Banggai Cardinalfish Dying

[Winnie2020]

We added a new Banggai cardinalfish to our tank this past Saturday. He was acting fine until this morning when I came in to feed. His tail is tinted red and he wouldn’t eat anything. He is bobbing around close to the bottom of the tank and it looks like he is struggling to breathe.

We added two about two weeks ago and one of them also died. We are beginners so we aren’t too sure what is causing this. The other Cardinalfish in the tank is fine. Can anyone clue us in on if we are doing anything wrong?

 

[vetteguy53081]

We added a new Banggai cardinalfish to our tank this past Saturday. He was acting fine until this morning when I came in to feed. His tail is tinted red and he wouldn’t eat anything. He is bobbing around close to the bottom of the tank and it looks like he is struggling to breathe.

We added two about two weeks ago and one of them also died. We are beginners so we aren’t too sure what is causing this. The other Cardinalfish in the tank is fine. Can anyone clue us in on if we are doing anything wrong?

This fish is displaying a bacterial infection and could have stemmed from injury from being netted at LFS or had infection which became worse over a few days.
Water quality can play a role also. What is your current ammonia and Nitrate level and how was fish acclimated (introduced) and for how long ?
These guys are primarily meaty food eaters and will not eat flakes or pellets with foods such as LRS fish frenzy, rods original formula, mysis shrimp, krill, chooped squid and more
Treatment in a separate tank would be Maracyn 2 or seachem Kanaplex

 

[Winnie2020]

This fish is displaying a bacterial infection and could have stemmed from injury from being netted at LFS or had infection which became worse over a few days.
Water quality can play a role also. What is your current ammonia and Nitrate level and how was fish acclimated (introduced) and for how long ?
These guys are primarily meaty food eaters and will not eat flakes or pellets with foods such as LRS fish frenzy, rods original formula, mysis shrimp, krill, chooped squid and more
Treatment in a separate tank would be Maracyn 2 or seachem Kanaplex

Our water parameters are good. We acclimated him for almost an hour before dropping him in.

Is this contagious to the other fish in the tank? This is our first tank and we do not have another one that we can put him in.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Our water parameters are good. We acclimated him for almost an hour before dropping him in.

Is this contagious to the other fish in the tank? This is our first tank and we do not have another one that we can put him in.

Contagious likely not
How did you acclimate?? Did you match salinity to that of tank before release?
When you say water good, can you provide readings and indicate what test kit you are using?

 

[Winnie2020]

Contagious likely not
How did you acclimate?? Did you match salinity to that of tank before release?
When you say wster good, can you provide readings and indicate what test kit you are using?

We followed the LFS instructions for drip acclimation and yes, it was matched before we put him in.

I can’t remember the exact readings off the top of my head, but we have the api master test kit. I’ve seen several posts saying that kit isn’t good though, so maybe we should get a different one.

The Cardinalfish died a little while ago. This is good information to know if this happens in the future. we will at least know what we are dealing with.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Going forward, if you want to try this species again, be sure that you get a captive raised one. The wild caught Banggai cardinalfish arrive with a number of health issues; starvation during the supply chain, ammonia in the shipping water, etc. but worst of all, there is a virus that kills off a large number of the wild caught ones in the first few weeks after their arrival (no treatment for that). then, this species is considered endangered by the IUCN.

I can't tell for sure if yours is wild caught, but given the slightly sunken belly, it probably is. Tank raised ones will typically be a bit smaller though.

Jay

 

[vetteguy53081]

We followed the LFS instructions for drip acclimation and yes, it was matched before we put him in.

I can’t remember the exact readings off the top of my head, but we have the api master test kit. I’ve seen several posts saying that kit isn’t good though, so maybe we should get a different one.

The Cardinalfish died a little while ago. This is good information to know if this happens in the future. we will at least know what we are dealing with.

yes the kit can be tricky or even innacurate. You can take a water sample to a trusted LFS that does NOT use Api kits and see what readings they come up with and to compare with yours.
While drip method works, this is the method ive used for 3+ decades including my own LFS that has never let me down. Not suggesting this is best or most effective but is dependable:

Float for 20-30 minutes
Transfer fish and water into a clean bucket
Then . . . .
Measure the Ph, salinity and temperature of the bag water. If you can, make up some water in a container that has exactly the same measurements as the bag readings and move the fish right over, then you can add a cup of tank water to bucket every 15 mins 6 times (almost 1.5 hours)
Then check salinity in bucket and compare to tank. If no match or very close, add a cup of water every few mins until youve reached salinity and trap fish in same cup and pour off water and release into display. Release under LOW light before lights out. Fish in shipped bags produce carbon dioxide and ammonia. The carbon dioxide lowers the pH of the water in the bag, That in turn makes the ammonia non-toxic to the fish. When you acclimate them, if not done just right, you drive off the carbon dioxide faster than you are diluting the ammonia. That raises the pH of the water in the bag, and that in turn, makes the residual ammonia very toxic to the fish. Sometimes, the fish will die right in the bag

 

[StatelineReefer]

Another thing to note is Cardinals go into a sort of shock at sudden or abrupt changes, and will actually stop respirating properly in extreme cases, I have found that tank raised and bred Banggais are less susceptible to it, but it's still a species-wide issue. My pair used to go fully upside down or sideways when the lights came on too fast for their liking.