Help needed with neon tetra

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Fray

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Hi, hoping someone can help with my neon.
Noticed one of my neons has a faded patch at base of tail, seems bloated but otherwise eating and scooting around tank. I was on way to work so only had time to quarantine in the tank and take some piccies. Looking at photos now she seems a lot more bloated in them than just looking at her.

87 litre planted, started January this year......added photo
Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate...... 0. 0, and between 10 and 20
Temp 24
Weekly water changes, last one yesterday (40%)
13 neons,
3 juvenile swordtails
6 bronze corys

The patch is not woolly or fuzzy, seems interior. Could it be ntd? I've had no deaths in tank ever, and everyone else seems all good. I can fix up a hospital tank for her later if needed.
IMG_20220928_120351.jpgIMG_20220928_122209.jpgIMG_20220928_124122.jpgIMG_20220928_120902.jpg
 
Have you added anything new to the tank in the last 2 weeks?

It has a bacterial infection (neon disease or Columnaris). Antibiotics are the normal treatment but may not be available.

If you have a spare tank, you could move the sick fish into it and add some salt to help slow the spread, but chances are that fish will die and others in the tank could develop it if you don't treat immediately.

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WHAT TO DO NOW?
Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge. This removes the biofilm on the glass and the biofilm will contain lots of harmful bacteria, fungus, protozoans and various other microscopic life forms.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week or until you get something to treat them with. The water changes and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in. It also removes a lot of the gunk and this means any medication can work on treating the fish instead of being wasted killing the pathogens in the gunk.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration to maximise the dissolved oxygen in the water.

Add some salt, (see directions below).

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SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), swimming pool salt, or any non-iodised salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres 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.
 
Have you added anything new to the tank in the last 2 weeks?

It has a bacterial infection (neon disease or Columnaris). Antibiotics are the normal treatment but may not be available.

Sorry @Colin_T , but would you mind sharing the signs/symptoms/visual clues that tell you it's bacterial? I believe you! I'd just like to learn. :)
 
I've decided she/he deserves a chance so it's a hospital tank with the salt so far. I'll research the antibiotics if it comes to that, and also if she seems to be worse I'll euthanize then. One of the worst things will be the worry and time spent scanning the tanks for any sign of further outbreaks.
 
I've decided she/he deserves a chance so it's a hospital tank with the salt so far. I'll research the antibiotics if it comes to that, and also if she seems to be worse I'll euthanize then. One of the worst things will be the worry and time spent scanning the tanks for any sign of further outbreaks.
Wishing you luck, and hoping it doesn't spread. An update would be appreciated, if you can!
 
I agree with Colin. The reason I think it's columnaris (bacterial) or Neon disease (parasitic) is both present the same basic signs - the discolouration of one spot on the fish. What happens next usually fills in the sad story.

Under no circumstance should you allow the fish to die in the tank. The transmission for neon tetra disease is via scavenging victims.

You can see the holes in my diagnosis. It's an educated guess based on what I have seen before, and on images of both diseases.
 
Sorry @Colin_T , but would you mind sharing the signs/symptoms/visual clues that tell you it's bacterial? I believe you! I'd just like to learn. :)
The faded blue line
The faded red line
The white patch on the caudal peduncle

These are all typical of neon disease, which is a bacterial infection that spreads rapidly and kills within a few days of infection. It needs antibiotics to stop it. Salt can slow it down and sometimes stop it spreading but infected fish usually die.


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I've decided she/he deserves a chance so it's a hospital tank with the salt so far. I'll research the antibiotics if it comes to that, and also if she seems to be worse I'll euthanize then. One of the worst things will be the worry and time spent scanning the tanks for any sign of further outbreaks.
You can add some salt to the main tank as well to try and prevent it spreading to the other fish.
Add salt to the new water after you do a water change each day.

Hopefully the combination of salt and big daily water changes will prevent it killing everything in the tank.
 
The faded blue line
The faded red line
The white patch on the caudal peduncle

These are all typical of neon disease, which is a bacterial infection that spreads rapidly and kills within a few days of infection. It needs antibiotics to stop it. Salt can slow it down and sometimes stop it spreading but infected fish usually die.


----------------------


You can add some salt to the main tank as well to try and prevent it spreading to the other fish.
Add salt to the new water after you do a water change each day.

Hopefully the combination of salt and big daily water changes will prevent it killing everything in the tank.
Thank you! Useful to learn these things from the people who know, and I've never experienced this. I hope OP is able to isolate this one and that it doesn't spread further. Looks like a horrible thing to go through.
 

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