Neon Tetra Disease?

[Llegmore]

I have eight neon tetras, all of which have fin coloration (turning white) and their tails are rotting. Several have holes in their heads and one has a bent spine. I've been treating with an anti-parasite for a week in the hope that it's false neon tetra disease but there's been no improvement. I'll get some pics up later.

Is there anything I can do and could it be anything else?

 

[mark4785]

The white discolouration may be excess mucus caused by skin irritation in response to high ammonia/nitrite levels in your water. Please go about testing your ammonia and nitrite levels and if either are above 0 ppm, you need to complete a 90-100% water change. Your aquarium water should also be devoid of chlorine and chloramine which can be achieved by de-chlorinating your tap water.

A bent spine is usually caused by a genetic disorder or an environmental issue relating to lack of vitamin C in the fishes diet. Many flakes/pellets for tropicals do not contain vitamin C so be sure to throw away such foods and replace them with a more nutrient balanced diet. Nutrafin foods contain lots of vitamin C.

Hole in the head, again, is theoretically caused by a lack of minerals/vitamins in the water column. UV-C clarifiers remove such components from the water so be sure to turn any UV-C off.

 

[Llegmore]

The white discolouration may be excess mucus caused by skin irritation in response to high ammonia/nitrite levels in your water. Please go about testing your ammonia and nitrite levels and if either are above 0 ppm, you need to complete a 90-100% water change. Your aquarium water should also be devoid of chlorine and chloramine which can be achieved by de-chlorinating your tap water.

A bent spine is usually caused by a genetic disorder or an environmental issue relating to lack of vitamin C in the fishes diet. Many flakes/pellets for tropicals do not contain vitamin C so be sure to throw away such foods and replace them with a more nutrient balanced diet. Nutrafin foods contain lots of vitamin C.

Hole in the head, again, is theoretically caused by a lack of minerals/vitamins in the water column. UV-C clarifiers remove such components from the water so be sure to turn any UV-C off.

Thanks for your help. I probably should have been more detailed in my original post - was a little panicked.

Tested the water yesterday - ammonia's a little high but not above 0.1ppm. Nitrite 0ppm. I did their weekly 25% water change yesterday but I'll do more to make sure it's not a chemical problem.

I feed them 'aquarium advanced nutrition' -

Which claims to be 'high in vitamins c&e'

What's a UV-C clarifier? Sorry for my noobiness.

The reason that I thought it was neon tetra disease as opposed to something environmental is that they share their home with Pluto, a betta who seems to be in good health and is displaying no symptoms.

 

[mark4785]

I would personally check for the exact concentration of vitamin C in the small print as some products will list vitamin C in this format: 'calciumascorbyl-2-phosphate' (stabilised source of vitamin C) which appears not to be a pure form of vitamin C.

A UV-C clarifier is a ultra-violet light that is sometimes incorporated into the chamber of internal/external filters. They are primarily used to kill parasites, algae, bacteria and fungi by disrupting their mitotic division, however, vitamins, minerals and chelating agents (found in fertilisers) are also degraded by UV-C thereby depriving fish and plants from getting their nutrients.

What kind of neon tetras do you have? I have black neon tetras and i'm sure an ammonia reading of 0.1 ppm would have no effect on them, but I can't generalise this beyond my fish tank and/or to other species of neon tetra. I think it would be a good idea to provide numerous pictures of the diseased fish. If they do have neon tetra disease, there is no known cure unfortunately. You would have to euthenize them and completely disinfect and re-cycle your aquarium before re-stocking it.

 

[Llegmore]

I would personally check for the exact concentration of vitamin C in the small print as some products will list vitamin C in this format: 'calciumascorbyl-2-phosphate' (stabilised source of vitamin C) which appears not to be a pure form of vitamin C.

A UV-C clarifier is a ultra-violet light that is sometimes incorporated into the chamber of internal/external filters. They are primarily used to kill parasites, algae, bacteria and fungi by disrupting their mitotic division, however, vitamins, minerals and chelating agents (found in fertilisers) are also degraded by UV-C thereby depriving fish and plants from getting their nutrients.

What kind of neon tetras do you have? I have black neon tetras and i'm sure an ammonia reading of 0.1 ppm would have no effect on them, but I can't generalise this beyond my fish tank and/or to other species of neon tetra. I think it would be a good idea to provide numerous pictures of the diseased fish. If they do have neon tetra disease, there is no known cure unfortunately. You would have to euthenize them and completely disinfect and re-cycle your aquarium before re-stocking it.

The food says: vitamin C: 442 mg. Is that enough? I use the same food in my other two tanks and I don't have any probs with them. I don't think I have a UV-C in my filter. I'll have to dig out the box and check.

The tetras are just regular Paracheirodon innesi. I just did a 100% water change so I'll wait till the water clears to take pictures. They're very camera shy too. I'll put pics up in about an hour

 

[Llegmore]

Some pictures: (sorry for the bad quality)

Their tank mate, pluto:

The tank itself:

 

[mark4785]

On the knowledge that:

Neon tetra disease is not treatable;
you have not mentioned that the fish have any swimming issues;
no cysts/lumps have developed;
and you have not mentioned any restlessness exhibited by any of the fish.

I think I'd prefer to go along with the diagnosis of columnaris because:

1. In picture 3, the fish in the background has what appears to be an inflamed gill, a site that can be infected by the columnaris bacteria;
2. it can cause epidermis layer of skin to erode away (which explains your hole in the head symptom)
3. It usually begins to erode the fins away with a cotton wool like accumulation in close proximity to the erosion.

You can treat columnaris by:

1. Placing your fish in a bucket of dechlorinated water containing a fin rot solution; methylene blue is my recommendation.
2. A salt bath may also be effective, but don't use salt with the above medication or in a high nitrate water column as these are hazardous combinations.
3. If possible, increase oxygenation to discourage this form of bacterial growth since it develops/thrives in low oxygen environments.

Meanwhile, ensure your ammonia level stays around 0ppm. You may want to try purchasing some floating amazon frog bit or other fast growing plant to help in the ammonia absorption process. Ensure that stressors are kept to a minimum during, before and after treatment.

EDIT: If you are going to use a salt treatment (ensure its aquarium salt), ensure that the addition of salt is added slowly over a period of days and allowed to fully dissolve. It may be easier to add the salt directly to the aquarium providing you can find out if the healthy fish will tolerate salt. I'd recommend using the salt tonic manufactured by Waterlife.

 

[Llegmore]

Many thanks for all your help. I'm awful when my fish are sick. I'll be sure to try the treatments.