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Cardinal tetras dying, need help with diagnoisis


Dmmurray
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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!

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 7/16/2020 at 11:08 PM, Dmmurray said:

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!

I am NO expert with Fish diseases, but a few questions came to mind while reading your 7/16/20 post, today.  You probably have it figured out by now, but:

-  How big is the aquarium that the fish are getting sick in?

-  How are the water parameters?

-  What type of filtration, etc?

-  Is it a well established aquarium?

-  Did you add anything recently , without quarantining, to the aquarium?

-  How are the other fish, now?

 

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Thanks so much for the response guys...and I should have included the parameters in my questions. This is a 20 gallon high, community tank, been established for a year. Ph is 7.8, Amonia and nitrites are 0, nitrates have been creeping up for a couple months, to between 40-80, sometimes higher. I have been doing 20-30% water changes, every 2 days, but nitrates never go below 40.  I have one hob, and 2 small sponge filters. There is 10 cardinal tetras, 5 black neon tetras, 5 corys, and one female betta. Added cardinals, without qt., in May. I did run the maracyn for 5 days, and did the 50% water change yesterday. Everybody looks fine now. Could the nitrates be high, because of too many fish? I thought, since they were all small, and amonia and nitrites remained 0, that it would be ok.Oh, and it is heavy planted, but I haven't been using easy green, due to high nitrates, and the plants are not doing that great. I put some in yesterday, to see if the plants were doing better, then maybe it would help the nitrates. This is probably more info than you needed, but I would love your thoughts on this. Thanks. 

            

Edited by Dmmurray
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I think I would try to get the nitrates down with larger water changes, and maybe tuck some terrestrial plants in the corner with just roots in the water. Like pothos, and tradescantia and spider plant. Alternatively floating plants like duck weed, but you will be decreasing the light to anything planted below. What kind of lights? 

At least if your ammonia and nitrites are 0, then your bacteria is doing great. Have you tested Nitrates at the tap or wherever you get your water? I think I remember you might be in Washington, so if you are on Seattle city water that wouldn't be likely...Still worth checking for peace of mind.

I have had a rough time with tetras (both neons and rummynose) lately too. I tend to suspect parasites like gill flukes, but I think that is just because I see fish breathing hard low in the tank before I lose them--I am not sure that actually makes sense or I am grasping at straws. I opted to treat with paraclense and the maracyn. 

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Thanks so much Brandy, for your info.  Things are doing better now, and all fish have been surviving well. Yes, I am in north WA. up by the border, but our water is wa different than seattle, I think. High PH, outa the tap, and 7.8 in all tanks.

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