How to clean NTD from a tank? (Long post)

[galeslasher]

Hello, a long story short, my large 55g has an outbreak of neon tetra disease (at least, that is all I can think it could possibly be)
How can I effectively clear it from the substrate and water column without torching my tank and destroying my cycle?


Short story long, my tap water changed parameters suddenly without me knowing and made a lot of my fish in all of my tanks sick. I then had to switch to RO which the learning curve of didn't help at all. Now many of the tetras in my 55g have what I believe to be neon tetra disease as I cannot think what else it could be. I never had neon tetras, and haven't introduced anything in over a year, but I have many tetra species and only they are the ones who have been affected. Black neon, black phantom, yellow phantom, and von rio were all affected. They lose color, acquire large cysts all over their bodies, waste, lose giant chunks of their fins, and then die. No medication I have used has ever helped. Since it's already in full force, and nothing I do seems to help, I have accepted that everybody here suseptible is going to get it and die, and I at this point am just going to let it play out because it really doesn't seem that there is much more I can do that I haven't already tried.

So for the future of this tank, is there a way to clear the parasite from the tank itself after this is all said and done that doesn't require me torching the entire tank from the ground up and destroying my cycle? The only fish in here that are not tetras are a rainbow shark, a golden barb, and a 3 spot gourami. All of which have been unaffected so far. The only other tank I can house these guys in is a spare 20g and I'm worried that won't be sufficient for them in the time it would take to restart my cycle. But I guess I'm not completely opposed to the idea if it's my only option, I'd just really rather not. For obvious reasons.

Is it the case that the parasite is only completely immune to medications while actively infecting the fish? And the spores and free swimming formats are easily defeated by something as simple as paraguard?

Google is so bad these days I can't find much information about this anywhere without being lead to ai websites that are barely even comprehensible, and even then, they all talk about prevention and not what to do if you wind up in an unlucky situation like me where I never introduced random neons and never intentionally messed up my water stability.

I also worry about how latent it can be, because there's quite a few tetras who seem fine and it really appears it's mostly the black neons who have issues, but again, at least one of all the other species has fallen to it, so I'm concerned about how long to wait to make sure everythings clear and who to move to the 20g while torching this one if that's really my only option.

Tia for any help


(Also because I want to be transparent, you read it right that there is only one golden barb, I did not buy one golden barb, I know golden barbs should be in a school. I was at my LFS one day and a distraught woman was begging them to take some fish because they had to move and the home owners were going to flush all the fish if the tank wasn't gone that same day. LFS refused to take them so I exchanged info and picked them up. Nobody else would take him, I didn't want him to get flushed, but I also don't want a school of golden barbs as I frankly don't think 55g is big enough for that. So I have just the one golden barb. No it is not ideal but it is better than letting him be killed, and since he was alone in that tank as well, he seems to be used to it and has never shown distress or aggression, he is always in breeding colors.)

Sorry if this isn't the right place to put this or if it's against the rules, please correct/delete if necessary!

 

[SammyTargo]

First thing:
As far as I know, "Tropical Discussion," is a good place to put any thread when you don't know where to put it. If I were you, I would put this type of issue in the tropical fish emergencies thread for the future. Emergencies in the fish tank aren't often immediately attendable, unless the tank has exploded and fish are all over your floor... I'd hope that someone in this situation would not first come to TFF and make a thread, "Immediate help needed, what do I do? My fish tank just exploded!" Just kidding around though, where you put it is perfectly fine and I assume most people just look at the new threads page to answer people's questions and concerns.

My thoughts:
Okay, I see your issue.
From what I know, neon tetra disease isn't really a free-spreading parasite, neither is it one that infects wounded fish. The main transfer of disease is through a fish eating the host fish's carcass. To prevent further spread, monitor your tank for any dead fish and remove them ASAP. Next thing you should do is get all of your infected fish out of the tank, unless you think the entire tank is infected in which case your actual tank acts as your quarantine. If you don't have another tank to quarantine in, use a larger plastic bin you can find at the dollar store or anywhere else, hardware stores normally have the best selection of course. I don't know the actual effectiveness of this, but the parasites also do spread in the water presumably, which means you must sterilize the water in the tank as well. I recommend using a UV light in your filtration, as that is always a safe way to remove unwanted microflora/fauna in the water column.

