Worried about my ember tetras?

[Nannacara_fan]

Tank size: 40g
tank age: 1 month
pH: 7 ppm
ammonia: 0 ppm
nitrite: 0 ppm
nitrate: close to 1pm (barely visible)
kH: 40 ppm
gH: 5.6 dhg
tank temp: 77F or 25c
Tank mates: 7 emperor tetras, a few shrimp and a mystery snail

Recently I notified one of my self isolating ember tetras had gotten a sunken belly, he was also acting lethargic and not moving much just swimming in place in the middle of the tank, breathing rapidly, I’ve treated the tank with para-cleanse yesterday, I’ve noticed he’s a bit more active, and I think his belly’s more flat now? He tried eating but spat most of it out, he still does kinda swim in one place though most of the time just moves around more often and I think he’s trying to school now? Not very well though.
I’m also concerned about a few others? One female has a white granular sand/ seed like thing near her anal fin, and another has some blackish marks/dots near their too. I’ve seen a few photos which show fish with similar markings but most don’t, I’m worried this might be some sort of disease? Maybe the same thing? But their mostly healthy beyond lacking some colors (when I got them from my local pet shop they hadn’t colors up much)

Any advice in what this is? Do all of them have some kind of internal parasite? Are the females infected too? I did add some prime as I’m worried my water quality will dip so to the meds

 

[GaryE]

My approach would be to add no meds. You have had the fish for one month, and basic quarantine for pet shop/supply chain issues is 6 weeks. It is unfortunately likely you'll lose some fish in that time.

Just watch for the obvious parasite problems, keep the regular maintenance going, and let us know if anything concrete develops. The photos look fine, at least to my eyes.

 

[Nannacara_fan]

My approach would be to add no meds. You have had the fish for one month, and basic quarantine for pet shop/supply chain issues is 6 weeks. It is unfortunately likely you'll lose some fish in that time.

Just watch for the obvious parasite problems, keep the regular maintenance going, and let us know if anything concrete develops. The photos look fine, at least to my eyes.

Really? I mean I have heard it is normal for some small dither fish to die once brought back home?
Should I end my course of para-cleanse early than or just continue and monitor after and see what happens?
Also as for my females I’m assuming your saying their normal, which is a slight relief. Still confused on what it is?

 

[GaryE]

Once you start a med, you run the full treatment, every time. Paracleanse is a good med that will do no harm and may do good.

I'm not saying that all is normal. What I am suggesting is that without a clearer idea, you can't treat yet. You may never have to. Aquarium medications are fairly primitive, and hobbyists starting out tend to shotgun them at problems in an attempt to do something, anything. Used wrongly, like any med they can be harmful. So I try to only use them when I know exactly what I am using them for.

I see a cyst on the second photo. I would watch for ich, but it isn't in a place where ich usually shows up. If it stays as one granular white spot, it may be an injury from netting, or nipping in the store. You always have to bear in mind your fish traveled from the wholesaler's, wherever that is, in a small bag with anywhere from 30 to 100 fish of its species. Stuff happens. So that spot has to be monitored, to see if a second appears. If one does (and only if) you would need a malachite green based ich med.

I don't see anything worrisome on the first fish. Black spots are usually pigment, and there are no treatable diseases that begin with them. In rare cases, it can be skin cancer, but that isn't common with tetras, and it's neither treatable nor communicable.

I have a fair bit of experience with fishkeeping, but the downside of that is I have old eyeballs. If you're very concerned, try for a closer up shot of the fish. Maybe a sharp eyes member with experience treating fish diseases and parasites might spot something I don't, but they look okay to me. Online diagnosis from photos is not an exact science.