Another fish lost! :'(

PattyCakes81 · Apr 18, 2014

Hi guys, another fish died!

Found 1 of just cardinals tetras just a couple of minutes ago. I have been dosing meds (pimafix and melafix) for three weeks now.

The white growth i was actually dosing actually for got bigger.
The fish was acting and eating normally.

Here are some pics of the died fishy

Maybe you can figure out what was wrong!

Going to test water parameters.
Should i do a water changed? Do you think a should stop dosing meds and clear them out with some activated charcoal?

All help would new greatly appreciated,
Patty
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ktrom13 · Apr 18, 2014

Jeez, that looks like a tumor. Im no help when it comes to dieseases but i hope someone can help you here. Sorry to here this Patty.

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PattyCakes81 · Apr 18, 2014

ktrom13 said:
Jeez, that looks like a tumor. Im no help when it comes to dieseases but i hope someone can help you here. Sorry to here this Patty.

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Thanks ktrom.

Tested the water parameters. Now I know one of the factors why vthe fish died.
Ammonia 4ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrates 5ppm
pH 6.0

Omg. What the heck is going on?

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Byron Amazonas · Apr 18, 2014

I first off must say that I have very limited experience in disease, and am not going to even suggest some "cure." But I do see some real issues here, and will comment on those.

First, medications of any sort are anathema to characins (tetra, pencils, hatchets). These fish are highly sensitive to any chemical, and treatments must be carefully thought out. I do not know why the melafix and primafix were being used [perhaps this was explained elsewhere?] but this is going tobe detrimental for cardinals whatever. Though not causing this "tumour" which is a good suggestion from Kyle. When/if I see something like this on any fish, it comes out of the tank immediately and frankly is euthanized. Guessing with this or that med is not safe, though in a QT it may be worth a try.

Obviously the ammonia at 4 is a concern. Fortunately, your acidic pH means this is not harmful to the fish, since this is ammonium, so no immediate issue. But ammonia/ammonium should not be above zero so it is still important to track this down. Test your tap water for ammonia too, just in case. Other numbers are fine.

Are the other cardinals OK? No more with this issue?

Byron.

PattyCakes81 · Apr 18, 2014

Byron Amazonas said:
I first off must say that I have very limited experience in disease, and am not going to even suggest some "cure." But I do see some real issues here, and will comment on those.

First, medications of any sort are anathema to characins (tetra, pencils, hatchets). These fish are highly sensitive to any chemical, and treatments must be carefully thought out. I do not know why the melafix and primafix were being used [perhaps this was explained elsewhere?] but this is going tobe detrimental for cardinals whatever. Though not causing this "tumour" which is a good suggestion from Kyle. When/if I see something like this on any fish, it comes out of the tank immediately and frankly is euthanized. Guessing with this or that med is not safe, though in a QT it may be worth a try.

Obviously the ammonia at 4 is a concern. Fortunately, your acidic pH means this is not harmful to the fish, since this is ammonium, so no immediate issue. But ammonia/ammonium should not be above zero so it is still important to track this down. Test your tap water for ammonia too, just in case. Other numbers are fine.

Are the other cardinals OK? No more with this issue?

Byron.

Did a 80% water change. Also added some charcoal to the filter to remove any excess meds that might have remained after water change.
Going to leave it for a couple of days.

I think the source of so much ammonia is that I neglected to remove dead plant matter that accumulated.

My tap water tested 0 for ammonia.
Letting the water circulate to do another round of testing.

Do I need to do anything else?

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Byron Amazonas · Apr 18, 2014

PattyCakes81 said:
Did a 80% water change. Also added some charcoal to the filter to remove any excess meds that might have remained after water change.
Going to leave it for a couple of days.

I think the source of so much ammonia is that I neglected to remove dead plant matter that accumulated.

My tap water tested 0 for ammonia.
Letting the water circulate to do another round of testing.

Do I need to do anything else?

Sent from my SGH-T989 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

This is a good plan for the present, good thinking. Monitor fish behaviours, etc. If nothing shows up, well and good. I hope so.

Cardinals seem to be frought with problems these days. I acquired a group of 12 in Feb 2013, and today I have 8 left; each one that has died has had some sort of specific issue, and they have been months apart. They were wild caught fish, and my tanks are near-zero GH and acidic [as yours appear to be]. I used to maintain cardinals for 8-10 years with no issues. No more. But one thing I have learned, is never put chemicals in the tank with them, unless absolutely necessary.


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Another fish lost! :'(

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