If you tried Paraguard, I don't think that is the right one if you went that route. Melafix or Pimafix is the most effective, but I have learned that all of those things might as well be snake oil. I think they work as a basis, but most diseases after so many years of chemical treatment become resistant because of the exposure to captively-bred fish and tanks rather than wild environments where everything evolves to change and adapt.

Also, all of your equipment you use on the tank shouldn't be used for other tanks, use a 10-30% bleach solution before thoroughly washing em off to make it safe for aquarium use.

Second route:
Many people don't realise what they are dealing with isn't actually NTD but rather columnaris, as they have the same general symptoms and easily spread to even more fish. If this is the case, luckily for you it is much more treatable. I never really had a problem with it, and most of my infective issues that free-spread, I use my trusty UV. However, I have heard that Kanaplex (kanamycin) combined with Furan-2 is recommended.

To note (IMPORTANT!):
If you have tried treatment, make sure you remove any activated carbon in your filter or tank. It will disarm any chemical treatments. I recommend taking out everything in your filter if you are using UV treatment, as it will 100% kill any exposed beneficial bacteria. Not to worry about the ones in the substrate or outside of the filter, they live on surfaces so if it isn't exposed to the light itself, it won't die. But as a measure, a lot of the nitrifying bacteria in your tank lives in your filter whether in the floss, carbon, or rocks. You can keep the carbon if the carbon is separate from your floss, but just know you are losing some bacteria.

Please update,
Samuel.

 

[SammyTargo]

Final note, I must make this clear. If what you have is NTD, there is no effective treatment for already infected fish, they are going to die sooner or later, so may as well move them out of the tank. Only unplagued fish will be saveable so that is important to remember prioritizing them over the already doomed tetras. While called NTD, it is a parasite that affects most fish; it is only named after neon tetras.

Regards,
Samuel

 

[TwoTankAmin25]

I believe that Pleistophora hyphessobryconis is the cause of what is called NTD. It is spread by spores in the water which come from dead fish or feces from infected fish. Here is a very interesting paper on this which involved zebrafish from 3 different locations in the USA.

Sanders JL, Lawrence C, Nichols DK, Brubaker JF, Peterson TS, Murray KN, Kent ML. Pleistophora hyphessobryconis (Microsporidia) infecting zebrafish Danio rerio in research facilities. Dis Aquat Organ. 2010 Jul 26;91(1):47-56. doi: 10.3354/dao02245. PMID: 20853741; PMCID: PMC4155925.

Abstract​

Zebrafish (Danio rerio) are important models for biomedical research, and thus there is an increased concern about diseases afflicting them. Here we describe infections by Pleistophora hyphessobryconis (Microsporidia) in zebrafish from three laboratories. As reported in other aquarium fishes, affected zebrafish exhibited massive infections in the skeletal muscle, with no involvement of smooth or cardiac muscle. In addition, numerous spores within macrophages were observed in the visceral organs, including the ovaries. Transmission studies and ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequence comparisons confirmed that the parasite from zebrafish was P. hyphessobryconis as described from neon tetra Paracheirodon innesi. Ten 15-day-old zebrafish were exposed to P. hyphessobryconis collected from one infected neon tetra, and 7 of 10 fish became infected. Comparison of P. hyphessobryconis small subunit rRNA gene sequence from neon tetra with that obtained from zebrafish was nearly identical, with < 1% difference. Given the severity of infections, P. hyphessobryconis should be added to the list of pathogens that should be avoided in zebrafish research facilities, and it would be prudent to not mix zebrafish used in research with other aquarium fishes.
(full paper here https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4155925/)

And this cam from the same paper under the discussion for Transmission:

Transmission​

The three facilities had no history of sharing fish and are located in different areas of the United States. Thus we presume that the infections arose in three independent instances by exposure to other species of infected aquarium fishes. Indeed, the CG1 line was actually derived from zebrafish purchased from a pet store (Mizgireuv & Revskoy 2006). The affected fish from Lab 2 had also been purchased from a pet store and the maternal parent of the infected fish at Lab 1 had been purchased from a vendor that supplied fish to the commercial pet trade. As stated above, transmission of P. hyphessobryconis, ostensibly per os, was achieved by placing large numbers of spores in water with fish, a method that has been used by others (Canning et al 1986). As with other microsporidia, it is assumed that infection is initiated by ingestion of spores. Spores released from dead fish are a likely source of infection, but could also be released from the intestines. Schäperclaus (1941) suggested that spores may be released from the skin or urinary tract of infected fish.

