Neon Tetra Apocalypse

Hi everyone,

Right I have a little problem, namely my Neon Tetra's are dying.
(
I bought a second hand tank a few weeks ago, there were 14 fish present 11 Neon Tetra's 2 Angelfish and 2 little catfish. The tank is a planted 180 litre Juwel Vision. I was all happy with my tank until one of my Neon Tetra's displayed worrying signs (which I detailed on a previous post in this forum.) I did a water change and switched him to a small tank which I had purchased new, I treated him (or tried to at any rate with epsom salts) but he gave up the ghost two days later. (

On Friday evening I noticed another of my neons showing unhealthy signs, ie staying on his own refusing to shoal and really losing the normal tetra glow, so much so that he looked quite dull, as he was showing the initial syptoms of his predecessor who had suffered from not been able to swim correctly in the latter satges of the disease and was clearly suffering; I netted and dispatched him. My thinking been a relatively humane and quick death and hopefully no further contamination of the remaining inhabitants.

However this morning and this evening one of the other neons has started to show at least one worrying sign, he's determined to hide off on his own under the filter the same spot his unfortunate colleagues hid in. Now he still has a decent glow but I'm terrified it will start to fade in the next few days, then he'll start to swim sideways and the next thing he'll be upside down. Does anyone have any suggestions?

I have a hospital tank up and running so I could separate him? The first tetra had pop eyes though and this one is mercifully free of these so far. Thankfully my angelfish and cats seem healthy for now, I did a water change 4 days ago and will do another soon. I checked the parameters of the water and it appears ok although it is alkaline and quite hard but that's the water source so I can't do much about it any ideas/advice much appreciated.

could be neon tetra disease which is tough to cure
read this there is a few supposed cures for it
www.fishforums.com/forum/diseases/20969-...n-tetra-disease.html

Hi Tiger,

I was going to comment on your last post but i must have got distracted.I have kept neons on and off for a few years.I have seen this quite a few times , sometimes the eyes bulge , some times their belly gets really bloated looking, some times they get an indentation on their back, behind their dorsal fin(the last one was diagnosed as Noen tetra disease)But the end result is always the same, they loose colour, they move away from the rest and then they die.Tbh I got tired of trying to figure out what was wrong and going to the LFS getting various meds etc,Because of space and wife issue's i could not have a second tank.My only option was to remove any fish that was showing signs of sickness and give them a painless death.Sometimes to protect the more expensive fish in the tank i would have to cull the entire shoal.This was an extreme measure and was not taken lightly.

My advice to you would be to remove all of the neons to your hospital tank and try to treat them there, rather than risking the rest of the set up.I'm sure if you post a few pictures here of the infected fish the guys can suggest medication to help you out.You might want to take a look at you water as i too live in a hard water area with alot of lime content maybe this is the problem ?

Stuart.

Hi Stuart,

That's interesting, I think you and indeed Sheag35 are correct in your diagnosis. For one thing the symptoms you describe are precisely what the first fish had. The bulging eyes, a strange indentation on his back and the gradual loss of colour.
I'm going to see what the anti-social neon is like to-morrow but if he even starts to lose colour I may knock him on the head and move the remaining Neons to the hospital tank.
At least my Angels and cats might be saved then. I'm also going to try some more research on possible cures despite the fact that I've read in several places that the disease is basically uncurable.

G.

move them to a hospital tank and try some of the methods in the link on that tank, hopefully one might work and if one does let us all know

This , while it is sad, is a horrible and regular occurrence, Neon Tetra Disease is not just a Disease affecting Neons, it will attack random Fish and rarely at once and that is the clue, it is mainly transmitted by healthy Fish feasting on fish that have Died and pass it on, you recognised the tell tale symptoms, shying away from the school and what you described as an indentation which is in fact, not such but the loss of colour in a Saddle shaped destruction of tissue drom the base of the dorsal on both sides. It is a nasty and to me, disgusting disease. No. 1 A Quarantine Tank is a must No.2, if at all possible, resist buying newly received stock from your LFS until they have been there a while because healthy Fish don't show signs immediately, usually a few days after they are rehomed. and finally, Neons, Cardinals and particularly in my case, Rummy Tetras are buggers for attracting it.

H.

wylam wrote:

wife issue's

is that :-

wylam : I'm thinking of maybe we need to get another Tank love ?

wife : ok , but you will need to get another house to put it in

That would be a very polite version of the events, except she doesn't call me wylam

Stuart.

wylam wrote:

That would be a very polite version of the events, except she doesn't call me wylam

Stuart.

effing this and effing that .. and no effing way !