Cardinal Tetra help!

[batmansocks117]

Earlier this week (Monday I think) when I got home from work I noticed that one of my cardinal tetras was not with the rest of them. When I found him he was on the bottom of the tank with one of his eyes clouded over. I looked online some and read somewhere that a water change would probably help. I did a 25% water change and he seemed to recover, went back to swimming with the others, then an hour later he was dead. =(

Today I did another 25% water change and immediately one of my other cardinal tetras started acting similar. He looked like he was gasping for air and was not swimming right (in circles and upside down). Could this be caused by water levels? Or did I just get unlucky with the fish I got? Is there anything I can do for this fish?

Also the reason I did 2 water changes in one week was because I noticed some white spots on one of the cardinal tetras tails (the one that is now sick), which looked like it could be ich. None of the other fish have these spots, and I've been keeping the temperature up trying to battle it.

Parameters:
GH: 180
pH: 7.5
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 0

 

[Rlavassor86]

How old is your tank? Did you cycle it? What's your ammonia reading? With 0 nitrates it sounds like your tank is still in the cycle.

 

[batmansocks117]

The tank is 4 weeks old. I upgraded from a smaller tank to this one. I am using testing strips which don't test for ammonia so I have no way of knowing. I was planning on getting the liquid testers as soon as I get paid within the next couple of days so I can test for everything more accurately. With the nitrites and nitrates from looking at the strip it looks like it might be a little above 0 (the color is slight on the strips, but it doesn't match any of the colors shown on the bottle), but its hard to tell with them..

 

[Rlavassor86]

At only 4 weeks there's a good chance its still cycling. Until you can get liquid test kits I'd assume your ammo levels are elevated which would cause gasping like you seen. I'd do daily wc daily just to be safe. Did you use your old filter media when you switched tanks? How are you cleaning the media when you clean it?

 

[batmansocks117]

Okay, I'll start doing water changes daily until I get that test kit. I had to get a new filter, the other one I had was too small for a 10 gallon, and the media in it was way too small for the new filter. I haven't cleaned it since I got it, I read that it wasn't good to clean it too much, but I'll definitely clean it today. You are supposed to clean it with some of the tank water to avoid removing all the good bacteria, correct? Also the sick tetra just died. =( Should I be worried about the last 2? I know that tetras should be in groups of at least 5, will they be fine just the 2 of them for awhile?

 

[Rlavassor86]

Okay, I'll start doing water changes daily until I get that test kit. I had to get a new filter, the other one I had was too small for a 10 gallon, and the media in it was way too small for the new filter. I haven't cleaned it since I got it, I read that it wasn't good to clean it too much, but I'll definitely clean it today. You are supposed to clean it with some of the tank water to avoid removing all the good bacteria, correct? Also the sick tetra just died. =( Should I be worried about the last 2? I know that tetras should be in groups of at least 5, will they be fine just the 2 of them for awhile?

Yea you only clean in old tank water. Tap water kills your bb colony. Only change it when its literally falling apart and even then you want to run the old media with new media for about 2 weeks to seed the new stuff. I would wait until you at least have a test kit to know where your levels are before adding any fish. What are you using for water conditioner? I recommend prime. It will detoxify ammonia and help to keep it with the safe range.

 

[batmansocks117]

Yea you only clean in old tank water. Tap water kills your bb colony. Only change it when its literally falling apart and even then you want to run the old media with new media for about 2 weeks to seed the new stuff. I would wait until you at least have a test kit to know where your levels are before adding any fish. What are you using for water conditioner? I recommend prime. It will detoxify ammonia and help to keep it with the safe range.

I've been using API + Stress Coat as a conditioner, but my sister has Prime so I'll start using that. Yea, I'm going to wait on any new fish awhile. My plan had been to start slowly adding some more live plants in the next couple of weeks and maybe some cherry shrimp to help with algae, but I'll definitely wait until I've gotten the test kit and know what my levels are. Thanks for all the advice! =)