# General > AquaTalk >  Cardinal tetra dying

## emmanuelwoon

Just did water change yesterday about 70% of water.

Initial community of Cardinal tetra of 14 reduces to 7 today. 

3 x Otto doing fine
8 x fire shrimp are fine too
2 x Yamato okay too.


Co2 indicator shows dark green.

What could be the reason of Cardinal dying ? 

What should i do to save them ?




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## happydanio123

Hi there Emmanuel! Why don't you check for Diseases of fishes. Check for signs of Dropsy or Neon Tetra disease by checking for symptoms like swelling of body or Spots and lifting of scales. If all fails, dose the correct dosage of Seachem Paraguard to cure any diseases that the fish have been harbouring. It seems strange that your shrimps remain unaffected. Most shrimps are easily affected by changes in parameters of the eater column like copper sulphate. However since your Shrimps are still well, it isn't the case. Try quarantining the affected fish first while you determine the cause. Please send some photographs over so we can better identify the cause. Thanks!

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## emmanuelwoon

The fishes look slightly paler in color . Breathing seems a bit fast. Not sure if it is normal . 

Strange to me as well as shrimps and ottos are all ok. Usually they are more sensitive . I shall go look for paraguard


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## BFG

How long were the cardinal in your tank? Be very careful when using those fish medicine, most should not be added into the aquarium as they contain copper and that is very harmful to shrimps as well as most, if not all, beneficial bacteria.

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## emmanuelwoon

Hi BFG , fishes added into tank last Wednesday, feeding on Thursday and Sunday was the water changed . Not sure if it was due to any stressed caused during water change . 


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## happydanio123

Hi there Emmanuel. Paraguard isn't that harmful for your fish compared to API products like White Spot treatment. Perhaps you should just leave the tank be for the moment as paling may be a sign of stress. Just dim the lights for a few days and don't overfeed them. Check for any signs of parasites lime fish lice. Try dosing Paraguard ASAP. However, paling may be due to adaptations to the environment. If your aquarium is very bright, perhaps the fish have evolved to camouflage. My cores were brown when I bought them but now they're brownish black because of my Aquasoil which is black.

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## happydanio123

*corys* 
Did you quarantine your fish before placing them in? It seems that the interval was quite small.

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## FiveTwoTwo

What is the reason for doing 70% water change? ie high nitrate reading?
Large amount water change will cause spikes in water parameters, affecting the weaker fishes first.
Also noted u mentioned that fishes are breathing faster, my guess is u did not add water conditioner? Which is critical to remove chlorine and chloramine rapidly during large water change.

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## fed949

you shouldn't do more that 70%, the best you can change is 25-40%.

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## emmanuelwoon

Thanks for the comments, I guess that it could due to large water change . I did another 25% water change last week and everything seems fine now. Will stick to lesser water change going forward .

Thanks much  :Smile: 


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