Neon Tetra Disease? (kind of long)

[GouramiFanatic]

A coworker of mine has the same tank setup as I do and it's in very rough shape! She had about 20-25 assorted fish; Tetras (Pristellas, Von Rio, Lemon, Head & Tail Light, Glowlight, Bleeding Heart, Rummynose), Black Phantoms, Cories, White Clouds, and an Apple Snail. Her most recent purchase was a trio of White Clouds. About a week or so after she purchased the White Clouds a few of her fish became sick and unfortunately died (one of them was a White Cloud). Then over the next couple of days, things seemed to have returned to the way they were. Then last Thursday we noticed what appeared to be Ich on a few of the fish so she put in some Ich medication. The following day one of the fish (not sure which one as I'm not familiar with most of her fish) had this white bubble on the bottom of it's mouth. Another fish had white cyst like bumps on it's side. It almost looked like the scales turned white and became more 3D like. Then towards the end of the day we noticed that a few of the fish weren't swimming normally and a their rear ends were losing color. After doing some research online we found out about Neon Tetra Disease. Most of the symptoms that we saw seemed to match up with NTD. This was at the end of the work day so unfortunately there wasn't much that we could do. We don't have a QT or hospital tank set up since it's our office and the owner of the company probably wouldn't approve of it (makes the office look unprofessional, etc.) so she ended up doing a PWC and hoped for the best over the weekend.This morning we went in and found that 7 of her fish had died over the weekend and 5 more died during the day. The remaining fish look like they may make it, but I guess only time will tell.

Now my questions are (I'm sorry there are so many)...

#1 - Does this sound like a Neon Tetra Disease (even though there were no NT in her tank)?

#2 - Most of the websites I went to said there was no cure, is there at least some kind of a treatment to help the remaining fish?

#3 - If she has to treat the tank with meds that could hurt the Snail, would removing him from the tank to a glass bowl (in the same water) and back to the tank again just reinfest the tank?

#4 - How can she treat her tank and get it healthy again for more fish and how can she tell it's safe to add more?

#5 - What should she do with her python that she uses for PWC?

Any other info would be appreciated!

Thanks,
- Mandy

 

[Botia4Life]

Well, to my ears, it sounds like a collection of diseases, like ich and fungus, but the losing color sounds like NTD, but don't put stock in it I think. What fsih were losing color? I don't know about #3 but I think it would be ok. #4- Use medication and heat treatment for the tank, don't usually trust cure all meds. And don't add fish for a couple weeks after the fish are healthy, the tank parameters should be stable so check them with a water testing kit. You can use the strip kind. the python should be fine. Can't help you with the owner though..haha

 

[talloulou]

Don't use heat treatment! If there's bacteria involved secondarily heat could make it worse! It does sound like neon tetra disease and if that's the case there isn't a cure. I would hope that the remaining fish are immune. Do lots of pwc & gravel vac. If a fish looks bad, remove it right away. Clean the python with bleach in between cleanings.

 

[Apocalypse_Gold]

The loss of color from ntd is more gradual as the flesh underneath is eroded. Most likely the fish are stressed, either from poor water conditions, a general bacterial infection, the ich meds, parasites, or some form of acute poisoning. A complete test of water parameters is definitely in order, and more partial water changes. If it is ntd, Jungle makes a medicated food that is supposed to help prevent it from spreading, but the affected fish should be removed. If you don't have a good test kit, go out and buy one. Liquid test kits are much better than strips.