I think my fish is going to Die

[jw]

I've got a Bagaii Cardinal that I've had for about a week. All of a sudden today he's not eating and nearly laying on the botton of the tank. Any suggestions?

[fijiwigi]

Did you test the water?? If so posting the results will greatly help in diagnosing the problem. What size tank, How long has it been setup(is it cycled?) Has there been any changes lately other than adding the fish?

[jw]

The tank is about 4 weeks old. It's a 46 gallon tank. I tested the water, PH and ammonia was fine, very small level of Nitrite and Nitrate. I did do a water change a few days ago but that shouldn't of affected anything, right?

[MommaFishels]

How much of a water change did you do? Did you wait several hours after mixing your water?

I have read quite a few articles stating that Cardinals will just stop eating and die. Out of 6 that I have bought. I have had 3 die on me for no reason.

[fijiwigi]

Your tank is still pretty new and the small levels of Nitrite and Nitrate could mean it is still cycling. The Nitrites should be zero and the Nitrates should be below 5ppm. Ideally you should mix RO/DI water with your salt letting it sit for 24 hours heated with a powerhead to keep it aerated. Then you should test it with a refractometer to make sure your SG is correct(hydromoters are often innacurrate) Making sure that the water going in your tank is the same temperature and SG as the water in the tank. I change about 9 gallons of water once per week in my 46g bow which is about 20% water change.
What kind of filtration method are you using for the tank? Do you have any liveRock? If so how long has it been in your tank?

[jw]

I changed about 7 gallons on my last water change. I also let the salt/ro water mix for 24 hours with a heater and checked my levels on the hydrometer. I'm still waiting for Refractometer to come. The fish did die by the way.

[An t-iasg]

jw, I'm sorry for the loss of your cardinal. They are beautiful fish.

[Kurt_Nelson]

Sorry about your loss. If it helps, I had two die in quarantine (a good idea, by the way) before the third finally made it the 4 weeks and was put into the main. He/she has been a happy camper for nearly a year now. My first one was doing fine for a week, then one night "vomited" up a huge chunk of ??? right while I was watching it. Within 8 hours, it was dead. Weird.

Bangaii's do seem to be a finicky fish, and I read somewhere that you either get one that is gone within a week, or you get one that's indestructible. Probably an exaggeration, but my experience kind of supported that idea.

Also... as fijiwigi mentioned, you should have NO nitrites in your tank when adding fish. Any trace of nitrites means your tank isn't done cycling yet. Nitrates, at low levels, are OK. If you have no corals, then anything below say 10-20ppm is OK... but you really want to keep them as low as possible.

[MommaFishels]

Sorry to hear that! This time I had the LFS feed the Bangaii before I bought him. He's been doing great so far so keep your fingers crossed.

[cmor1701d]

Sorry to hear about your loss.
That almost sounds like cyanide poisining but that would be unusual for Bangaii Cardinals as they are so easy to catch.

You may want to read this article on the Bangaii Cardinal