I have one surviving Cardinal fish in my tank after I lost all other fish....the fish does show signs of stress, and cloudiness in the eye.....he is eating though minimally....I cant net him.....the tank recently went thru a huge temp. spike (8-10 degrees) and this fish is still hangin.....I bought Maracyn Plus and was thinking of medicating the tank....any thoughts
Medicating the tank
- Thread starter snooky
- Start date
What's in the tank now? I wouldn't add any medication if there is sand, live rock or any inverts in the tank. Maracyn is an antibiotic, do you see signs of bacterial infection? Cloudy eyes are often a sign of poor water quality, which is certainly a possiblity considering you just lost a bunch of fish (anything dying in the tank could cause an ammonia spike). My advice given the information provided is to test the water for NH3, NO2 and NO3, do water changes if NH3/NO2 are more than 0 to get them down, and do anything you can to reduce stress on the cardinal. Feed him high quality foods, try to limit activity near the tank, turn lights on/off gradually so he's not shocked, keep the water quality as close to perfect as you can and cross your fingers.
If the cardinal dies, I'd run the tank without fish for six weeks to deprive any parasites of a host and cause them to die off (it may have been the temp spike that killed the fish, but it may have also been something like ich, brook or another parasitic infection triggered by the stress of the spike), as well as give things a chance to stabilize if the water quality is less than optimal.
If the cardinal dies, I'd run the tank without fish for six weeks to deprive any parasites of a host and cause them to die off (it may have been the temp spike that killed the fish, but it may have also been something like ich, brook or another parasitic infection triggered by the stress of the spike), as well as give things a chance to stabilize if the water quality is less than optimal.
I'd wait until the cardinal looks totally healthy and is eating well, and you see consistantly good levels - maybe a couple weeks. You want him strong enough to handle the stress of dealing with a new roommate and possibly fighting for territory.
Ideally if you're adding more fish to the system you want to quarantine them but many of us (myself included) often don't, and that's risky. In this case, having a new fish in a QT for a month would also give the cardinal time to recouperate, so it's a doubly smart idea
Ideally if you're adding more fish to the system you want to quarantine them but many of us (myself included) often don't, and that's risky. In this case, having a new fish in a QT for a month would also give the cardinal time to recouperate, so it's a doubly smart idea
well i just came home from work,...the cardinal did not make it......the tank is now empty except for a cleaner shrimp, some turbo snails, hermit crabs and a sea urchin....should I do a water change and wait a few weeks before puting anything back into the tank?
Yep, I agree - as I said above, run it with no fish for six weeks. That way you know that any parasites have died off and can't kill any future inhabitants. I'd continue doing water changes etc. as usual during the six weeks.