Who Gives A Fish Forums

Hi Guys,

I've got a Banggai Cardinal that's been in my tank for about six weeks now. It never seemed to eat anything, just stuck to one side, doing its usual jerking movements. I'd almost given up hope, having tried six different foods.

It did eat a whole mysis shrimp once, but after that, it just didn't seem interested in food. Two days ago, I threw in some freeze-dried bloodworms as a treat - I hadn't done that in a while. The Banggai went crazy for them, just kept eating. I added more and it ate those too. I'm really relieved to know it'll eat something, but can they survive on just this stuff?

Honestly, I'm not sure but one thing that could be worth a shot is combining another food with the bloodworm. If it takes to both, you could gradually reduce the bloodworm and up the other food, or just keep feeding a mix of the two.

Even though it might be able to survive on bloodworm alone, I wouldn't recommend it as the fish needs other nutrients that are essential to it.

I'd try to wean the cardinal onto other food slowly by feeding it a small amount of bloodworm every other day for a week or two - keep the fish hungry, it might sound cruel but it's good in the long run. Then I'd mix the freeze-dried bloodworm with a tiny bit of flake food or other and gradually increase the amount of flake while decreasing the amount of bloodworm each time.

If that doesn't work, you could buy some multi-vitamin/nutrient drops to soak the fish food in for a few minutes before feeding the fish, this way the fish should get all the essential nutrients it requires.

Is the fish alone in the tank? It might still be stressed from moving into a new home. If it is by itself, adding a tank mate that's a greedy eater might encourage the cardinal to feed with it.

For now, you've at least got it eating, which is important as you wouldn't want it starving to death. Good luck and let us know how you get on.

I think I'll have to try using a vitamin-enriched solution to soak the food. I've pretty much tried every type of food under the sun - flake food, mysis, bloodworm (both freeze-dried and fresh), daphnia, tubiflex, mini shrimps, and even lobster eggs. The Banggai just doesn't seem interested in anything else. However, I have noticed it's put on a bit of weight since I got it from the LFS, so maybe it's eating something at night. It's definitely more active after lights out, so I'm not sure what's going on.

zeno9 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 03, 2025 11:03 pm Hi Guys,

I've got a Banggai Cardinal that's been in my tank for about six weeks now. It never seemed to eat anything, just stuck to one side, doing its usual jerking movements. I'd almost given up hope, having tried six different foods.

It did eat a whole mysis shrimp once, but after that, it just didn't seem interested in food. Two days ago, I threw in some freeze-dried bloodworms as a treat - I hadn't done that in a while. The Banggai went crazy for them, just kept eating. I added more and it ate those too. I'm really relieved to know it'll eat something, but can they survive on just this stuff?

I think the weight gain and increased activity are pretty good signs that your Banggai is doing alright, health-wise. It's possible that it's snacking on tiny critters like copepods that live in your live rock and come out at night. Still, to be on the safe side, it's probably a good idea to add some vitamins to its daily food intake.

I've got a cleaner crew in the tank so I'm not holding out much hope for copepods. The fluxeonet's always on the lookout for them anyway. It's definitely more active after dark, though. He seems to prefer food from the surface, rather than stuff that's already floating around in the water. To be honest, I'm not sure what else I can try - I've already thrown a bunch of different foods at it.