Is it Neon Tetra Disease?

[JackSpadesSI]

I've got four neon tetras. Three of them are "friends" while one keeps to himself. However, I fear that the loner isn't just a different personality, but actually sick. Wikipedia gives six symptoms of Neon Tetra Disease (NTD):

1) Restlessness, 2) fish begins to lose coloration, 3) as cysts develop the body may become lumpy, 4) fish has difficulty swimming, 5) in advanced cases the spine may become curved, and 6) secondary infections such as fin rot and bloating.

The loaner fish does look restless: he moves his fins a lot more than his buddies do to stay still, although he doesn't move around a ton (but he does move around a little). His red line is slightly translucent - losing coloration? No cysts. I'm not sure what I would consider difficulty swimming - the unnecessarily rapid fin movement is worrisome, but he still gets around. No curved spine. No rotting fins and no bloating.

Thoughts? I really don't want him to infect the tank, but I'd HATE to kill the guy if there was nothing wrong with him other than a bit of a bad mood!

 

[Crepe]

How long have you had him? How long as the tank been established? Where did you get the fish? Have you only had 4 or were there more and unexplained deaths? How old is the fish? What are you feeding them? Is he eating?

Tank conditions:
ph :
nitrates:
ammonia:
temperature:

Lastly a picture will help.

You also have to realize neons have been bred in aquaria for so long their genes are no where near their prime. It could just be a a defective individual. A failed cull.

Neon tetra disease is very uncommon...I wouldn't fret.

 

[OhNeil1969]

I agree with Crepe. Check your water and monitor the fish. If your water is ok I would just watch him. If he's new to your tank just give him some time to acclimate. Also, you don't mention if there are other tanks mates besides the neon tetras. Is it possible he's being stressed by another fish?

 

[fishguy1]

This is why it's good to have a quarantine tank. While NTD is not curable, you can remove it for observation, protecting the rest of the fish.

NTD is not very common, and the symptoms you described could be caused by any number of different ailments. Still, the fish should be isolated.

 

[JackSpadesSI]

Crepe: I've had all four neons for two days today. None of these four died, but I did lose all three neons on day one of the tank to New Tank Syndrome (when I was even more ignorant than I am now). The two sets of neons never met in my tank.

My tank has been running for 10 days (I use SeaChem Stability to fast cycle). Everything in the tank was bought at PetSmart. I have no clue how old the neons are. I feed them flakes 2x daily and the ADF gets Frog Bites. This neon doesn't really eat - at least not that I've seen (certainly not during feeding time).

I don't have any recent water test data. I don't think a picture would help as he LOOKS perfectly normal - behavior is the issue.

OhNeil1969: The tank also houses three male guppies, ~15 guppy fry (four days old), one molly, and one ADF.

Fishguy1: Yes, a quarantine tank would be great in this case. Unfortunately, it was a fight with my wife just to get this one tank. I suspect a QT may happen eventually, but it could be a while. Therefore, my only options are to leave him in my tank, or return/replace him.

 

[fishguy1]

I would remove it from the tank for sure if you think there's something wrong with it. What you do with the fish once it's out of the tank is up to you. Perhaps euthanizing the fish because you can't take the chance it'll infect the others will demonstrate to her the importance of having a QT. It doesn't have to be more than a rubbermaid container with a sponge filter and heater.

 

[JackSpadesSI]

The one neon was looking pretty bad when I got home from work yesterday. Nothing was physically evident, but he was drifting around and working really hard to avoid bumping into things. He didn't make any attempt to eat when I fed the tank - even when some flakes fell right in front of him.

I decided to remove him and return him. When I put the net in the water he didn't acknowledge it at all. Once I got him into a bag with tank water he had major problems staying upright. I doubt he made it more than 30 minutes after we got to the store :-(

I'm keeping an eye on the remaining three neons (and the other fish). They all look good for now. Should I be worried?

 

[fishguy1]

IME neon tetra disease kills pretty quickly once there are visible signs - within a couple of days. It becomes a domino effect and you end up taking dead/dying fish out every day.


I judge how sick a fish is by whether it can escape the net. The sicker the fish, the easier it is to catch.

 

[OhNeil1969]

Just curious as to whether there's been any change in your other neon tetras. Just had the misfortune of purchasing 3 more neons to complete a school only to have 1 die after 1 day (not even worth the effort to drive and get a refund). To add insult to injury, I find that the others are covered with ich (couldn't see it in the stores tanks due to poor lighting). The one that died exhibited many of the same symptoms you cited with your neon. I'm treating the ich now but am concerned that there may be other issues (crossing my fingers and hoping).

 

[mudraker]

If you only had the tank running 10 days and you used fast start, the tank is still cycling.

I would take all the fish back, especially if you suspect ich, and complete the cycle before buying any more.

Here is a great link on how to cycle the tank so it will be a healthy envrironment for fish in the future.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f15/fishless-cycling-for-dummies-103339.html

 

[JackSpadesSI]

If you only had the tank running 10 days and you used fast start, the tank is still cycling.

I would take all the fish back, especially if you suspect ich, and complete the cycle before buying any more.

Here is a great link on how to cycle the tank so it will be a healthy envrironment for fish in the future.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f15/fishless-cycling-for-dummies-103339.html

I think you're confusing two posts. My tank was running for 10 days, but I don't (and didn't) suspect ich.

My other three neons are still fine and happy - and so is everyone else in my tank!