What I also read in a number of papers was that, because there is no cure. all the fish need to be euthanized. I would also assume (aa I did not read this in anyu of the papers I perused) that an infected tanks needs to be disinfected/ I am not sure if there is a way to kill this microsporidian that wont also kill things like the good bacteria or love plants in a tank.

In the studies with a single species euthanizing all that species was it. But in a community tank they may very well be other species which are able to be infected. What I can say is I have never NTD in any of my fish or tanks. But, I am pretty sue if I ever were to get it, I would 100% euthanize all the fish in the tank, dispose of any plants and then bleach the heck out of everything else. Of course before using the bleach I would research to insure this is the right agents to use, If nor, whatever is would be what I would use.

As always, the paragraph above is my way and certainly not the only way. So anybody dealing with this "disease" needs to decide for themselves the best way to proceed. But, if you have this problem and have more than one aquarium, I would be careful not to spread the problem by using things, including your hands/arms in an infected tank and then in a non-infected tank.

 

[galeslasher]

First thing:
As far as I know, "Tropical Discussion," is a good place to put any thread when you don't know where to put it. If I were you, I would put this type of issue in the tropical fish emergencies thread for the future. Emergencies in the fish tank aren't often immediately attendable, unless the tank has exploded and fish are all over your floor... I'd hope that someone in this situation would not first come to TFF and make a thread, "Immediate help needed, what do I do? My fish tank just exploded!" Just kidding around though, where you put it is perfectly fine and I assume most people just look at the new threads page to answer people's questions and concerns.

My thoughts:
Okay, I see your issue.
From what I know, neon tetra disease isn't really a free-spreading parasite, neither is it one that infects wounded fish. The main transfer of disease is through a fish eating the host fish's carcass. To prevent further spread, monitor your tank for any dead fish and remove them ASAP. Next thing you should do is get all of your infected fish out of the tank, unless you think the entire tank is infected in which case your actual tank acts as your quarantine. If you don't have another tank to quarantine in, use a larger plastic bin you can find at the dollar store or anywhere else, hardware stores normally have the best selection of course. I don't know the actual effectiveness of this, but the parasites also do spread in the water presumably, which means you must sterilize the water in the tank as well. I recommend using a UV light in your filtration, as that is always a safe way to remove unwanted microflora/fauna in the water column.

If you tried Paraguard, I don't think that is the right one if you went that route. Melafix or Pimafix is the most effective, but I have learned that all of those things might as well be snake oil. I think they work as a basis, but most diseases after so many years of chemical treatment become resistant because of the exposure to captively-bred fish and tanks rather than wild environments where everything evolves to change and adapt.

Also, all of your equipment you use on the tank shouldn't be used for other tanks, use a 10-30% bleach solution before thoroughly washing em off to make it safe for aquarium use.

Second route:
Many people don't realise what they are dealing with isn't actually NTD but rather columnaris, as they have the same general symptoms and easily spread to even more fish. If this is the case, luckily for you it is much more treatable. I never really had a problem with it, and most of my infective issues that free-spread, I use my trusty UV. However, I have heard that Kanaplex (kanamycin) combined with Furan-2 is recommended.

To note (IMPORTANT!):
If you have tried treatment, make sure you remove any activated carbon in your filter or tank. It will disarm any chemical treatments. I recommend taking out everything in your filter if you are using UV treatment, as it will 100% kill any exposed beneficial bacteria. Not to worry about the ones in the substrate or outside of the filter, they live on surfaces so if it isn't exposed to the light itself, it won't die. But as a measure, a lot of the nitrifying bacteria in your tank lives in your filter whether in the floss, carbon, or rocks. You can keep the carbon if the carbon is separate from your floss, but just know you are losing some bacteria.

Please update,
Samuel.

Hey there! Thanks for the reply, and warm welcome! I want to start with why I landed on my presumption being NTD over similar looking pathogens;

First would be its unresponsiveness to medications. When this first stated, I was isolating them as they showed up ill and treating them one by one with medications, but nothing I ever did worked. I'd do what I felt was appropriate without throwing an entire medicine cabinet at the 1.5 inch animals, but they'd never respond and each died anyway. I have tried Kanaplex, metroplex, polygyard, erythromycin, and paraguard, and none of these ever worked on any of the individuals I tried them on.

