Help with sick Cardinal Tetra!

[usacutie81]

Okay so I bought cardinal tetras today. I put them in my quarantine tank and after an hour or so noticed one of them swimming funny. He kept trying to swim one way but would end up floating the other way. I didn't know what to do. Another hour I went to check on him and he's stuck to the filter. I brushed him off and he just floated down to the bottom on his back and stayed there. I figured he must be dead but he was under the filter so I couldn't get to him. Then I went back to check a few minutes later and he's stuck to the filter again. This time I was able to get him out and into a bag of water so I can get a refund from the store. I thought it was weird that he was floating in the bag, though, where there was no current. Upon closer inspection he was still alive! He's trying to move that little fin on his back. But I don't see how he can still be alive. He just floats around on his back.

What should I do? If I leave him in the tank he'll get sucked into the filter, but if I leave him in the bag he'll suffocate or get ammonia poisoning. Should I euthanise him? Should I drug him? WHAT SHOULD I DO?????

 

[Big Vine]

This sounds like a swim-bladder issue. I can't say whether or not this sort of thing can resolve itself (if it is indeed swim bladder-related). Alternatively, this fish is dying from stress, in which case he'll likely kick the bucket completely before you turn in for the night.

Ideally...assuming it is a swim-bladder issue:

Put him into a floating breeding trap of some sort that can allow him to remain in the tank without getting sucked into the filter intake or harrassed by other fish.

If you don't have anything suitable for housing him safely in the tank, then the next best bet would be to put a sponge or something around the filter intake to prevent him from getting sucked against it (or use pantyhose to weaken the suction) and just hope that he isn't bothered by the other cardinals.

The 5 gallon quarantine tank was not cycled, correct?
If so, then you will have to do regular water-changes to prevent ammonia build-up.
The constant water-changing may stress him 'over the limit,' given his delicate situation, but it's about all you can do by the sounds of things.

(which brings me back to the quarantine tank---I highly recommend, for future reference, keeping a snail or two in there in order to keep it cycled)

Hopefully someone else will chime in and share their thoughts on what sort of health issue is going on here and [hopefully] how to treat it, if possible.

I hope he pulls through for you.
Big Vine

P.S. Something tells me he may have passed during the time it's taking me to write this long-winded post.

 

[usacutie81]

Thanks so much Big Vine. I do have a breeder, so I went ahead and put him in it, per your suggestion. He is still alive, which I find hard to believe. The only way I can tell, though is cuz he still moves his mouth. Other than that it's like he's paralyzed or something.

 

[usacutie81]

When I first got the 5 gal. I moved a bunch of gravel and decor from the 75 to it, in addition to the 4 angels. I moved the angels back the next day and it was empty for (literally) a day. Then I put the cardinals in and added more gravel and switched the decor for other decor. That was the best I could do. I wasn't even gonna put the cardinals in this tank, yet, but that one looked fishy (pardon the pun) so I went ahead and moved him over in case it was catching.

 

[Big Vine]

You're welcome...hopefully this all pays off in the end.

So right now the cardinal with the swimming issue is the only one in the quarantine tank?

Also...when he is trying to move around, do his fins move and does his body sort of 'curve' (i.e. the way it would if he were swimming upright)?

Usually swim-bladder issues result in fish that swim lop-sidedly or upside-down or float and then sink to the bottom of the tank. The fish will still breathe as normal, and the fins will move as normal---it just won't have control over its equilibrium.

I don't have much experience with this, so you'll be best off searching around online to see what you can dig up to find out whether or not the odds are in favor of him pulling through; if indeed he has swim-bladder problems. Do a search for "swim bladder disease."

Big Vine

 

[MissFishy]

Wondering if this guy made it or not...anyways, cardinals and neons are notoriously fragile when it comes to moving them around. I've heard people usually lose a couple from stress. I would keep the others quarantined for a little while and see if anything else developes. If this little guy made it through the night, I would just try not to stress him out too much. i.e. no tapping, water changes(your tank should be cycled with all that stuff), or bright lights. Good luck!

 

[Fuzz16]

missfishy beat me to what i was going to say.
cardinal tetras are wild caught fish, rarely captive bred. some just dont handle the transaction as well as others do, sadly.
i dont know much about diseases though, so sorry i cant give you input.

 

[usacutie81]

The sickish guy didn't make it. He's just bobbing around his breeding tank with no movement whatsoever. I can exchange him, right? If I just got him yesterday?

The rest of the new cardinals are also looking funny. They act normal, but the red stripe is very faint and splotchy. On my older cardinals the red stripe is solid, and very bright. Do you think it's just normal and they are reacting from stress? Or with they always be splotchy?

I'm very dissapointed in these new cardinals, I got them from the good lfs. The guy had mentioned when I asked last week that they didn't get any cuz they all looked sick, now I'm afraid he just went ahead and got them anyway. The good cardinals I actually got from PetSmart. I figured it'd be the other way around.

 

[MissFishy]

The PetSmart in my area is actually really pretty impressive on the fish quality they have. Lots of rarer fish and all of them in good condition (I don't know if they just weed out the sick ones and do who knows what with them). I've never been disappointed in my purchases there. However, I am disappointed when they sell hard to care for fish to unsuspecting people with fishbowls...but sometimes they try to educate them.

If the red is splotchy, you may want to look into "neon tetra disease." I'm not sure if it applies to cardinals as well, but I know one of the symptoms is the red stripe fading. Definitely keep those guys quarantined. Call the fish store, they may give you a refund or store credit.