Cardinal tetra life span?

[Bill T.]

Just wonderring how long cardinals survive in a community aquarium?
Two of mine packed it in lately - they were about 2 years in my tank.

[Nathan]

3-4 years

[Bill T.]

One of mine had fluffy lumps on its body for ages, so I eventually caught it & releived it of it's motral toil. Two others just died, so I wonder why?
Are cardinals renowned for disease?

[Nathan]

i think it may have been Neon Tetra disease (NTD) here is some info on it

The disease cycle begins when parasitic spores enter the fish after it consumes infected material, such as the bodies of dead fish, or live food such as tubifex, which may serve as intermediate hosts.
Once in the intestinal tract, the newly hatched embryos burrow through the intestinal wall and produce cysts within the muscle tissue. Muscles bearing the cysts begin to die, and the necrotic tissue becomes pale, eventually turning white in color

[Bill T.]

Can this be treated? I would like to get some more cardinals, but not if they are likely to get sick & die! Also, my discus are fine, and I thought NTD would also affect them.

[Nathan]

im not sure do a search on NTD on google

[samir]

i dont think there's any 100 % effective cure, if a fish is affected, an out of the tank and off with its head approach, is the most effective preventative.

[sammigold]

Hi... Personally I dont think it would be Neon Tetra Disease (NTD) as apparently Cardinals are resistant to this disease... (They look similar but are not the same as neons)

Here is a link I found that you may find interesting:
http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/disease/p/neondisease.htm

the symptoms you describe... white tuftlike lumps could be a type of columnaris which tends to thrive in warm temps and can be contagious.
Here is a link about that and the treatments that you can use...

http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/disease/p/columnaris.htm

Hope that helps..
:D

[Bill T.]

You could be right. I've had a look at the website you suggested. Columnaris seems to be a symptom of sloppy husbandry (if I can put it that way) as much as anything else.
I might just isolate the rest of my cardinals and give them a blast with medication - would be concerned that medicating the whole tank might mess up my biological filter & eventually do more harm than good!

[sammigold]

I had a case of columnaris and used a product called "pimafix" which seemed to work and did not destroy the bio filter... if you felt you needed to do whole tank I think that would be pretty safe... but depending on size of tank, very expensive... so hospital tank would be best in my opinion..

[Nathan]

ive used pimafix aswel, its a very safe product and you cant overdose on it either. You dose every day for 7 days then on the eighth day you do a water change

[Bill T.]

Pimafix, hey? I've used Melafix in the past, but stopped because I thought it might be damaging my discus slime coat. I've heard of Pimafix, which I believe is a similar product.
I'm investigating "Mxyacin", which is a waterlife product - don't know if it is available here or not. Also I have had success with one of their products, and not so with another.

[sammigold]

I have used pimafix on my guppies, I cant say what effect it would have on discus slime coat (they claim it is suitable for use with discus fry)... it is a "natural" med Here is the spiel from the inside of the label:

Quote: "Pimafix can be used with all AQUARIUM PHARMACEUTICALS products,including medications and water conditioners. Laboratory studies proved that Pimafix is safe for even the most delicate fish species, including tetras, discus fry, and scaleless fish, like clown loaches. Pimafix can be used with all Marine fish. Pimafix has been tested and found to be safe inreef aquariums containing invertebrates, such as live corals and anenomes.
Treating with Pimafix will not harm the biological filter in freshwater or saltwater aquariums and ponds. Pimafix is harmless to live aquarium plants."

unquote.

Its main ingredient is "Pimenta Racemosa"

Hope that helps to put your mind at ease if you decide to try it.....