It looks like your aquarium is kind of new, so that could be part of the problem. Even a small ammonia spike could be a problem for Cardinals. Having said that, Cardinals can be a bit tricky. Loosing a certain percentage, when stocking, isn't necessarily reflective of doing anything wrong. Once they get established, you shouldn't have a problem with them. The dead Cardinals themselves could be responsible for the ammonia, and nitrate spikes. Do your water change, and do more if you need to keep your nitrates down below 20ppm or so.
Cardinal Tetra difficulties
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Could've been a bad batch from the store - you acclimated them very carefully! Sometimes you do everything right, but there's still problems and losses...it's part of the game, in my experience!
Or, maybe when you added the rest of the plants, the gravel bed and beneficial bacteria in it was disturbed, causing the spike in your parameters. A water change will definitely not hurt at all.
I have 4 cardinals now who have survived 3 moves and 2 bouts of ich. Whenever I add more, the noobs die, but the 4 are tough as nails. Keep trying, once you get a good group, they'll stick around
Or, maybe when you added the rest of the plants, the gravel bed and beneficial bacteria in it was disturbed, causing the spike in your parameters. A water change will definitely not hurt at all.
I have 4 cardinals now who have survived 3 moves and 2 bouts of ich. Whenever I add more, the noobs die, but the 4 are tough as nails. Keep trying, once you get a good group, they'll stick around
Just to follow up after a few weeks... While I'm down to three cardinals, I finally figured out I believe the main problem: the fish were not getting enough O2. None of the fish showed the classic gasping for air on the surface, but did show other symptoms. Sluggishness, decreased eating, the pandas were hiding, occasionally a rasbora would be disoriented in the morning, higher activity after water changes... After putting an air stone in i saw immediate (30 minutes) change - ALL the fish just came alive! I could measure the Co2 being aired out for in that time the ph rose a full half point.
I'm still running co2 but at the higher pH. Don't know how much my algae has affected the plant growth and pearling and hence the oxygen.
Anyway after adding the air stone two days ago everybody is doing well and eating and swimming.
I have an co2 titration test coming on Thursday so I can measure the pH in ppm. The drop checker never showed yellow; it was always a solid green. Don't know if something is off with the dc or not. Caulk it up as another learning experience. Many others gauge their co2 by their fish behavior. Now that I know how my fish behave I can confidently see the the signs. And only at the expense of some cardinals and a pleco. Thankfully everybody else survived.
I'm still running co2 but at the higher pH. Don't know how much my algae has affected the plant growth and pearling and hence the oxygen.
Anyway after adding the air stone two days ago everybody is doing well and eating and swimming.
I have an co2 titration test coming on Thursday so I can measure the pH in ppm. The drop checker never showed yellow; it was always a solid green. Don't know if something is off with the dc or not. Caulk it up as another learning experience. Many others gauge their co2 by their fish behavior. Now that I know how my fish behave I can confidently see the the signs. And only at the expense of some cardinals and a pleco. Thankfully everybody else survived.
I picked up a dozen more cardinals yesterday. So far only one fatality. I have been running my airstone initially. Unfortunately I'm now running into filter problems . Assuming my pump keeps running until I get a backup installed things are looking good.
. Assuming my pump keeps running until I get a backup installed things are looking good.1 - 8 of 8 Posts
