Can A Bangaii Cardinal Live In A 10g Reef?

i'm a new amateur in the saltwater reefing hobby. i've been doing freshwater aquascaping for the past 3 years and just transitioned to reefing this year. I decided to only set up a 10 gallon nano tank (I know some say you should start bigger but I didn't have the money nor space for a 30 gallon and up). my tank is cycled and has 20lbs of liverock in my tank and lots of coralline algae growing already. I also have a small clean up crew (some nassarius and red leg hermits) who live peacefully. i'm also going to be adding some green star polyps to my tank soon (having heard they're a good beginner coral and grow 'fast'). My main question is if I can possibly keep one BangaiI cardinal in the 10g? I won't be stocking anymore fish other than that (except for more corals and possibly more clean up crew members when some die off). thanks

 

I think it would be fine. It supposedly get's no more than 3" and that's the same full length the Purple Pseudo I have in a 10 gallon can get. That fish is a lot different of a shape though and has much more height and circumference to it, so I would plan a more open rockscape for it. Plenty of swimming room since they can dart around pretty fast but usually tend to hover around in place.

grantm91 has one and could probably give better advice on how it would do solo in a 10g.

 

you read on the internet they don't like flow. I have one and its the fastest flow riding fish in the tank bar my blue neon goby, maybe this is just mine I only ever had this one ? it is able to live in a 10 gallon but I wouldnt advise it as ive seen some getting up to the 4 inch mark, they aint as small as they are made out to be, mine is happy solo it interacts with me at the glass and feeds from pippete now, they take long to settle in like over a month. Id put a clown in a 10 before a banggai. An ocelaris clown that is. Nanologists dotty back compliments his 10 gallon magnificently and is as happy as can be. That is a good colourful option for a 10 I think, he loves his.

 

Yeah, I agree with that. There's much better options for a 10 gallon than the Bangaii, but like I said with enough space I think it's doable. You did mention 20lbs of rock though and that may take up more space in the tank than what the cardinal will need. I've only got 12lbs in my 10 gallon and it feels crowded to me!

 

Nanologist you need to infest one of those rocks with green palys, imagine the green and purple, are them dottys ok with shrimp?

 

Nanologist you need to infest one of those rocks with green palys, imagine the green and purple, are them dottys ok with shrimp?

lol no, most dottys destroy shrimp on sight and I know mine would. It's one of the reasons I got her. She's so violent! Once, the LFS guy said, "oh that one. they're very aggressive and will kill clownfish even. It would do good solo in a 10g." I was sold!

Not sure if you've heard the mentions around the forum. I'm probably going full RFA garden and got the idea from NART to add some pulsing xenia to the back glass for some extra movement. Waiting for VIP Reefs website to come back online. Probably going to start with one of their "Ultra" RFA's and see if I want to go full RFA tank or not. Unless I can find some as beautiful as theirs around here. After all, they do supply LFS's all around the country, so maybe one around me has their stuff in stock.

 

thanks so much! I was thinking about finding one juvenile occellaris clown before but I was just wondering whether I can keep a bangaiI before adding any fish. my rockscape is built higher than width and I can also remove some of the rocks and donate it to my friend that is looking into saltwater as well. I'll keep doing more research but thanks for the helpful advice!!