One tetra out of 10 not doing well in QT

About 9 days ago I purchased 11 Cardinal Tetras, one died after the first day. All of the others seemed healthy and active and I dosed with Aquarium Co-Op's "Quarantine Trio." Unfortunately that killed my cycle so I had an ammonia spike, and since about two days ago I've noticed one fish is not schooling with the others, swimming oddly/at the bottom of the tank. My question is do I remove him and put him in his own QT tank? How likely is it that if it's sick it'll pass it on to the others although their are meds in the tank? When I purchased them I got three from a separate tank, and the owner said they were a bit older so maybe it's just age?

The other 9 look fine and are schooling well!

 

I would quarantine the affected tetra and do a water change (on the quarantine tank, not the main tank).
I don't think it is acting that way because of age. Some cardinals are hardy, some aren't. You probably just got a more sensitive one.
I would add a few Indian almond leaves to the quarantine tank to give his immune system a boost.

 

Did you know maracyn 2 is an antibiotic? Idk how Aquarium Coop can suggest preemptive treatment with antibiotics.

But since the other fish are doing well, I think I would remove the one not schooling.

 

Did you know maracyn 2 is an antibiotic? Idk how Aquarium Coop can suggest preemptive treatment with antibiotics.

But since the other fish are doing well, I think I would remove the one not schooling.

I would quarantine the affected tetra and do a water change (on the quarantine tank, not the main tank).
I don't think it is acting that way because of age. Some cardinals are hardy, some aren't. You probably just got a more sensitive one.
I would add a few Indian almond leaves to the quarantine tank to give his immune system a boost.

I agree with you guys. You can add Indian almond leaves ( 1 per 20 gallons if it's the size of an adult hand) and aquarium salt (read this link and its very helpful). I recommend level 2 treatment.

Aquarium Salt: When and How to Use It Properly

 

I agree with you guys. You can add Indian almond leaves ( 1 per 20 gallons if it's the size of an adult hand) and aquarium salt (read this link and its very helpful). I recommend level 2 treatment.

Aquarium Salt: When and How to Use It Properly

Okay, thanks for your replies! This is my first time quarantining and I was on the fence of whether to use preventative meds; if I'm correct I think it's just regular maracyn not maracyn 2? But yeah they both are antibiotics. These tetras are wild caught so I probably could have just done the Paracleanse. I do have some almond leaves on hand and I'll get some salt!

 

Okay, thanks for your replies! This is my first time quarantining and I was on the fence of whether to use preventative meds; if I'm correct I think it's just regular maracyn not maracyn 2? But yeah they both are antibiotics. These tetras are wild caught so I probably could have just done the Paracleanse. I do have some almond leaves on hand and I'll get some salt!

Yeah that was for your info, not harping you for being on the fence and just not knowing. I feel Aquarium Coop is really misleading new hobbyists though.

I don't know if the one not schooling will make it, but I do hope the rest continue to do well. Not a good sign when they can't keep up with the school

 

Yeah that was for your info, not harping you for being on the fence and just not knowing. I feel Aquarium Coop is really misleading new hobbyists though.

I don't know if the one not schooling will make it, but I do hope the rest continue to do well. Not a good when they can't keep up with the school

Yeah I personally don't think it looks too promising

 

Yeah I personally don't think it looks too promising

Hey that's what QT is for. To observe the fish and treat if there's a problem once you diagnose the issue. But in your position, the others are doing well so I would honestly do my partial water changes every few days. I do that for fish in QT anyway. The fresh water is very helpful for their immune and flushes away/dilutes pathogens and detrimental water conditions.

 

Glad we helped.

 

Update: He really started to go downhill fast. I moved him to a separate tank and he passed the others still seem to be doing well. Would it be advised to “restart” QT to make sure nothing was passed to the others?

 

Update: He really started to go downhill fast. I moved him to a separate tank and he passed the others still seem to be doing well. Would it be advised to “restart” QT to make sure nothing was passed to the others?

ohh..I'm sorry. I definitely think you should QT the others with aquarium salt and almond leaves just in case. You can add Indian almond leaves ( 1 per 20 gallons if it's the size of an adult hand) and aquarium salt (read this link and its very helpful). I recommend level 2 treatment.

Aquarium Salt: When and How to Use It Properly

 

Keep observing them in qt Cardinals are so hit and miss. I had one school of 10 where only 2 made it and another I only lost 1 out of 16 the first day and the rest lived. I would recommend only treating them if you visibly see something wrong. Salt and almond leaves are good options but meds for an already fragile fish is probably not good.

 

Yeah I honestly think aquarium co op did the trio of meds to make some money. Antibiotics are usually hard on fish so using it as a preventative is not ideal. I only use prazipro as a preventative because you can't really see internal worms.

 

Yeah I honestly think aquarium co op did the trio of meds to make some money. Antibiotics are usually hard on fish so using it as a preventative is not ideal. I only use prazipro as a preventative because you can't really see internal worms.

I agree. It's not the best at all.

 

Great advice, I appreciate it

 

Yeah I honestly think aquarium co op did the trio of meds to make some money. Antibiotics are usually hard on fish so using it as a preventative is not ideal. I only use prazipro as a preventative because you can't really see internal worms.

I'm not sure if you would know, but I dosed Paracleanse as they recommended (one dose, let it sit for 7 days). The recommendation is to wait two weeks and then dose again; is it possible to dose again right after for the parasites or is that too rough on the fish?

 

I'm not sure if you would know, but I dosed Paracleanse as they recommended (one dose, let it sit for 7 days). The recommendation is to wait two weeks and then dose again; is it possible to dose again right after for the parasites or is that too rough on the fish?

I'd say it would be alright because to my knowledge its the same ingredients as api general cure.

 

IMO you can dose again. IMO, I would just grab the meds myself but hey its your tetras, am I right? If your want to use the trio go ahead and use it. lol.

 

IMO you can dose again. IMO, I would just grab the meds myself but hey its your tetras, am I right? If your want to use the trio go ahead and use it. lol.

I wasn’t going to redose everything, just the ParaCleanse for internal worms to kill off eggs.

 

I hope other people will jump on here and answer but I think it should be fine here is what I got on the in internet. Once again, should be completely fine

 

I hope other people will jump on here and answer but I think it should be fine here is what I got on the in internet. Once again, should be completely fine

Neon tetras are hardy fish once established, but they don't do well when faced with changes in water chemistry, temperature, stress and disease. All these conditions occur during and after the journey from the pet store, so neons are very delicate for the first week in their new home after adjusting they're a decent amount of hardy.

Source: the nest

Yeah I never lost a neon directly, its just columnaris got to them and killed them. They are pretty tolerant of parameters and can even endure up to .50 ammonia (IME) as I used them to cycle my tank.

 

Yeah I never lost a neon directly, its just columnaris got to them and killed them. They are pretty tolerant of parameters and can even endure up to .50 ammonia (IME) as I used them to cycle my tank.

Wow. .50 of ammonia. I wish all fish could easily bear that much ammonia. I had .25 of ammonia and my betta (he's in 5 gallons) got fin rot (he's completely recovered now)

 

Wow. .50 of ammonia. I wish all fish could easily bear that much ammonia.

That would be nice, and cycling tanks with fish would be a lot easier that way also.