My Neon Tetra Has A Twisted Spine!

[guppylover1]

i woke up one morning and one of my neon tetras has a twisted spine and it looks bent but i dont know how it happened anyone think they know why?

thankyou

 

[thegnu]

hi,
you could check your ammonia, and nitrite levels but i would think its just one of those things that can happen. in the wild these fish soon fall to a predator. it could be genetical. theres not anything you can do, but alot of fish like this live long and "healthy" lives

 

[fishbguy]

i had a guppy a few weeks ago that died( i think, one day he was gone a nd nowhere to be found) that had a twisted spine as well. i got a book about guppies from my school's libary and was reading it to learn more about guppies. i was not even looking to see if it said anything about twisted spines in guppies. the book said that twisted spines in guppies is usally caused be mal nutrition. this could be the case with your tetra but i am not sure. i will look again when i get home in anothe book that i have that deals with all fish and see if they say something about it. my guppy also stayed at the top of the water. it had a hard time swimming below the surface of the water. when i feed black worms, it usally could only get about two inches below the surface then gave up catching them. i had to wold the worms at the surface of the water so it could catch them. i hope this helps.
Andrew

 

[guppylover1]

thankyou thats really helpfull
it seems to be swimming fine and doesnt look in any pain so thats a good sign
thanks for all the replys

 

[luque]

my glowlight tetra looks like its got a twisted spine (has done now for a year or so) i didn't think anything of it and hes fine

 

[guppylover1]

oh rite must just be one of those things

 

[Lateral Line]

If it literally happened overnight, then it is almost certainly due to a traumatic injury.

The classic "bent spine" problems with Neons, and other fish, is infestation with sporozoan parasites, (the so called "Neon Tetra Disease"). As the parasites grow in the muscle, they slowly deform the spine into a kink, or in bad cases, a corrugated effect. This does not happen overnight, but develops slowly over weeks however.