Secondarily, I have experienced columnaris before, and while it is tricky to treat, I did have luck with paraguard. It also didn't look anything like this, every time I've had columnaris (a limited number of times luckily) it was larger white patches with a somewhat fuzzy appearance. This is not the case this time, these are smaller round cysts that look similar to ich if not a little bit bigger. One thing that is unique to what I'm seeing here is these strange black spots as well, and there is no point where these marks are red and then turn to black. The moment they show you they're black, and plentiful. Every individual who catches this has the black spots. Outside of scepticemia, I know of no fish illnesses that cause black spots like this. I know of black spot disease which is another ecto parasite, but these aren't small pindots like black spot disease shows, and it's always in conjunction with these white cysts and chopped up looking fins. Every single time. The ONLY disease I can find that ever presents this way with all 3 of these visual symptoms is NTD.

When it comes to moving these guys somewhere else, I'd really rather call this tank gone rather than spread it to any of my others. This has been an issue for a few months now and the entire tank is contaminated at this point. I'd rather keep the contaminants isolated here best I can and let it play out rather than moving fish around to multiple tanks when I know anybody who crops up with symptoms is a gonner and will infect whatever tank they wind up in. I know this isn't the best option, far from it, but I'm just trying to reduce the spread as much as I can at this point. I'd only feel comfortable moving the species who have been completely unaffected so far because at this point I think they just have a decent enough immune system to where this thing can't really infect them.

I don't think there's a happy outcome for the tetras, I am anticipating on this continuing until none remain, I was just wondering if once that was said and done if it was possible to clean this tank up for its future inhabitants, which I really would like to be tetras again, they're very interesting and fun fish. This whole situation just really sucks. I do have a UV sterilizer and I never use charcoal in my tanks, just sponge filters and some internal filters with sponges and filter floss, but I was even treating in a completely bare bottom hospital tank and getting no results, so even if there is some pieces of charcoal in my substrate (near guarantee because I did spill one once in there and I doubt I got all the pieces out despite my best efforts) that doesn't seem to have been doing much to make it worse anyway.

I do think a potential course of action would be to take out anybody displaying symptoms are euthanizing so no more corpses get eaten. Even this sick they're very difficult to catch and I hated to stress the whole tank out trying to grab them for isolation because I feared the stress would make everyone worse, but at this point I don't think it would matter much. Obviously nobody wants to euth their little fishes, but it is part of pet ownership and can't be avoided 100% of the time. Corpses were absolutely being eaten, I'd wake up, see somebody on the cusp of death STILL fighting tooth and nail to not get caught and taking 20 mins of my day before I'd give up, then I'd come home from work and everybody had already made quick work of the body.

It's all very drastic but this is a very drastic situation, so I think in the next few days I'll try to find some time to snatch up everybody I can and pick out the little spotties and show them a real big rock... (I've done clove oil many times, and it results in so much undue suffering that I can't bring myself to do it anymore, even if it's more comfy for me to do the 'hands off' approach I can walk away from, it's not right when I know they're freaking out in there for upwards of 15 minutes... Big rock is instant, but very upsetting to do. Their comfort is more important than mine though, I gotta be a big boy)

Thanks again for the input, as well as everyone else who replied in this thread. I've got 4 other tanks with seeded media I can technically pull from if I do trash this cycle, but I'll try just picking out the obvious sickies and turning on my cheapo UV for a few weeks and just hope this thing can't live long without a host and won't infect anybody else.

 

[TwoTankAmin25]

One of my go-to resources for diseases of fish is the Merck Veterinary Manual. It has detailed information regarding fish. What is below is from the section on Mycotic Diseases of Fish. this includes the microsporidians. NTD is caused by Pleistophora hyphessobryconis which is a microsporidian infection:

The spores are very hardy and can remain infective in water for many months. Ingestion of the spores is the primary route of infection, but entry through other portals (eg, damaged skin or gills) and transovarial transmission are possible.

Recommendations for management of microsporidian disease include removal of older and moribund animals from a population, ultraviolet sterilization, and strict biosecurity. Depopulation and disinfection are recommended for elimination of microsporidian infections.

So, if you have a proper UV unit with a buld still in good working condition, this may do the job. There is some variety inf the types and quality of UV bulbs as well as other factors such as dwell time and flow rates. All of these matter in determining how effective any UV system might be.

