First of all, I apologize for the long pulse before I resume writing in this blog. The recent tragedy in my tank - All six clams passed away due to disease, has left me depressed for days. I had questioned my hobby like all other hobbyists who have experienced large amount of death in their tanks.
I wish to use my long overdue what not to keep fish article to resume my writing here.
The sixth species of fish that are commonly found in the aquarium trade but I recommend against purchasing is the Banggai Cardinalfish (
Pterapogon kauderni).
You might see them very commonly available and comes in fairly low price. On top of that, they are truly easy to keep.
The real reason then behind why not to get them, is that they is only ONE place on earth these fish are found. They are found in the seagrass bed, usually near a large congregation of long spine seaurchins near the Banggai Archipelago of the Indonesian territory. With every fish you buy, there is one less in the ocean to reproduce and replace the already depleted population.
However, as you can see these fish are stunning to look at and they do exist peacefully in large congregations- making it a great community reef tank inhabitant. So how can we find them? Here is the saving grace- They breed easily and readily in the home aquarium. You can begin to find more and more "captive bred" or "locally bred" specimens available in local stores and online or among local hobbyists community forum. As a natural mouth brooder, their breeding habits resembles those of African Cichlids. If you have experience with African Cichlid breeding, you should have no trouble breeding them (provided you are willing to find food for the juviniles).
