What killed my cardinal?!

[thebookshark]

Woke up to a nearly dead banggai cardinal this morning. Poor thing was on its side panting and couldn’t right itself. It was fine last night, my parameters are all perfect and no corals or inverts show any signs of distress. I did add a bag of PhosGuard last night; I rinsed it well first. Could this be the culprit? I have a Royal gramma and a YWG/Tiger pistol as well. The gramma seemed okay but was hiding in her rock which isn’t abnormal. The YWG has been hiding since I got it Monday but I saw it come out to eat before I added the PhosGuard last night. The only other culprit could maybe be the pistol?

 

[Gumbies R Us]

#fishmedic

 

[thebookshark]

?

 

[littlefoxx]

Unless you have a video of this while it was alive its going to be really hard to tell why unfortunately. Did it look beat up at all?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

How long have you had it?

 

[fishguy242]

Not likely the phosguard had anything to do with it

 

[JTP424]

Grammas are territorial, so depending on tank size and how long they've been in there he may have gotten fiesty.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Woke up to a nearly dead banggai cardinal this morning. Poor thing was on its side panting and couldn’t right itself. It was fine last night, my parameters are all perfect and no corals or inverts show any signs of distress. I did add a bag of PhosGuard last night; I rinsed it well first. Could this be the culprit? I have a Royal gramma and a YWG/Tiger pistol as well. The gramma seemed okay but was hiding in her rock which isn’t abnormal. The YWG has been hiding since I got it Monday but I saw it come out to eat before I added the PhosGuard last night. The only other culprit could maybe be the pistol?

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

How long had you had the cardinalfish?
Do you know if it was wild caught or captive raised?

The Phosguard wasn't the issue. I am worried that if it was a disease issue, the other fish could be at risk, so watch them closely for any similar symptoms.