Bangaii dieing

I just came home and the Bangaii Cardinal Ive had about 3 weeks, one of my first livestock is dieing. Can't swim, but still breathing, and trying to move, but obviously week.

When I bought them (2 bangaiis, and a peppermint shrimp) one bangaii died within 48hrs, so my LFS tested my water, said it was fine, and gave me store credit. I waited a week and a half, and bought a new one.
Now the first one is dieing, the new one looks ok, as does the shrimp.

I just did a water change a couple days ago, the the gravity is at 1.022. I havent had a chance to check anything else.

Is there anything I can do, or is it probably lost?


Tank is 55g, with live rock and sand.

 

dam dat sucks this has happend to me twice with two yellow tangs hopefully it doesnt die

 

These things happen. Sometimes they happen for no obvious reason to us.

Are there any other fish in the tank that keep the cardinals in hiding, preventing them from eating? That could be one scenario. Else, sometimes getting new fish to eat is a problem. Don't be discouraged. If your water chemistry is right on, do what you can to keep it that way and move forward.

Perhaps try a different species.

 

bangaii in particular are hard to keep at first. Many of them will not eat in captivity. Might have never ate since it was caught.

Make a point of asking your LFS to feed them prior to buying them...make sure you see them eat.

I have been wanting to get bangaii, but I havent. My LFS got a shipment in so I waited to see if they were eating (my store is good at that) Well I waited too long and now they are gone

Should check with all fish...but bangaii, anthias, seahorses, certain tangs, etc may or may not ever take food

also you should have test kits so you can test water at any point there is problem. I also keep Prime on hand at all times

 

+1 I always do this. Fish don't eat at the LFS, I don't buy it.

 

heres an update. The Bangaii in question didn't make it through the night. Over the next 2 days the other remaining Bangaii stopped eating. I went to my LFS to have them check my water...(my tests seemed fine, but thought maybe Im not doing something right)...the water was fine. They suggested live brine shrimp and maybe some wrasse to hopefully get the Bangaii to start schooling with them. This didnt help and my 3rd bangaii in a month was lost.

So, I guess Bangaii's are very picky eaters? I tried flakes, frozen mysis shrimp, and in the end live brine shrimp. They last bangaii seemed to be eating until it was alone. What should have been the minimum number of Bangaiis to get if I try them out again?
I had been under the impression Bangaiis were good beginner fish because they are so easily available everywhere, but I think I'll stick to the list on the forum for a while until my tank is more established.

 

YOU need to get YOUR own test kits, that should be step one. Many times an LFS will tell you everything is fine if it means you walking out with another livestock purchase, which I suspect since they suggested you get a wrasse, which, in no way shape or form would help your cardinals eat.

 

i do have my own test kits. I brought a sample into them to make sure I wasnt reading my results wrong. everything seemed fine to me which they confirmed.
as far as their other advice, they very well could have been just getting me to buy more fish, but to me at the time, it was worth a shot in an attempt to save a fish.

 

For the life of me, I just can't keep Bangaii alive. The eat, no one picks on them, they just fade away.

I think this is a fish that is just that way. Perhaps see if they can get some tank raised ones.

 

Liveaquaria has tank raised ones.