Ill Neon.

[MHunt]

Hello all, one of my neons is looking very ill, has done for a couple of days to be honest, but it does look like it's on ot's last fins. (I would say legs but it hasn't got any )

It looks quite bloted with it's mouth gaping and very red round the gills and below it's mouth. I wondered if it may be choking on something? It has appeared to loose a bit of colouring in places, but nothing so severe as pictures I have seen of neon tetra desease. I don't think it will last more than a couple of days and i suspect it is beyond any effective treatment. Just wondered if anyone had any ideas.

I'll admit i haven't done a water test since last week, but then my nitrites were 0, nitrates were about 40 - 50, ph 6.5, and relatively soft water. It is a 60 litre (i approximate to 20 US gal ish) tank which is well planted, and my stocking is in my profile.

Thanks in advance.

 

[WILDER]

What's your ammonia reading.
Red gills poor water quality, bacterial infection, to gill flukes.
Any signs of the fish in the tank flicking and rubbing against objects.

 

[MHunt]

Last weeks test was with a tetra test strip, it only does nitrite and nitrate. Went back to the interpet tablet test today.

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 40
Ph 6.5

I've isolated the neon now and treated it with antibacteria meds. I think i overdosed a bit on the meds but it is looking a bit more active. It's still struggling to swim straight, it's swimming tail down at the moment, and it's movement is quite stiff. Kinda Jerky.

The main tank is fine though, everyone else looks pretty healthy with no flicking or odd behaviour. I wonder if it could be the one that tried to jump out of the tank a few weeks ago. It landed on the lip of the hood as i had it open for feeding. Perhaps i injured it as i returned it to the water? I just kinda knocked/flicked it back in.

 

[WILDER]

Red gills and swimming in a jerky movement can be gill flukes, get you some info.

JBL Gyrodactol is an effective preparation to combat gill and skin trematoda of the genus gyrodactylus and dactylogyrus in aquarium fish.
Increased breathing, (as for oxygen deficiency), shying at objects, jerky swimming movements in conjunction with shock colouring or apathetic "hanging around" in the aquarium are signs of infection with gill worms.

In the case of infection with skin trematoda, bloodshot areas of skin may also be observed. Infection of the gills may be diagnosed using simple means as follows: catch the suspected fish and lay them on a damp surface, then, with a pair of tweezers, carefully raise one gill cover. The white worms may be easily recognised using a magnifying glass (10x).

 

[MHunt]

Well the neon didn't make it, died last night . Didn't examine it too closely to find out a cause of death. Just found it odd that it had it's jaw locked open all the time for like the week or so before it died. Perhaps i should have got it out and treated it earlier but hindsight is a great thing. My thought was some kind of infection or growth in it's mouth, or it had been injured and stopped feeding.

 

[ant0]

poor fishy. I notice you have a 60 litre tank - thats 15US gallons with the following as per your profile:

2 Male Guppies, 8 Neon Tetras, 1 Dwarf Cockatoo Cichlid, 3 Bronze Cory's, 3 cherry barbs, 2 Honey Gourami.

I'd suggest your overstocked there. Bronze corys get to around 3 inches, 3x cherry barbs isnt enough and there isnt room for more...

I have the following in my 15 gallon tank and its slightly overstocked:
1X male guppy, 3X honey gourami, 4X panda cory, 2X oto, 8X neon tetra

40ppm nitrate is evidence of this, you do approx 1/3 weekly water changes i'm guessing? I can keep mine under 20 with approx 25% a week

 

[MHunt]

Well according to the PFK calculator i have a total stocking level of around 30" 2" per gallon after the tank has been running for more than 6 months. I reckon I'm at around the 25"ish mark at the moment. I know the more fish i stock with the more i am at risk of more illness and assotiated problems, but everyone else appears healthy at the moment. I also go by the rule that if the tank appears to crowded it probably is, and everyone has a nice amount of space at the moment. Make that 7 neon tetras anyway so that's 1 inch off.

The cherry barbs appear to be happy enough as a litle trio, I know the cory's will get quite big in time, but i'll just have to monitor the tank as i go. I do want to upgrade to perhaps a 3 or 4 foot tank probably towards the end of this year, and i am aware than i can't add many if any more fish to this tank at the moment.

 

[ant0]

yeah the rules are general guidlines more than anything if everything in there is happy, healthy and compatible

 

[WILDER]

Sorry R.I.P.
An open mouth can mean something stuck in the mouth, or sores or ulcer in the mouth.

 

[MHunt]

I'm guessing it was some kind of mouth infection sore ulcer etc as the area under the mouth was very red and inflamed too. I guess i should have started treatment earlier when i first noticed it, but you live and learn.