Need some help with my Cardinal Tetras

[ZX10R]

Not sure about posting this in here but if not it can be moved. I have a feeling I know the answer to this question but here we go. I bought 36 cardinal tetras from a LFS and they are dying fast. I have them in a 30 gallon QT water temp is 80 and PH is 7.5. I have lost 20 out of the 36 in 48 hrs. I can't them to eat anything I put in the tank. I am not sure what is going on I am using the same aged water as in other tanks. I called the LFS I got them from and they won't replace any of them and they said the fish were eating fine when they had them. So basically I paid $80 for fish that won't eat and are falling over dead faster then I can get the other dead ones out :mad:

[Eddie]

How did you acclimate them? I've read this to be one of the biggest problems with new cardinals.

[ZX10R]

I removed one cup of water and added one cup of tank water to there bags every 10 minutes for a hour. That is the same way I have done all the discus I have gotten in.

[Eddie]

I removed one cup of water and added one cup of tank water to there bags every 10 minutes for a hour. That is the same way I have done all the discus I have gotten in.

I think they are much more finicky about water during aclimation. I'd actually ask/PM Hans on how he does it since he seems to get in big shipments of cardinals.

[ZX10R]

I think they are much more finicky about water during aclimation. I'd actually ask/PM Hans on how he does it since he seems to get in big shipments of cardinals.

Thanks Eddie,

I will shoot him a PM and see what he does.

[Second Hand Pat]

ZX10R, Would you mind sharing here how Hans does his cardinals. I aclimate mine like I do my marine stock which would be about a 1/4 cup ever 10 mins over about an hour and a half. Vin who runs my LFS says most people can not seem to keep them. I have a healthy little school of nine but want more. I eyeball them very carefully at the LFS and ask how long they have had them. If the answer is less then several weeks I pass.

Snookn21 also sells them on Aquabid. With shipping for me they would be between 2 and 3 dollars each. At the LFS they are 4. I did have a 24 hour guarantee however at the LFS.

[ZX10R]

ZX10R, Would you mind sharing here how Hans does his cardinals. I aclimate mine like I do my marine stock which would be about a 1/4 cup ever 10 mins over about an hour and a half. Vin who runs my LFS says most people can not seem to keep them. I have a healthy little school of nine but want more. I eyeball them very carefully at the LFS and ask how long they have had them. If the answer is less then several weeks I pass.

Snookn21 also sells them on Aquabid. With shipping for me they would be between 2 and 3 dollars each. At the LFS they are 4. I did have a 24 hour guarantee however at the LFS.

I will let you know I PM him last night but haven't heard anything yet. I aclimate my fish like you do every 10 mins add water. I paid $3 per fish and as of this morning 24 have died. I asked my LFS how long they had them and they said over a week and they were eating fine. The cory cats I have in the same QT are doing fine eating like crazy.

[nc0gnet0]

How do you go about turning the lights on in the morning?

[Second Hand Pat]

Did you see them eat? Sorry you are having such a high death rate but the da** things are touchy as he**. My nine were originally 12 so I have lost a couple. Also note that I use a fourth of the water you use every 10 mins.


I will let you know I PM him last night but haven't heard anything yet. I aclimate my fish like you do every 10 mins add water. I paid $3 per fish and as of this morning 24 have died. I asked my LFS how long they had them and they said over a week and they were eating fine. The cory cats I have in the same QT are doing fine eating like crazy.

[PAR23]

I'm sorry I don't know how to link to another thread but look under Han's sponsor site and then look for thread title "cardinal" by peterhdl and you will see how Hans acclimate his cardinals. He does the D&P method.

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?t=81987 (hope this works)

HTH

[ZX10R]

How do you go about turning the lights on in the morning?

I don't have a light on my QT tank it is sitting in my back bedroom and I open one of the blinds on the window. So whatever light they are getting is when the sun comes up and goes down.

[ZX10R]

Did you see them eat? Sorry you are having such a high death rate but the da** things are touchy as he**. My nine were originally 12 so I have lost a couple. Also note that I use a fourth of the water you use every 10 mins.

I have seen them nip at some food but not eat any. I have tried flake and FBS as recommended by the LFS.

[YSS]

LFS cardinals are a hit and miss. I will never buy cardinals from an LFS that haven't been with them for over three weeks. I bought several times from www.flguppiesplus.com. I've had good luck with them. Good price and quality. I just dumped mine in the tank out of the bag and never had issues with them.

[nc0gnet0]

You could hatch BBS and see if they go for that.....if they won't eat that they won't eat.

[ZX10R]

I'm sorry I don't know how to link to another thread but look under Han's sponsor site and then look for thread title "cardinal" by peterhdl and you will see how Hans acclimate his cardinals. He does the D&P method.

