Banggai cardinalfish
Pterapogon kauderni
FishSaltwater
- Care level
- Easy
- Temperament
- Peaceful
- Reef safe
- Yes
- Minimum tank
- 150 L
- Maximum size
- 8 cm
- Temperature
- 24–27 °C
- pH
- 8–8.4
- Diet
- Carnivore
Care at a glance
The Banggai cardinalfish is a graphic little picture: silver with black bars and white spots, and long, fanning fins with which it hangs almost motionless in the water. It hardly swims about and likes to stay near a fixed anchor point, such as a sea urchin, a coral branch or a rocky outcrop.
It is one of the few marine fish that genuinely breeds in home aquaria: the male broods the eggs in his mouth and releases fully developed young. Choose captive-bred stock deliberately, as the wild population is under heavy pressure. Keep a single fish or a bonded pair; among themselves they can turn unexpectedly fierce, and their slow way of feeding means fast tankmates will out-compete them.
Related species
Values are mainstream hobbyist guidance, not gospel — always watch what your own animals need.
In the BlubHub app you link your inhabitants to this database and see the care info next to your own water parameters.