What's Wrong With My Phantom Tetra?

[karawr]

Hello,

Recently bought 3 new bpts to add to my school of 7 and noticed one has a white area at the base of its body, right where its fin starts. Another one looks like its fins have been bitten off while the third looks completely healthy...

White guy and shredded fin...

A better pic of white guy...

Now they are considerably smaller than my original bpts. Are they being aggressive towards the new ones? Haven't noticed any bullying.

Ammonia/nitrite 0.

 

[creeker]

Shredded fin one looks like it has been picked on. Fin Rot would show a very even line with a white edge. I don't see that there. One with the white area does look like a possible secondary bacterial infection. Is it just a clear white or is it kind of fuzzy looking?

 

[karawr]

It's clear white and it's now moved up his body and he's swimming nose-down. Don't think there's any hope for him and will return him to petstore today. Don't think this is anything I've done as I only got him sunday evening

What should I do about the one who's been picked on? Today his fins look worse also. Should I replace? The third bpt is doing well, no shredded fins or infection. If I replaced I wonder if they would just pick on the other replacements. From what I can see, the two doing poorly are female and the one doing well is definitely male.

Sigh. Not overly fond of this tetra to begin with. Mine are always hiding in the corner despite being the only tetra in the tank. I think I will try to return, although my local petstores don't exactly have a very good return policy.

 

[blesser13]

It could be bacterial, 1 of my neon tetras have white spots (not ick) look like kinda damaged and he is like this for long long time but still eat, the white spots never went away. If it doesn't spread over the other fishes you should not worry about, if he eat and act normally allow few time maybe it will go away. Also try to keep your water as clean possible if they act weirdly

 

[karawr]

Well he is for sure dying. The white part has encompassed half his body and he is unable to swim and getting stuck to the intake. But I will make sure to watch carefully and once he dies I will remove right away so the others don't eat the body and then something nasty happens to them...

For those interested in knowing I got these fish from petsmart and with my recent purchases I'd really advise against going there for fish. From all my purchases there has been a 50/50 chance that they survive and a lot of them have ended up sick. I even went to petsmart one time and all their tanks were infected with ich yet they were still selling everything!! Unbelievable...

 

[Caprichoso]

I would file a complaint to the manager and possibly to head office. If people don't voice their opinions to the right people, nothing will ever change.

 

[karawr]

I am actually planning on mailing a letter to the head office next week. I have heard some inside stories from this store and they are horrible...

And looked at the shredded guy more closely today, he is now resembling more the infected fish. I'm sure they both have the same infection.

Waiting on the the very bad one to die. I don't have any means of euthanizing him besides freezing but that wouldn't be overly humane... will return the other one to petsmart.

As for the rest of the fish they are all looking fine so hoping they won't catch as they are healthy and should fight it off... but I will do a large w/c.

 

[chewit]

Hi dont blame the store
could be anything fish are funny things an lots of companies get a lot of fish could bitting an getting infections is part of there life

 

[Caprichoso]

After your initial water change, I would do 25% daily water changes for the next week or so. Yes, don't freeze the fish, it's very cruel IMO. If you have the stomach for it, just kill it yourself or get someone else to. I also would opt for keeping the sick fish personally, since it doesn't seem to be inflicted with a parasite. If one of the fish is sick, it's most likely it's infected the whole tank but the other fish are able to fight it off. Usually when fish get sick it's already in the water but it's something in the environment that brings it out, like poor water quality or stress, or they were sick already. If you can keep the water in perfect condition, the fish will likely pull through. I've had fish that came from a dodgy lfs and I have been able to bring them back from the brink of death. Also keep an eye on any aggressive behaviours from the other fish. If the sick one is getting bullied, yes, I would bring it back if you aren't able to quarantine it.