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?t=81987 (hope this works)

HTH

I believe my main issue is the source I got them from a LFS :(

[ZX10R]

LFS cardinals are a hit and miss. I will never buy cardinals from an LFS that haven't been with them for over three weeks. I bought several times from www.flguppiesplus.com. I've had good luck with them. Good price and quality. I just dumped mine in the tank out of the bag and never had issues with them.


You could hatch BBS and see if they go for that.....if they won't eat that they won't eat.

Thanks for the help

[ZX10R]

I am down to 9 out of 36 now and I still get those to eat. I think the LFS cardinal tetras were junk fish or I think they were wild caught and my PH and hardness are to much for them. I went yesterday and bought 24 Harlequin Rasbora they had them on sale for $1.49 each. The cardinals I bought in Nashville and these I bought from the LFS in my town. I watched them feed these fish 3 times so I know they are eating good. Maybe I will have better luck with the Rasbora.

[Second Hand Pat]

I am down to 9 out of 36 now and I still get those to eat. I think the LFS cardinal tetras were junk fish or I think they were wild caught and my PH and hardness are to much for them. I went yesterday and bought 24 Harlequin Rasbora they had them on sale for $1.49 each. The cardinals I bought in Nashville and these I bought from the LFS in my town. I watched them feed these fish 3 times so I know they are eating good. Maybe I will have better luck with the Rasbora.

Sean, s**ks on losing so many cardinals. Good luck with the rasbora. Will they be sharing a tank with your discus in the future? If so I have researched them and some people recommended them and some people don't as tankmates with discus.

[ZX10R]

Sean, s**ks on losing so many cardinals. Good luck with the rasbora. Will they be sharing a tank with your discus in the future? If so I have researched them and some people recommended them and some people don't as tankmates with discus.

After weeks of QT they are going in with my new discus from Kenny. I didn't read anything bad about them with discus unless I missed it. I read several threads that said they were K.

[Second Hand Pat]

After weeks of QT they are going in with my new discus from Kenny. I didn't read anything bad about them with discus unless I missed it. I read several threads that said they were K.

I couldn't find anything bad about them either.

[marodri]

my neon and now switch to cardinal would die all the time till i got driftwood really helps that's just regular tap water i would use. Now i use ro water cause of my discus but before i got them and used reg tap water it would make a huge difference to the sensitive tetras now i haven't had one die in years they live in rotten wood and leaf litter in the wild think about it

[ZX10R]

my neon and now switch to cardinal would die all the time till i got driftwood really helps that's just regular tap water i would use. Now i use ro water cause of my discus but before i got them and used reg tap water it would make a huge difference to the sensitive tetras now i haven't had one die in years they live in rotten wood and leaf litter in the wild think about it

I agree with you. Now that I read up on cardinal tetras more I have a better understanding of what they require. Which was my fault I just assumed they would be K in my water because my discus are fine but I was wrong.

[aalbina]

In the wild, rummy nose tetras come from the same water as discus. They are just as finicky about water quality as discus. I bought 15 at the LFS, lost 3 in QT, and after I put them in the main tank - one of them got bit in half one night - since then the remaining 11 have been safe and happy! I bought 6 more, from the same source (3 free), which were all from a new shipment - and lost all 6 in QT in 48 hrs.

I think your right on the source and the three week in store and eating policy sounds just right!

Adam

[vera]

I believe my main issue is the source I got them from a LFS :(

i tend to agree , when i have mine ordered from germany and straight to my tank from the same bag i had no losses at all , the ones u got must be overstressed from one tank to another , u need a reliable source like Hans

[ZX10R]

i tend to agree , when i have mine ordered from germany and straight to my tank from the same bag i had no losses at all , the ones u got must be overstressed from one tank to another , u need a reliable source like Hans

I thought about ordering them from Hans or someone else like that. But I only wanted about 30 and I thought shipping would cost to much for such a small order. I added prazi to the water Friday and so far my Rasbora and remaining tetras are eating like crazy. Wonder if the cardinal tetras had something to begin with. Maybe I should of added prazi earlier and I wouldn't of lost so many. :confused:

[Harriett]

Here's my 2 cents: cardinals are the most sensitive fish to acclimate that I have worked with, for starters. I have dumped lots of $ into buying 50 at a time and had them all perish in short order---I did that twice, when I was setting up the 180g ....what I learned was that cheap cardinals die....so instead of going to the local shops that I was trying that would sell them in bulk to me [without QTing for any period of time, I suspect], I decided to go to the best also most expensive fish shop and buy theirs. The cheapies croaked, the expensive ones did not. The cheap ones looked younger and paler thinner compared to the vibrant color and better size of the more expensive ones. I was advised and did accimate in this fashion: bucket of cards + original card water. A gentle bubbler for O2 in the bucket. An air line with a loose knot tied at the bucket end, with the other end in the QT tank, water flowing literally a drop at a time for as long as it took to triple the water, which was like 1.5+ hours. Then I netted and dropped them into the QT tank. I lost none from that point on. I was speechless. I worked. I always look for the best deal $ wise. I decided to buy the biggest fattest brightest cards to start with and it worked perfectly.
If you are in Chgo I can tell you the 2 shops to get good ones, that's all I've got.
Hope that helps,
Harriett

