Not Sure If I Should Be Worried About Flashing/wound?

[cowgirluntamed]

First off, here are my parameters.
 
20 gallon freshwater with biowheel HOB filter that has marineland diamond blend(ammonia neutralizer crystals plus carbon) in a media bag. Temperature is 77 degrees(might drop down a degree at night when I have the heater in the room off(aquarium heater is never turned off).
 
Water tests as of early this morning
pH- 8.2(has always been this)
Ammonia- 0 (usually has been 0.25 and stayed steady, that's the reason I got the diamond blend because I have that amount of ammonia in my tap water)
Ni- 0
Na- 5
 
 
Anyway, I started out with glowfish Danios in my tank but I didn't care for them after a few months and exchanged them at a petstore for some Cardinal Tetras(around the 25th of March). Well, these tetras had ich when I got them and all of them died. So I waited to put more fish in it for a while. (I cleaned the tank thoroughly doing a partial water change and rinsing decorations out after leaving the tank with a high temperature for about a week to make sure all ich was dead). On April 9th I added some Mopani  driftwood to the tank after letting it soak for around a week. I wanted to do this before I got new fish so I wouldn't stress them out when adding it. My driftwood now has the white fuzzy like stuff growing on it(one medium piece, which is large for my 20 gal, and 2 small pieces).
 
April 19th I added 5 fish, 4 neon tetras and 1 guppy.
April 21st I added 5 glowlight tetras, took the guppy back and exchanged it for another neon tetra(the guppies were in same tank as neons and it was red and blue...but I just wanted tetras).
 
Ok, now to the problem, I don't know that much about tetras but I liked the look of them. I noticed one flashing today just a bit and I went over to gaze at all the fish. I noticed one of the neons seemed to have a wound or something next to one of its gills. It did NOT look inflamed. And I am not sure if this is the same fish that was flashing. It also had a piece of tail missing, as well as another neon had a tiny bit of tail missing. I did noticed 2 neons last night going crazy in circles. All of them like to seem to chase each other at some point but both types do swim together. The only thing I've done different is I introduced some freeze dried blood worms to their regular diet of Aqueon Tropical Flakes. That actually seemed to get them a bit more active as before they were waiting on the flakes to get dropped down by the filter and they weren't wanting to go to the top. They went to the top for the worms and then the next feeding they went to top(well, some of them) for the flakes. Is this normal for tetras to not swim to the top for food? I do have an airstone as I don't have any live plants. Anyway, I just didn't know if I should treat the tank with anything or add salt(I've read it may not be good for neons). I don't really want to treat it with chemicals as I didn't have luck treating the cardinals with the QuICK Cure that I had. I know tetras can be sensitive but I wanted other people's opinions on the matter. Also, this one neon that I noticed had possible a wound(looks like an indentation right behind right gill) is NOT breathing heavy. None of them have been going up to the surface at all and the glowlights look fine from what I can see. Thanks for any help in advance! And sorry if this was a bit rambling but I wanted to get all info in on what I've been doing lately.
   Kristen
 
ps- if needed I can TRY to get a picture but the last time I tried this my camera didn't want to focus on a fish that was moving...lol. Which it does seem to be moving fine.

 

[WILDER]

Any excess slime on gills, body, or fins?
Do the gills look swollen?
Can you describe the wound in for detail please. Does it look white with a pink, or red centre.
Or red with a white edging?
Has any fish been nipping the fins of the neons?

 

[cowgirluntamed]

Doesn't seem to be any excess slime on them at all. That right gill might be swollen but it's hard to tell. It almost looks like a scale is too far down but I don't know if that's from the wound or not. I think I'll try to get a picture of it because I'm not sure how to describe it. It only looks like an indentation right behind the gills on that side of it. No red or pink that I can see. And I only have neons and glowlights in the tank. The all chase each other at some point. But I did notice 2 of the neons going in very small quick circles around each other yesterday so maybe they were nipping at each other? I'm not sure. I'll go get a picture now if I can and try to get it up ASAP!
   Kristen

 

[WILDER]

He could of caught his gill on something in the tank.
Just make sure the indentation doesn't start to rot the skin away.
Keep a close eye for pink, or red wounds that have a circling of dead white tissue around the edges as this can be an ulcer.
Keep an eye on his breathing.
 
Also make sure the fins don't have a white edging, red edging, or pink edging.
 
You can use salt with neons but only half dose. Only use when necessary.

 

[cowgirluntamed]

Ok, here are some pictures. Not very great but best I could do. My camera doesn't like to focus on moving fish....oh well.   
First pic is of my tank setup. A bit crowded but lots of hidey holes they seem to love.

 
 
2nd pic is the clearest shot I could get of the wound plus his tail.

 
 
3rd pic is very blurry but you can see a slight bump on his "chin" area that is on the same side as the gill.

 
 
4th pic is slightly blurry but you can see the indentation and then the tail is pretty decent.

 
 

 

[WILDER]

I think I would medicate.
Can you isolate the sick fish?
Maracyn Plus. But if you use it in the main tank it will wipe the good bacteria out in the filter.
Keep an eye on the red stripe area for looking bleached out. Or a yellow dusting on blue area.
Any fluffy cotton wool patches on the fish. Gills, body, fins?

