Help! Cardinal losing colour

[plateletboy]

Hi All,

I've just returned from a lovely w/e in Edinburgh to find one of my cardinals with about 4mm of colour loss in the end of its tail. And I'm sure its gotten worse (spread further up the body) from this morning to tonight................??

I've searched and read that Neon tetra disease symptoms sound like this, but several sites claim that cardinals are actually resistant to it??

Is this true? Does anybody have any ideas?? I dont want to move him if i dont have to as i seem to find that the cardinals I get round here get stressed enough just from moving that some of them die.....

many thanks

Pb

 

[The-Wolf]

yes cardinals are resistant to NTD,
what you may have is false NTD
which is a bacterial infection and
can be treated with a wide ranging anti-bacterial medication.

 

[plateletboy]

Thanks The-Wolf,

I did suspect that and stuck a does of anti-bac in with him last night........will have to just wait and see.....

I seem to have a nightmare getting cardinals acclimatised into a tank, with an attrition rate of around 50%........

once there in, i seem to be able to keep them for years. Even moving them between my tanks seems to cause huge stresssssssss

pb

 

[WILDER]

Just to make sure have they ever been kept in the same tank as neon tetra's.

 

[plateletboy]

I dont know for sure. Quite often the LFS has the odd escapee in the tank next to it so it is a possibility.....

Why do you ask?? My understanding, now, is that cardinals cannot get NTD?!?

PB

 

[The-Wolf]

you are correct cardinals can not get NTD, they are however often carriers of the disease.

 

[WILDER]

Cardinal can get NTD if they have been kept with neon tetra's.

 

[CathyG]

I had heard Cardinals immune, just out of interest do you have any evidence of this, Wilder? I understood that species other than Neons can contract it, but not Cardinals...

 

[WILDER]

No evidence, but seen it on other forums when they have kept them with neon tetra's.

 

[WILDER]

Cardinals are not carriers of the desease, so if they haven't been kept with neons they are fine, but if they have I think they still can come down with the deaease.