Dull Neon All Down One Side!?

[sven_sol]

One of our neons is looking very dull all down one side. Is not white, furry for flaky it just lost colour and all shine.

We don't have any other tanks available, so quarantine isn't really an option unfortunatly.

Thanks in advance everyone!!

Heres a bit of recent history for you:

We've had a 4 year old (could have been older) Silver Tip die at the weekend. Before he died he was at the bottom of the tank facing up like he was starting to swim upwards but without actually going up, but would swim away if another fish came near him. He was doing this for about a couple of days. He looked healthy, no scale/fin/gills problems.

We've been planting the tank over the last 4 months, and generally failing. We've been playing with different plants. I'm hoping we havent brought in anything nasty, all we've added over the last month has been a Turbo CO2 Bio system. CO2 levels are low (too low for the plants according to our test)(pretty crappy CO2 system if you ask me). but it has slowed the plants from going brown. We've had a bit more algae grow, so we've just added two Albino Algae Eaters - then we notice the Neon.

We've been changing 20% water every two or three week as well as cleaning the filters too. pH, Nitrate, Ammonia all seem ok. The tank is a Tropiqarium 68 system.

Fish (still alive!)

1 small Pleco (not sure what type... about 3 years old and amout 4 inches long.. not big eater)
2 Silver tip tetras,
4 neons.
2 red eye tetras,
1 tiger guppy.
2 Albino algae eaters,
and 1 BGKF. (Before anyone says: Very young, only a few inches long - we WILL be getting a bigger tank soon)


Cheers everyone!!

Sven

 

[FBF]

it does sound like neon tetra disease to me. do a little reading on the net, ive never had it in my tanks but from what i can remember it dulls fish and the only cure is to remove the infected fish. i think it can infect all kinds of fish not just neons so you should move quickly. im reluctant to say euthanise the fish but i get the feeling once youve done a little reading that you may have to. if you do i would advise a fast painless death by netting the fish and bashing it on a wall or something while in the net and then dispose and clean the net. freezing fish is cruel as the cells swell up before the fish dies.

 

[WILDER]

Right we need your water stats in ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,and ph, how many gallons or litres is the tank, have the affected fish left the shaol, does the patch form a saddle look running along the back down the sides to form a saddle appearance, does the red stripe look bleached out, and is there any cysts on the body.

 

[sven_sol]

Right we need your water stats in ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,and ph, how many gallons or litres is the tank, have the affected fish left the shaol, does the patch form a saddle look running along the back down the sides to form a saddle appearance, does the red stripe look bleached out, and is there any cysts on the body.

Ammonia: 0.6
pH: 7.4 (ish)
Nitrite: 0.1

Sorry - no Nitrate.

The size is 70ltrs (give or take a ltr or so)

The fish are still shaoling.

The (non)colored patch goes from the bottom up to the top and slightly over on to the other side.

Red strip is slightly bleached out... and there are no cysts. BUT the fish is slightly concaved rather than convexed (curves in, rather than out) on one side the same side.

 

[WILDER]

I would get it out of the tank straight away.

Plus your tank isn't cycled i would do some water changes, also if you can't quarantine the fish, i would destroy it sorry.

Plus your tank isn't cycled i would do some water changes, also if you can't quarantine the fish, i would destroy it sorry.

I will leave this info for you as you have a serious desease and i will effect the whole tank if you don't get the fish out fast.
Not the writer of this information below.

Pleistophora (a.k.a. Neon Tetra Disease)



Symptoms:

Pleistophora is also called Neon Tetra Disease because of its high prevalence among Neon Tetras, although it has also been reported to infect most Characins, Cichlids, Cyprinids (i.e., danios), and all the carp-like fishes. It is characterized by a loss of coloration and pale, white patches of skin, particularly the strip of skin beneath the dorsal fin. Other symptoms may include spinal curvature, emaciation, fin deterioration and erratic swimming behavior.



Cause:

The microsporidian parasite Pleistophora hyphessobryconis. Pleistophora live in the muscle tissue of infected fish and cause degeneration and wasting of the muscle. The parasites travel through the fish’s blood, quickly spreading to all areas of the body. Pleistophora not only affect the fish’s muscles but all its internal organs.



Treatment:

There is no effective cure for this illness, partly due to the fact that by the time diagnosis is confirmed the fish is too weak to be saved. If more than one fish in your aquarium succumbs to this parasite, the entire aquarium should be emptied and dissinfected. Some aquarists suggest the use of a diatom filter to trap the spores of the parasite and thus clear them from the tank.

Pleistophora can easily be mistaken for False Neon Disease, which is a bacterial infection and presents with the exact same symptoms. For this reason, it would be wise to remove the infected fish to a hospital tank (while disinfecting the main tank) and treat them with a broad spectrum antibiotic.

 

[sven_sol]

I would get it out of the tank straight away.

Plus your tank isn't cycled i would do some water changes, also if you can't quarantine the fish, i would destroy it sorry.

I will leave this info for you as you have a serious desease and i will effect the whole tank if you don't get the fish out fast.
Not the writer of this information below.

Pleistophora (a.k.a. Neon Tetra Disease)

(snip)

it would be wise to remove the infected fish to a hospital tank (while disinfecting the main tank) and treat them with a broad spectrum antibiotic.

We changed water last weekend.. and we've had this tank for about 6 months and it was up and running for a few years before we had it. Could I have done anything to de-cycle it?!?!

Thanks for that quote - lead me to http/www.fish-disease.net/diseases/pleistophora.php Link Thanks.

I've got some Methylene Blue.. should I put some of that in... I havent got anything else to ease the other fish and all the shops are obviously shut (it is after 9pm)

Thanks mate!!

Sven

 

[WILDER]

You must remove that fish from the tank, don't need a med, just water changes, as that fish will be infecting the others, plus soon as they peck on the fish when it dead it will infect them.

 

[tttnjfttt]

You need to remove the fish from your tank and clean the rest of the tank very well. There is no cure for NTD, and you dont want it to infect your other fish. It is possible it is false NTD, however, if you choose to try treating it with antibiotics, i would make sure you do so in a hospital tank. Unfortunately with everything that is going on with this fish, including the sunken belly which can be the sign of another serious infection.

 

[sven_sol]

So - not leave it until morning see the state of it then?

 

[WILDER]

If it dies you are taking a big risk.

 

[tttnjfttt]

I agree with wilder, leaving him in there is taking a BIG risk.

 

[sven_sol]

Ok....

he's out.

I've took some water out and put him into a seperate bucket. Going to try and keep him warm, in a dark place. Not a real quarantine tank I know, but quickest I could think of.

How long does it take before symptoms appear? Will I be coming down in the morning to find my BGKF dead, or seeing my Silver tips looking less than peachy?

Cheers,

Sven-the-worried.

 

[WILDER]

I would try some water changes on the tank, look out for the same signs as he had, with getting him out of the tank, you might be ok.

 

[sven_sol]

I would try some water changes on the tank, look out for the same signs as he had, with getting him out of the tank, you might be ok.

I only noticed this afternoon... I don't know how long he was like this before I took him out.

Any eta on symptoms then?

Could a of days show me if we've got a problem, or are we talking weeks???

 

[WILDER]

From now up to a month i would say even longer, never know with these things, sorry.