When it comes to learning about UV I normally send people to this site https://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/sterilization.html If you read there you will know more about UV in all its aspects than you imagine there could be.

 

[SammyTargo]

I do think a potential course of action would be to take out anybody displaying symptoms are euthanizing so no more corpses get eaten.

This is not potential, this should be your main course of action as preventing further harm is the main concern when dealing with NTD.

just hope this thing can't live long without a host and won't infect anybody else.

It can free-swim in the water for months on end, don't rely on them dying off but there is more leeway when dealing with the free-swimmers rather than the ones that have already infected the fish through sterilizing processes. Before you think of peroxide, it doesn't work on these critters.

So, if you have a proper UV unit with a buld still in good working condition, this may do the job. There is some variety inf the types and quality of UV bulbs as well as other factors such as dwell time and flow rates. All of these matter in determining how effective any UV system might be.

I bought mine for 25 bucks on Amazon 3-5 years ago, still works and does the job from everything ranging from algae in the water column to unwanted microbiota like parasites, fungi, and bacterial problems. You don't need to invest on some high-tech UV filter or fancy UV light, just an aquarium-safe UV on Amazon or somewhere cheap and stick it in your filter upon removing seeded media.

 

[Alice B]

Hello, a long story short, my large 55g has an outbreak of neon tetra disease (at least, that is all I can think it could possibly be)
How can I effectively clear it from the substrate and water column without torching my tank and destroying my cycle?


Short story long, my tap water changed parameters suddenly without me knowing and made a lot of my fish in all of my tanks sick. I then had to switch to RO which the learning curve of didn't help at all. Now many of the tetras in my 55g have what I believe to be neon tetra disease as I cannot think what else it could be. I never had neon tetras, and haven't introduced anything in over a year, but I have many tetra species and only they are the ones who have been affected. Black neon, black phantom, yellow phantom, and von rio were all affected. They lose color, acquire large cysts all over their bodies, waste, lose giant chunks of their fins, and then die. No medication I have used has ever helped. Since it's already in full force, and nothing I do seems to help, I have accepted that everybody here suseptible is going to get it and die, and I at this point am just going to let it play out because it really doesn't seem that there is much more I can do that I haven't already tried.

So for the future of this tank, is there a way to clear the parasite from the tank itself after this is all said and done that doesn't require me torching the entire tank from the ground up and destroying my cycle? The only fish in here that are not tetras are a rainbow shark, a golden barb, and a 3 spot gourami. All of which have been unaffected so far. The only other tank I can house these guys in is a spare 20g and I'm worried that won't be sufficient for them in the time it would take to restart my cycle. But I guess I'm not completely opposed to the idea if it's my only option, I'd just really rather not. For obvious reasons.

Is it the case that the parasite is only completely immune to medications while actively infecting the fish? And the spores and free swimming formats are easily defeated by something as simple as paraguard?

Google is so bad these days I can't find much information about this anywhere without being lead to ai websites that are barely even comprehensible, and even then, they all talk about prevention and not what to do if you wind up in an unlucky situation like me where I never introduced random neons and never intentionally messed up my water stability.

I also worry about how latent it can be, because there's quite a few tetras who seem fine and it really appears it's mostly the black neons who have issues, but again, at least one of all the other species has fallen to it, so I'm concerned about how long to wait to make sure everythings clear and who to move to the 20g while torching this one if that's really my only option.

Tia for any help


(Also because I want to be transparent, you read it right that there is only one golden barb, I did not buy one golden barb, I know golden barbs should be in a school. I was at my LFS one day and a distraught woman was begging them to take some fish because they had to move and the home owners were going to flush all the fish if the tank wasn't gone that same day. LFS refused to take them so I exchanged info and picked them up. Nobody else would take him, I didn't want him to get flushed, but I also don't want a school of golden barbs as I frankly don't think 55g is big enough for that. So I have just the one golden barb. No it is not ideal but it is better than letting him be killed, and since he was alone in that tank as well, he seems to be used to it and has never shown distress or aggression, he is always in breeding colors.)

Sorry if this isn't the right place to put this or if it's against the rules, please correct/delete if necessary!