 

[cowgirluntamed]

Can't isolate unfortunately. I don't have a car right now so can't go get any medicine. Might be able to tomorrow. I did notice this morning when I turned the light on that one was a dull color but they all look good now. And no fluffy or cotton wool type patches anywhere to be seen. What does Maracyn Plus do? This is why I was asking about the salt. I didn't know if it could possibly help this issue or not. And I don't know if this was the one flashing or not. I haven't seen the flashing but those quick 3 or 4 times and that was before I got up to go look at the tank.
    Kristen

 

[WILDER]

Fish can flick and rub at times. But also they can flick and rub with bacterial infections. as well as parasites.
 
The bump on the chin does it look solid, or soft like filled with fluid.
What colour is the bump?'
Make sure there no stands coming out of the bump?
Also I can see some white edging to tail fins. Is the correct?
 
Maracyn Plus is a gram negative, gram positive antibiotic. Which treats gram negative, and gram positive bacteria.

 

[cowgirluntamed]

It's hard to see the bump. It looks more like it could be a loose scale or something to me. Can't see anything coming out of it. As for the tail fin, yes, it does have a white or pinkish edging a bit around where it's bit off(or whatever has happened to it). One other neon has the same sort of thing on it's tail. But I didn't know if these were the two that were doing whatever it was they were doing yesterday or not(quick fast circles around each other. don't know if they were nipping).
 
I've read that salt can help bacteria, but then again, I want to make sure my tetras are safe!
   Kristen

 

[WILDER]

I kept neons had a good first bunch. But the 2nd were terrible. Fetched NTD into the tank.
There not very hardy fish in my opinion once they start to get ill you have to act fast.
Don't think the salt will do much really. Only help slightly.
You could always add half dose if you have no other sensitive fish in the tank.

White, pink, red edging to fins is infection.
Here some information on finrot for you.
 
 
 

in Rot

 

 

Symptoms:

Fish may have deteriorating fins, often with red or white edges. Secondary Fungal infections often occur.
 


 

Cause: 

Bacterial infection caused by Aeromonas and/or Pseudomonas bacteria often precipitated by poor water quality, low water temperatures, or a combination of both.
 


 

Treatment: 

You will first want to determine the specific cause of the illness, so check your water�s quality Ammonia, Nitrite, pH, and Nitrate levels as well as the temperature. Be sure to provide optimal water conditions and the correct water temperature for the species of fish you are keeping. Treat with Kanacyn, Tetracycline, Furacyn, Nitrofura-G or Penicillin. Basically, you want an antibiotic specific for Aeromonas and Pseudomonas bacteria. The use of a medicated food is also wise. Treat the fish in isolation (i.e., quarantine tank) if only one fish is sick. If not, the whole tank should be treated. In either case, water conditions must be improved and proper temperature maintained for all fish. Adding salt to the water may be helpful.

The success rate for treating Fin Rot is good providing the illness is caught early and water conditions are kept optimal. Left untreated this infection can be deadly. Early treatment is essential! Once treated, fin tissue lost to this illness will grow back providing the fin rays and/or fin bases have not been damaged.
 

 

[cowgirluntamed]

I just have neons and glowlight tetras in the tank and that's it at the moment. The directions on the back of the aquarium salt that I have says...to condition the water and reduce stress in fish, use one level tablespoon for each 10 gallons of water.   To promote recovery from fish disease, use with Jungle fish care remedies at the rate of one tablespoon for each 5 gallons of water. (the brand for the salt is Jungle). Should I do the first one or half of that dose since I don't yet have meds for this?
   Kristen

 

[WILDER]

Just add two tablespoons of salt as you can only half dose with neon tetra's.
Also I would try and buy a medication just in case. 
 
Hope they improve.
Good Luck.

They might start ot flick and rub, even dart around the tank after adding the salt.
 If it carries on for more than 40 minutes dilute the salt down with a water change.

 

[cowgirluntamed]

Thanks for the info. I had wanted to add more fish to the tank tomorrow if PetSmart had them in, but I guess I'll just go and look for fin/tail rot medicine. Is there any I should avoid? I can try to look for the one you suggested but I have no idea what they sell. I'll try the salt after I wake up tonight. I'm getting ready to go to bed now(I work nights but I'm on vacation now). That way I can check them better and stay awake! Anyway, thanks again for all the info!!
   Kristen

 

[WILDER]

I only know a few bacterial medication in the US. There listed in the link I left.
The finrot link I left they suggest medications but there all antibiotics.Which I think you need.
But you will have to recycle the tank afterwards.
 
Have a good night sleep.I'm on my way to bed too.
 
Good Luck.
Elaine.

 

[cowgirluntamed]

Put two tablespoons of salt in(1 tablespoon an hour a part so as not to stress fish), and they seem to be doing fine with that. Though I did notice another one(on same side) had some sort of whitish coloration on it. I will try to go in and get some medicine today just to be on the safeside. And the weird thing is it's only on my neons, not the glowlights. They seem just fine.
   Kristen