new bangaii/ kauderns cardinals

[chromis]

I know Frank isnt back yet but I figured someone could answer...
I just got a pair of Kaudern's Cardinalfish at my LFS grand opening in the hopes of breeding them and have a few questions. I made kind of an impulse buy, I saw them one day, read this forum and Franks articles, and bought them the next. They were wild caught and had been at the store only a couple days, one of mine seems to have a small tear in his first dorsal fin, at the top, is this normal? Also, I've read that sexing them is really difficult, I picked out one with a large trailing second dorsal fin and a large mouth, the other is a simmilar size but with shorter dorsal fin. They are not especially close or anything, the lone with the longer dorsal fin seems to nip at the other one, rarely, does this sound like male and male or a pair or what?



thanks, more ???s to come
Andrew

[chromis]

well its been a week since I added them and they havent killed each other. The larger one seems to show more subtle aggression. He just chases the other a little, but tolerates the little one during feeding. If I have 2 males should they be ripping each other apart or just subtle aggression like I described? Would you suggest returning one and trying another?(talked w/ lfs and he said I could keep returning until I have a pair.


THanks in advance,
Andrew

[OrionN]

Give it a little more time. You may have a pair or two females. Two females will tolerate each other in a reef tank.
Are they full growth?

[chromis]

Thank you Minh!:D They are very large compared to what is usually at the lfs, with the tail probably 3- 4 inches. I am almost postitive that one is a male, it is very large and has the trailing second dorsal fin and shows subtle agression to the other.


Thanks again,
Andrew

[npaden]

chromis,

Just to add something to your thoughts. I was 100% sure that I had a male and went through 4 other bangaiis (didn't lose any - just kept trading them back to the LFS) trying to find a female. I was positive the one I had was a male because of the aggression it showed and also by it's physical characteristics (rounded jaw, long fins, etc.).

Well after finally finding the female several months went by and I was very suprised to see that the one that ended up carrying the babies was the "female" that I had added! ;)

I think the only way to tell a male from a female is the one that is carrying the eggs! I can tell which ones are which on mine because the male has more spots than the female, but I don't that is a good parameter to try to sex them.

FWIW, Nathan

[chromis]

thanks Nathan,
unfortunately the fish are both dead. I have some kind of protozoan in my water that is being carried (unseen) by a pair of clownfish, who are now in the hospital tank undergoing copper treatment. I hope to try cardinals again some day, not any time soon though. The rest of the info is in the disease forum..

Thanks again
Andrew