Golden Cardinalfish

About

The golden cardinalfish (Apogon aureus) is a small but personable species found across a wide sweep of the Indo-West Pacific, from the Red Sea and the coasts of East Africa all the way out to Papua New Guinea, north to Japan, and south through Australia and New Caledonia. In the wild it tucks itself into holes and crevices or shelters under rocky ledges in shallow water, which tells you something useful about what it appreciates in a home aquarium. One of the more interesting things about this fish is its seasonal social behavior. It mingles freely with the related Apogon apogonoides in mixed aggregations during summer and autumn, then splits off into its own separate groups come winter and spring. That kind of flexible, socially aware behavior makes it genuinely interesting to observe. In the aquarium it does best when kept with others of its kind or with peaceful tankmates that won't outcompete it for food, since it is a dedicated carnivore that needs meaty offerings. It is not the hardiest of the cardinalfishes, and hobbyists with a little reef-keeping experience under their belt will have the best results. Provide plenty of rockwork with overhangs and cave-like spaces and this species will settle in and show its natural resting and grouping behaviors reliably.