One of my fish died :(

[blankenship]

Tuesday night I took all my readings and my fishless cycled was finally over after 2 months. I went out and brought home 6 cardinal tetras that night. Last night one of them died. Before he died he was acting kind of funny....swimming away from the other 5, swimming real hard but not moving, gasping.....just awkward behavior. I also noticed a stripe on his left side, see pics below (its circled in red). The other 5 seem to be doing fine, and I took ammonia and nitrite readings. Both of which came back zero. Any thoughts as to what happened to my fish? Should I be worried about the other 5?

Edit:
Could this have been something due to pecking order? Do tetras do this? Should I leave these 5 alone, or should I get 3 more to make it a school of 8? I read larger schools do better.

http://images.snapfish.com/3424%3B%3C8323232%7Ffp45%3Dot%3E232%3A%3D%3C64%3D6 76%3DXROQDF%3E23236%3A542688%3Aot1lsi http://images.snapfish.com/3424%3B%3C8323232%7Ffp4%3Enu%3D3239%3E%3B73%3E585% 3EWSNRCG%3D323279633597%3Cnu0mrj

[falcon]

You should have used more hardy fish as your first fish after the fishless cycle. Then after that, you could've traded those back and gotten cardinals.

What's done is done.

Cardinal tetras are very sensitive. Depending on the source, the fish could've been weak, what have you. I don't know how big your tank is, but after you add fish in, you could get a spike in some of your readings as your bioload increases. I would take measurements again to see if everything is normal. If something is up, do a w/c.

At this point I wouldn't get any more. Wait and see, 'cause if one died more can/will follow. If you don't lose any more in the next 2 weeks or so, you can add more. Also, make sure you acclimitize them slowly.

Definately, more look better. But wait and see...

Also, you don't mention anything about your setup, planted, bare bottom, tank temperature, etc.

falcon

[mwood322]

Are all the cardinals you got that skinny. Maybe it's just the pic angle, but he doesn't look so good, even ignoring the light spot. In general their bodies after their heads, should not be smaller or skinnier than their heads. It would mean they haven't been feeding very well, or possibly have internal parasites to explain the skinnyness.

I have not found cardinals that picky, as long as you get unstressed healthy stock, keep nitrates low, and acclimate slowly. I kept mine at a pH of 7.4, with minimal nitrates under 10 ppm.

--Mia

[falcon]

Mia, now that you mention it, the tummy does look flat. Something's wrong there. The belly should be nice and rounded. Did you get them like that? How are they feeding? If not feeding too well, give them a taste of bloodworms.

[blankenship]

Since I got them tuesday, yesterday was my first day of feeding. My LFH gave me flake food. The tetras didn't seem to swim to the top, and then I read I should get Hikari Micro Pellets because they feed at mid level. So I was going to get that today after work. I can also try and get some blood worms while I'm there. How do you feed blood worms? The one in the picture ending up dying. I'll take a close look at the other 5 and see how they look. Their color looked good, but I didn't look at their stomachs.

Tanks specs:
10 gallon tall (13"width x 13"depth x 23"tall
temp - 76 degrees
PH - 7.5
KH - 5.4
Ammonia - 0
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - 25-50
DIY CO2 - around 4 (its low cause its running out)

It is a planted tank (1 Java Fern, 2 Swords, and some bunches of Ambulia)
I have gravel in the tank as well.

[mwood322]

Have you done your water change after your cycle finished? The nitrate seems a bit high.

As for getting them to eat flake, just make it sink a bit near where they school. I've used the micropellets too, but they are almsot too small, and the fish don't notice them as well. Mine ate anything, you just had to get them to notice it.

--Mia

[blankenship]

I did a 75% water change on Monday, the fish went in on Tuesday after all my tests came back good. I'm going to do another round of tests when I get home before anything else. If everything looks good I will try feeding them the flakes again, maybe get some pellets or bloodworms....should I turn the filter down when I feed them? Did you crumble the flake food up or just put it in whole? The water flow seems to move the food around really fast making it harder to see. If tests are bad, I will do a big water change. I guess that's about all I can do.

I thought some nitrates were good since I have live plants?

[falcon]

I assume you treat the water at w/c. Since it's a small tank, I would turn the filter down at feeding time. Also, make sure you don't overfeed. Cardinal tetras are not big, fast eaters and I would consider getting maybe 3 cories for the bottom to make sure the food is not rotting away at the bottom, contributing to your high nitrates.

High nitrates (5-10 ppm) are good only if you have high lights and lots of co2.

[blankenship]

Yes, I treat the water at water changes. Can I get cories now, or should I wait and see how the tetras do?

[mwood322]

The nitrates are okay if they're down around 25, but if their up around 50 they can stress the fish out. Cardinals do not like nitrates.

As to food. You could turn off the filter if you wanted as long as you turn it back on. I dould just take a few whole flakes and dunk them underwater. They should sink, just do this somewhere the fish are likely to see it. If they see it, but don't go after it, try the bloodworms.

--Mia

[blankenship]

Ok, they already picked a hiding spot for when I come near the tank so I know where they will be. I'll try and get the food there. How bout the Cories, wait or add them today?

[mwood322]

I try not to add fish if I'm not sure how the current fish are doing. I'd hold off until your current group is eating and acting very healthy.

Mostly because at this point if they do have something deadly it will only kill the cardinals at this point, but if you added the cories and they caught it then you lose them all.

--Mia

[blankenship]

Good call....ok, so here's the plan.

I'm going to take readings of everything when I get home. If everything is ok I will feed them, and then watch their behavior. Hopefully they will eat, and then I will watch them for a few days and if all looks good then I will get some cories to eat up the leftovers. If things don't go well I don't know what I'm gonna do. Hopefully everything goes well.

[mwood322]

If they refuse to eat the food, try a small (2-3 gallons) waterchange and vacuum the food out, as they certainly won't eat it later.

--Mia

[blankenship]

Ok, thanks. I'll update later after I test and feed.

[falcon]

Some people advice against it, but I would add the corries in now. Most of the time, cardinals have problems of their own and it will stay within their group. Considering they're not big eaters, you will be adding to the "pollution" problem with uneaten food.

A lot of times, cardinals will have acclimitization problems or have had lots of stress during shippment to the store. I would ask the store how long they had them there and if they had any deaths. Also, the fish should be under warranty, so I would take the dead one back. They will most likely want to test your water. Might be worth it, especially if your readings are off or if the test kid is not working properly.

[blankenship]

Maybe I'll swing by the fish store and see what they can advise. Unfortunately I already flushed the dead fish, so much for a return. The tetras they had were new cause I was there the day before for a couple plants and took a look. I only saw a small school, and the next day when I went for fish the tank was full of them.

[falcon]

Usually a good store will isolate any new arrivals for a couple of weeks to make sure there are no immediate issues. Ask them if they had any issues, better yet, observe the fish.

Some of their advice can be contradicting and not very accurate.

[blankenship]

Would shrimp be ok to use instead of cories?

[blankenship]

I took all the tests, and everything came back normal. The nitrates are a little bit on the high side (around 25-50). I turned the filter down and fed the fish, and they ate!! When feeding time was over I cleaned out the excess food that sank to the bottom or got stuck on plants, and then I turned the filter back up all the way. Now I'm just gonna watch them and see what happens. Hopefully they will be fine.

[falcon]

Shrimps might eat some of the leftovers, but certainly won't keep the bottom clean. Corys all the way...