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Type of fish: Cardinal Tetra
Co-inhabitants: 12 Cardinals, 5 Corydoras, 2 Dwarf Rainbow Fish, 3 X-Ray Tetras, 2 Clown Plecos, 3 Variegated Green Platies
Tank size: 180 litres
How long has the tank been running? 3 months
Water change routine (how much, how often, what products are being used): I use aquaclean (blue and yellow bottle) and change about 10-15% weekly or bi-weekly

Temperature 24c
Ph unsure
Ammonia unsure
Nitrite unsure
Nitrate unsure

Changes made to tank recently - larger water change last week, perhaps 30%
Feeding (what, how much and when) - tetra min flake, catfish pellets, daily
Visible signs of health problem (torn fins, wounds, swelling, growths etc): I noticed a white lump towards the rear of a Cardinal tetra just today (see 2 pictures below). On closer inspection 2 of the other Cardinal's look in worse condition than usual. One has a similar looking lump that looks like it's more under the skin than the pictures below. Another Cardinal look likes it's got some damage to it's scales almost like a stripe of colour has been removed vertically across the red and blue colouration.

Behavioural changes of fish (stopped eating, hiding all the time, problems swimming etc). They really are behaving very differently to usual, shoaling well with the other fish, positioning themselves towards the bottom of the tank but mid water as per usual. No scraping on rocks etc.

Any course of treatment taken up until now - no treatment taken so far.

Any identification or suggestions greatly received!

Thanks,
soma


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Test kits are a must...

The inability to test tanks to determine water quality makes it difficult to determine the nature of disease.

We like to omit water problems first before we try and diagnose disease or injuries.

A high ammonia or nitrite content can cause all sorts of skin problems.

--garyroland.

I'll definitely get the water tested as soon as I can at a local fish shop but I'm not going to be able to for at least a day or so.

One of the URL's for the pictures I've sent shows the white lump quite clearly - I really don't think it's white spot (too big) and am quite concerned as to whether it may be infectious to the other fish - do you think I should quarantine the ones that show any symptoms of "White Lumpitis"?

Could be the Tetras are chasing the Cards and causing the fin damage...

Lumps usually are not contageous but can be signs of a parasite invasion. The pics did not come up for me.

--garyroland.

Thanks a lot for the replies Gary, great stuff.

The X-Ray Tetras don't seem to be too nippy or hassle the carbs, and at a guess it does look like it could be fungal - just perfectly round, white balls.

Sorry about the pics, I'm not a premium member yet... If you copy and paste the URL without the [img] tags you'll be able to see them.

thanks again,
soma[/img][/font]