species, sub-genus, and needs much more room... see WWM re>
and a Lined Fairy Wrasse (4 inches) - both absolutely beautiful fish.  I had them in the q tank for over 3 weeks and moved them into the main tank .... here's the issue .... after 3 weeks, the Cardinalfish has begun to harass the other fish ... not the wrasse or the angel but he is terrorizing the rabbitfish!  The poor guy is raising his spines constantly and trying to hide all the time ... The cardinal is also going after the chromis ... I know that I changed the dynamic in the tank adding the last 2 fish ...  I hate to give up the Cardinalfish ... he is such a special guy to have survived his ordeal...
<Perhaps another tank?>
but I just noticed a few tiny white spots on the wrasse's fin ... please advise.... should I just see if things settle back down and keep an eye on them ?... do they usually work this out in the tank, there are plenty of places to hide and swim ?
<Mmm, not in a 75 gallon box there isn't>
- they seem to do better if I keep them well fed (3-4 times a day) but I'm afraid to overfeed-   Yikes!   I REALLY don't want to deal with another Ich break out . Thanks, Beverly A
<I would remove the cardinal... just observe the rest. Do read on WWM re. Bob Fenner>

Compatibility - 10/13/06
Do you think two Nemateleotris magnifica and one Sphaeramia nematoptera can be kept together?
<<Indeed...should not be a problem>>
Thank you so much for your advice.
<<Quite welcome, EricR>>