I lost every fish I had except guppies and BN catfish and one clown pleco to NTD. I successfully cleared the first infected tank by removing all fish and plants and dumping a cup of bleach in it and letting the filters run a couple of days then doing a couple of 100% water changes, using a massive amount of chlorine remover and re-cycling the tank with bottled bacteria. After that I was able to move guppies and BN back in. (they were in a 29 I pulled out of a shed and cycled)

 

[galeslasher]

This is not potential, this should be your main course of action as preventing further harm is the main concern when dealing with NTD.

It can free-swim in the water for months on end, don't rely on them dying off but there is more leeway when dealing with the free-swimmers rather than the ones that have already infected the fish through sterilizing processes. Before you think of peroxide, it doesn't work on these critters.

I bought mine for 25 bucks on Amazon 3-5 years ago, still works and does the job from everything ranging from algae in the water column to unwanted microbiota like parasites, fungi, and bacterial problems. You don't need to invest on some high-tech UV filter or fancy UV light, just an aquarium-safe UV on Amazon or somewhere cheap and stick it in your filter upon removing seeded media.

I do have a UV light for fish tank! However, I don't have an HOB or canister to stick it in, and it's too large to fit into my internal filters. These things aren't safe for the fishes eyes to just let sit in the tank are they? I feel like there's just no way. I don't mind buying a new one though! I've seen internal filters that have one inside of them which if that still exists and isn't horribly expensive, I wouldn't mind buying. Just making sure I'm on the right track, because from what I recall they aren't very safe for people's eyes so I can imagine they're any good for fishes eyes, or sensitive skin like a shark minnow.

 

[SammyTargo]

I wouldn't risk putting it in an internal filter and I definitely wouldn't stick it into the open water column, that could cause a mass of complications which you mentioned some of. In that case, maybe try to see if you could buy a cheap HOB to temporarily use. I would research the compatibility of UV lights and internal filters.

 

[galeslasher]

I wouldn't risk putting it in an internal filter and I definitely wouldn't stick it into the open water column, that could cause a mass of complications which you mentioned some of. In that case, maybe try to see if you could buy a cheap HOB to temporarily use. I would research the compatibility of UV lights and internal filters.

I found this thing which I can stomach the price of: https://a.co/d/06FaR9DG
Is there any reason this would be a bad pick? currently seeding sponges in my other tanks if need be, but from what I can gather this thing seems like a decent enough method to get rid of any free swimming parasites, unless I'm missing something?

Also update for anybody else who was invested, Saturday was a pretty big day for the tank. The barb suddenly developed dropsy the day of and passed in the morning, I assume the parasite got him, that's really my only explanation for that, but his age was also unknown. Otherwise, I picked out 6 individuals and euthanized them, all tetras. 7 tetras remain who are as of now not showing any symptoms. I removed all plants and tossed most, rinsed the rest off heavily with tap water (absurdly chlorinated where I live), did a very deep clean of the substrate and removed all mlum. Will be watching the remaining stock closely for any symptoms for the next few months. No plans to add anything else until I have a good 3 month long period of nothing else happening. Shark as always is doing well.

 

[SammyTargo]

Sorry for the very late reply... That one looks good. I forgot to mention that the internal filter I was talking about was to stick a light in an unspecialized internal. An internal built for the UV is a different story entirely. Use this but remember that it won't solve your problem, just land the final blow. You need to still neutralize the spread of the already infected fish and then run that thing for a few days to ensure that the parasites won't come back.

 

[galeslasher]

Sorry for the very late reply... That one looks good. I forgot to mention that the internal filter I was talking about was to stick a light in an unspecialized internal. An internal built for the UV is a different story entirely. Use this but remember that it won't solve your problem, just land the final blow. You need to still neutralize the spread of the already infected fish and then run that thing for a few days to ensure that the parasites won't come back.

Good to know! Thanks for the info. I culled all symptomatic fish on the 13th and threw away most plants (rinsed off the rest) and so far, nobody else is showing any signs in the tank. This is pretty good timewise because I was having new infections pop up weekly so to have 11 days with nothing new is pretty hopeful for me. Obviously, still not intending on adding anything new to the tank for a multitude of months, but so far it seems to be going well.

 

[Alice B]

so neon tetra disease is a parasite? it does have a parasite spread pattern, but when I was dealing with it, basically I had a fish pharmaceutical specialist tell me it was incurable, which on an individual fish basis it is. What I don't understand is why guppies and catfish family seem to be immune to it?