What's wrong with my tetra?

StuntMan86

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Hey Everyone,

So for months now one of my tetras has been growing growths around parts of it's body.
The gills seem really inflamed too. It still eats fine etc but it's gradually getting worse.

Is there anything i can do or is it untreatable?
 
How old is the fish?

Possibly old age and a weakened immune system, along with gill flukes.
You can try adding salt or Praziquantel to the tank to treat gill flukes. That might help with the breathing issue.

The lumps on the body could be cysts or parasitic worms and there's nothing you can do about that. Just try to keep the tank and filter clean, feed the fish a varied diet and if it gets worse, euthanise it.

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SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), swimming pool salt, or any non iodised salt (sodium chloride) to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres (5 gallons) of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria, fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

If you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.

When you first add salt, add the salt to a small bucket of tank water and dissolve the salt. Then slowly pour the salt water into the tank near the filter outlet. Add the salt over a couple of minutes.
 

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