[ZX10R]

Here's my 2 cents: cardinals are the most sensitive fish to acclimate that I have worked with, for starters. I have dumped lots of $ into buying 50 at a time and had them all perish in short order---I did that twice, when I was setting up the 180g ....what I learned was that cheap cardinals die....so instead of going to the local shops that I was trying that would sell them in bulk to me [without QTing for any period of time, I suspect], I decided to go to the best also most expensive fish shop and buy theirs. The cheapies croaked, the expensive ones did not. The cheap ones looked younger and paler thinner compared to the vibrant color and better size of the more expensive ones. I was advised and did accimate in this fashion: bucket of cards + original card water. A gentle bubbler for O2 in the bucket. An air line with a loose knot tied at the bucket end, with the other end in the QT tank, water flowing literally a drop at a time for as long as it took to triple the water, which was like 1.5+ hours. Then I netted and dropped them into the QT tank. I lost none from that point on. I was speechless. I worked. I always look for the best deal $ wise. I decided to buy the biggest fattest brightest cards to start with and it worked perfectly.
If you are in Chgo I can tell you the 2 shops to get good ones, that's all I've got.
Hope that helps,
Harriett

Thanks Harriet,

I am from west Chicago and all my family stills lives there so I am up to visit often. I am from Oswego my dad and cousin live there now and the rest of my family is in Batavia, Aurora, Montgomery. Even if I don't buy any I love window shoppig pet stores never know what you will find. What are some good shops?

[PAR23]

I hear you about ordering but I just received 25 cardinals along some plecos from Hans today. So far so good. He also threw in a few extra cardinals as I suspect it is too much of a pain to count it out.

Now is that Oswego NY?

[Harriett]

ZX10R,
OK, here are the 2 stores I trust for really nice size and vivid colored cardinals and have purchased from over the years that have had very robust health:

Old Town Aquarium just north of the loop on Wells

Old Orchard Aquarium in Skokie around 9200 north on Skokie Blvd.

Google them for exact addresses.

Certainly there have to be others but these are my experiences.

Hope that helps,
Harriett

[ZX10R]

I hear you about ordering but I just received 25 cardinals along some plecos from Hans today. So far so good. He also threw in a few extra cardinals as I suspect it is too much of a pain to count it out.

Now is that Oswego NY?

Oswego, IL How much was shipping for those?


ZX10R,
OK, here are the 2 stores I trust for really nice size and vivid colored cardinals and have purchased from over the years that have had very robust health:

Old Town Aquarium just north of the loop on Wells

Old Orchard Aquarium in Skokie around 9200 north on Skokie Blvd.

Google them for exact addresses.

Certainly there have to be others but these are my experiences.

Hope that helps,
Harriett

Thanks next time I am up I will have to check them out.

[PAR23]

Oswego, IL How much was shipping for those?

The shipping was $42 for 25+ cardinals and 3 large plecos. I too cannot get quality cardinals where I am.

HTH.

[ZX10R]

The shipping was $42

That is why I took my chances with a LFS first. Well I haven't lost a single tetra since I put prazi in the water. Which makes me believe they were sick when I got them.

[PAR23]

That is why I took my chances with a LFS first. Well I haven't lost a single tetra since I put prazi in the water. Which makes me believe they were sick when I got them.

Yeah.....Hope the rest remain alive and well.

[ZX10R]

Yeah.....Hope the rest remain alive and well.

Thanks and good luck with yours also

[Harriett]

Since most cardinals are still wild caught, a 3 week QT and treatment is pretty much mandatory either from the seller [who should take responsibility for this] or from the buyer, who purchases sick cards. I think that's the difference--wilds usually have parasites, you know?
Best regards,
Harriett

[ZX10R]

Since most cardinals are still wild caught, a 3 week QT and treatment is pretty much mandatory either from the seller [who should take responsibility for this] or from the buyer, who purchases sick cards. I think that's the difference--wilds usually have parasites, you know?
Best regards,
Harriett

The LFS store said they had them for a little over a week. This weekend will make 2 weeks I have had them in QT. I am treating them with prazi and have been feeding with deworming flake food from Angel Plus. Today makes 5 days of prazi and 5 days of the deworming flake.

[Harriett]

If they are goiong to do the massive die off it is usually within the first 3-4 days. Sounds like you did the right thing and are just about over that hump--once cards are healthy and settled in, they make a wonderful tank dither fish andlive a right long time--I so enjoyed them in my tank!
Best regards,
Harriett