Cardinal Tetra

[paul123]

hey guys, i have about 50 or 60 cardinals in my tank...
Ive had them for about 5 days, some of them now have bloated stomachs...?
could this meen there pregnant?
and also if they have babies do they come out as eggs?

 

[rdd1952]

Did you add them all to your tank at once? That is a pretty big bio-load bump up. What size tank is it and what other fish are in it? What are your water stats (ammonia, nitrite and nitrate)? I don't think you are looking ad fish readyo spawn (they do lay eggs) but have a more serious problem.

Edit: I now remember the thread about a week ago when you asked about the 50 cardinals. Your tank was already overstocked and you were going to get rid of some fish. Did you rehome the balas, discus, BGK or clown loaches? I'm afraid you have severely overloaded your filter and could have very serious issues, especially with the discus. They definitely can't handle an ammonia or nitrite spike and you could lose everything in the tank. If the fish are just diseased and you have added them to the tank without quarantining, then you run an even higher risk of losing everything. I would suggest checking you ammonia and nitrite immediately and water changes as needed.

 

[paul123]

i re homed my bala shark and bgk, i have 1 clown loach 5 discus 50 cardinals 1 small gibbesep and 1 large bristle nose for a 200litre tank which i think someone told me was like 98 gallon ? is this OK?
i did a water change today fish are fine...dont no my water stats though?

=\

 

[fatheadminnow]

......... 200litre tank which i think someone told me was like 98

200 liters is 52 US gallons and 43 UK gallons

-FHM

 

[mwood2]

waaaay to over stocked still. I would say the tetra and 1 Discus tops otherwise your are in for a very expensive loss still. Where I am Discus are 50 bucks a pop. Also tetras drop like flys and need a mature tank. Adding 50 tetras at the same time ruin's the fact its mature since its will cause a new/mini cycle either way.

 

[saz326]

What gets me is that you post a thread on this forum, and then dont listen to the advise and recomendations given.

I wonder whether you originally posted either because you were bragging how cheap you could get cardinals (which by the way go for £1 each here so you were ripped off $150 for 50), or simply because you were bored. You clearly werent interested in hearing advice.

Sorry to sound cross - But I AM Cross. Your killing fish by being ignorant - And that ain't cool fella.

Take the healthy ones back to where they came from, or you will end up killing them all.

 

[Spishkey]

have to agree with saz, you made two or three threads in different sections about the same thing (adding the cardinals and getting them so cheap) you asked was it a good idea, you asked would it be ok, everybody said the same, no. its not a good idea, it will overload your filter, it is too many to add at once and sorry mate, you dont even have a test kit to test your water stats after adding so many fish??

i would go diwn right now to a pet store and buy a liquid water test kit. test your water morning and night, in the next few days your ammonia and nitrite will be rising. it wont happen immediatly as the fish need to poo a bit first!

test 2 x a day, any sign of ammonia nitrite do immediate water changes to bring it back down as close to 0. you have very sensitive fish in that tank (discus and the cardinals) if you dont keep an eye on the water stats and catch any spikes in time, you will either lose your fish or severely damage them

 

[paul123]

if i stock my tank the way it should be... then it will just look ugly so thats why im not going to do it...
not one of my fish have died...

 

[jimmyringo]

Why ask for advice when you're not going to take any notice of it?

 

[saz326]

if i stock my tank the way it should be... then it will just look ugly so thats why im not going to do it...
not one of my fish have died...

Im afraid that fishkeeping is different to fish having. You could have a horse in your tank if you wanted to, but it wouldnt do the tank or the horse any good!

Personally I find a tank with lots of random fish in it to be way uglier than a tank well stocked and planted.

There is no reason why you have to have an ugly tank, you may just simply not be able to have all the fish you want. I would LOVE to have some clown loach in my tank, but I know I cant have them, and so I DONT buy them. I shall wait until I can have them - and it will be a GREAT day when I can buy a tank big enough and keep them. Much the same with the larger cichlids. I dream of a great tank to have them in (probably in the lounge when I can finally buy a house). Part of the fun of having them is the time you spend looking forward to having them. Its like saving up to go on holiday. Its exciting thinking about the day you can set off.

Please look at the fish you would really like to keep, and research them or ask people here. You can have a beautiful tank with the things you like if you just have patience and plan things properly.

 

[Spishkey]

if i stock my tank the way it should be... then it will just look ugly so thats why im not going to do it...
not one of my fish have died...

there is no 'way it should be'

aquariums are in their own right an artform, you have to work at them to make them beautiful, time and patience play a big part as does research.

we give advice here to help you to help your fish, if you disregard that advice, well, on your own head be it. your fish are 'fine' now, but if you dont watch out, its not going to be like that in the next few days

 

[rdd1952]

not one of my fish have died...

Ammonia poisoning isn't a sudden thng. First, it would take a whiile for the ammonia to build and then from there you see the ish start to deteriorate. You still haven't posted what your ammonia & nitrite readings are. You've added the fish now so there's nothing that can be done on that end but to help you get through this with the least amount of fish lose, we need to know your water stats.

 

[drobbyb]

if i stock my tank the way it should be... then it will just look ugly so thats why im not going to do it...
not one of my fish have died...

Than maybe you need another hobby if you aren't willing to meet the requirements.

 

[fatheadminnow]

if i stock my tank the way it should be... then it will just look ugly so thats why im not going to do it...
not one of my fish have died...

Than maybe you need another hobby if you aren't willing to meet the requirements.

Okay...lets not get too harsh now.

People are people, and we make mistakes and get mis-leading information sometimes.

The point of this forum is to help and guide people, not to shoot them down.

Some people might be a little harder to help than others, thus leading to this event.

But each one deserves a chance at getting it right.

I can see where you are coming from drobbyb, and understand why you said what you said. But we can't just sit here on our computers and poke fingers at other people if they do a couple things wrong.

So instead of shooting him down, we have to deal with the current situation, and see what needs to be down to make it better.

-FHM

 

[Inchworm]

You couldn't have made a better response, fatheadminnow You have certainly summed up the best way to understand and address, some of the more unusual things that members sometimes write about.

paul123, please listen to the good advice that has been given here. If you can't immediately get test kits for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate, take a sample to the lfs for testing. If you do that, be sure to ask for the numbers that are the results. It will help the members to help you learn the very basic science that is so critical to successful fishkeeping. Believe me, it might sound technical and dreary, but it's much easier than it seems. Once you have that basic understanding of how your tank is working, everything else will make more sense and you will see why the members have not agreed with your choices of fish.