This is hard to explain...I had 13 cardinal tetras, in a community tank, with black neon tetras. I female betta, sterbi cories, and one young platy. So, one of the cardinals started showing signs of difficulty breathing, but not gasping for air, at top of tank. It was more like, no mouth open, but gills moving rapidly, all the time. He looked a bit bloated, and a small growth, right under his gills. And his eyes were looking large, but not bulging. My guess was, a bacterial infection, going by descriptions of diseases. And these cardinals I've had for 3 months, and been fine. So, put him in qt. 5 gallon tank, and started maracyn. He stayed at bottom of tank, till day 4 of treatment today, then came up to eat and was swimming around, looking better. A few hours later, he died, after I put in the meds. In the meantime, one other died in the community tank. I have no idea what he had, and don't know if it is contagious, but 2 of my cardinals in community tank, are just starting the breathing thing. I'm wondering if I should go ahead and treat the community tank with maracyn, and if so, should it be full 5 day dose, or one time, like when they are quaratined. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. This is one of my problems...not being able to figured out what is wrong. I didn't put a picture, cuz I didn't think it would show up enuf to tell anything. Thanks!
