Bangaii Cardinal died... worried for the other

I bought two Bangaii cardinals about 3 weeks ago and put them in a quarantine tank together. I have a reliable store here and the assistant was pretty confident one was a male and the other was female, and since then I've seen no aggression between them. I haven't seen much at all in fact. They both seemed uninterested in food. I tried mysis, a frozen mix, and flake food, with pumps both off and on, and the larger one would pick at a piece or two but it didn't seem like either were eating.

Last night I went to try to feed them again, and the larger of the two (female, I assume) was present and seemed healthy and responsive, although still uninterested. The smaller one, however, was nowhere to be seen. I moved the filter sponge and pvc I have in there and found him "stuck" under the sponge. He came out spiraling and gasping and clearly unwell. I turned the pump off, started a water change process, and brought him close to the surface, hoping he'd recover from whatever he was suffering from (I felt it could either be suffocation from being stuck, or just starvation/trauma, no physical signs of abuse or disease). Needless to say, he died a couple hours later and I removed him from the tank immediately.

Now, my other bangaii is without a companion! She seems as healthy as she's always been, and I plan on doing another large water change today and to keep a close eye on her. I'm unsure what I should do though. I know it's best to keep bangaiis in pairs, and that commonly, people will buy 3 with the expectation that two will bond. Should I finish the quarantine with this fish alone (it will be over by the new year) then get another one or two to quarantine, or should I get two more straight away and add them to the quarantine tank with the one I have now, and restart the quarantine procedure?

TLDR: My bangaii is now all alone and halfway through quarantine. Should i finish her quarantine before getting more or add two straight away and restart the whole process?

 

I would go get another and start the QT process in this particular case. Remember Cardinals are very cryptic and nocturnal. You might have better luck getting them to eat after lights out or in a very low lighting area.

 

Thank you for the info. I didn't know that about Bangaii's I'll do some more reading on them. For what it's worth, I have been trying to feed them after light's out. Do you have a food recommendation? Do they eat very much? I'm used to my two clowns and a hawkfish, all of which go mad over whatever food enters the tank!

 

Personally I like most of the frozen mixtures with mixed mysis, sea food and or marine algae. I would be thinking that the one remaining should be eating well by now?

 

Sorry about that. My last tank my bangais mysteriously died.

 

I had terrible luck for three years off an on trying to get them through quarantine. They've been the most delicate fish I've ever bought. In one last try, I found a pair that were medium size at a different store and managed to get them through quarantine. IMO, they are highly susceptible to disease. Like most fish I've dealt with, once they stop eating they are one step from death.

Once past quarantine and eating, mine eat aggressively, mysis and my home blend of squid and shrimp. They will not eat NLS pellets I feed at lunch time. I lucked out and the pair are making babies. Ended up loosing first batch, the babies would not eat anything unless it was alive. By the time I got brine shrimp going it was too late. The male has another batch in his mouth right now, so hopefully this time I can keep them going on brine until they are big enough for mysis.

If you really want a pair I'd start the quarantine over with some new ones. I did tank (5 gallon bucket) transfer on the last two every 48 hrs for 6 rounds. Then into the quarantine tank for a few weeks with prazipro.

 

Oh god, here's the consequence of not doing enough research before buying. I didn't realize they are so finicky. I thought since they're so popular and fairly common they'd be pretty easy. Guess I was wrong! I may see if the LFS I bought from recommends and may take the remaining one back. I still have not gotten the other to eat...