not exactly an emergency

[mattbeau]

hey guys, I have had my two sick neons in QT for about two weeks now. I'm 90% sure its NTD (neon tetra disease) but I'm not absolutely positive. I have gone through the forums, the disease piunned topics, used google for a little while,

It is very hard to differentiate the physical signs of saddle back Columnaris and Neon tetra disease. I know that NTD is a sporazoan disease, part of the protozoan family, and Columnaris is a bacterial infection. I understand that NTD will lead to necrosis and that the neons are going to die if thats what they have. because Columnaris is a bacterial infection, it could be cured with antibiotics, but using antibiotics would essentially kill my bacterial filteration in the QT/snail factory.

because it has been about two weeks from first signs of the diease, could I still believe it to bacterial? If its bacterial I will try to treat them, If not, I will euthanize to save them the pain of bodily deteriation.

Mind you there behavior is very healthy though, they are very active with strong appetites, which is why I have kept them going this long.


I tried fo about an hour to get a decent picture but its nearly impossible as they are extremely active and very had to lock on to. I have taken about 150 pictures and none of them seem to come out well enough to show
Just looking for others opinions

 

[WILDER]

If there issolated yes try an antibiotic to make sure it isn' false ntd, just check water quality daily and if you have to preform a water change just add the correct amount of med back to the water removed.
Not the writer of this information below.
Pleistophora (a.k.a. Neon Tetra Disease)



Symptoms:

Pleistophora is also called Neon Tetra Disease because of its high prevalence among Neon Tetras, although it has also been reported to infect most Characins, Cichlids, Cyprinids (i.e., danios), and all the carp-like fishes. It is characterized by a loss of coloration and pale, white patches of skin, particularly the strip of skin beneath the dorsal fin. Other symptoms may include spinal curvature, emaciation, fin deterioration and erratic swimming behavior.



Cause:

The microsporidian parasite Pleistophora hyphessobryconis. Pleistophora live in the muscle tissue of infected fish and cause degeneration and wasting of the muscle. The parasites travel through the fish’s blood, quickly spreading to all areas of the body. Pleistophora not only affect the fish’s muscles but all its internal organs.



Treatment:

There is no effective cure for this illness, partly due to the fact that by the time diagnosis is confirmed the fish is too weak to be saved. If more than one fish in your aquarium succumbs to this parasite, the entire aquarium should be emptied and dissinfected. Some aquarists suggest the use of a diatom filter to trap the spores of the parasite and thus clear them from the tank.

Pleistophora can easily be mistaken for False Neon Disease, which is a bacterial infection and presents with the exact same symptoms. For this reason, it would be wise to remove the infected fish to a hospital tank (while disinfecting the main tank) and treat them with a broad spectrum antibiotic.

 

[black angel]

If you look closely at the fish NTD is under the skin and columnaris is above.

 

[mattbeau]

ok thank you, it is definately under the skin, I ended up having to hold them still with a net to take a closer look.

time to grab the vodka

 

[black angel]

false neon disease is bacterial and the real NTD is sporozoan which deffinately doesnt have a cure.
I would have thought that at two weeks if they had the real NTD they would be dead.

Found this to show you.
http/www.erdingtonaquatics.com/treatment/treatment5.html

the real NTD
http/www.fishpalace.org/Disease.html#NTD