Cardinal tetras dying

clb2196

clb2196

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Feb 21, 2009
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3 of the 5 cardinal tetras I bought last week are dead. :( I'm not sure what happened- Saturday I thought one was missing but wasn't sure, and I found 2 bodies yesterday, and I only see 2 left.

When I found them dead yesterday I tested the water, and ammonia was 0.25- but that could be an effect, and not the cause. Nitrite was 0, nitrate was 5, pH was 7.4, all normal.

They seemed healthy. I admit I didn't quarantine them (I was impatient and the cory fry are in ym qt tank). They were being harrassed by the danios a little at first, but after 2 or 3 days they seemed ok. They also wouldn't fight the danios for food, but I was trying to spot feed them.

Any ideas? The only other thing I can think of is the temp was a little lower. I think because we turned the AC on, but it was only about 76- I noticed that last night when I did a WC, and I upped it back to 79 where it usually is.

Everyone else in the tank is healthy. I feel bad for the 2 survivors- I should add some more to up the school, right? Problem is the only place I know nearby that has them is where I got the others.
 
Cardinals are very touchy. What was the ammonia from?
 
Bubbles2112 said:
Cardinals are very touchy. What was the ammonia from?
Click to expand...

Well I'm guessing the ammonia was because of the 3 dead fish. I'm not sure where else it would be from. The tank is about 4 months old, and with the 12 danios and 7 cories and multiple snails I don't think adding 5 cards would cause a spike, and if it did I think I would've seen it sooner.
 
Anyone? I'm worried that the 2 cards alone are going to get picked on. :( I need to stop and at the store today anyway, and I don't know if I should get more or not.
 
What is GH & KH?
How did you acclimate cardinals?

Cardinals are very sensitive and preferred soft water. You have to very slowly acclimate the Cardinals. (If your water is hard, you have to make it softer. Otherwise, it is very tough.)

OR

They could be bad one from LFS.
 
GH is 50 and KH is 80, so I guess that would be ok? If anything I worry about that being too soft for snails, does that mean cards and snails together don't usually work?

I don't usually drip acclimate except for snails. I floated the bag for a half hour, then added 1/4 cup of tank water every half hour til the water was half and half. Drip acclimate the new ones, then?

ETA: To be clear, I did a 50% PWC last night after finding them dead, and ammonia was back to 0.
 
clb2196 said:
GH is 50 and KH is 80, so I guess that would be ok? If anything I worry about that being too soft for snails, does that mean cards and snails together don't usually work?

I don't usually drip acclimate except for snails. I floated the bag for a half hour, then added 1/4 cup of tank water every half hour til the water was half and half. Drip acclimate the new ones, then?

ETA: To be clear, I did a 50% PWC last night after finding them dead, and ammonia was back to 0.
Click to expand...

I think your GH & KH would be OK for Cardinals.

I usually drip acclimate for Cardinals and Neons at least 2 hours. Your loss could be from acclimation or simple bad one from LFS.

I'd like to wait & see what is going on the remaining Cardinals before picking up more.
 
Dammit! One of my danios is dead- a zebra, one of the first I got. Now I'm worried. :(
 
My guess is that it is the stock. They are so over-farmed and in very delicate condition these days, have been for a long time.
 
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