Neon tetra disease :s

[Luna09]

I bought 4 neon tetras for my 10 gallon yesterday. They aren't schooling which is concerning me. 3 look very vibrant but one of them is a little dull which has me worried.

I've been reading about NTD and now I'm so paranoid I want to just get them all out of my tank.

I know that I am probably being silly and I really wish I had a QT, so much so that after work I plan on going out and buying a 5 gallon tomorrow.

Is there any information you can give me so that I stop worrying, possibly for nothing? Should I take the one dull one out? I have a breeder box he can float in but that doesn't stop water exchange....

 

[absolutangel04]

They get dull when they are stressed. Going into a new tank is often stressful as they get acclimated. Give it some time. If you can get a qt, that's great. He may not have been healthy when you bought him, but it's far more likely that he just is a weak fish with some issues rather than NTD.
A lot of fish don't school unless there is something bigger in the tank. Also, IME many tetras don't school unless there are more like 6 of them.

 

[Rach88]

I bought 4 neon tetras for my 10 gallon yesterday. They aren't schooling which is concerning me. 3 look very vibrant but one of them is a little dull which has me worried.

I've been reading about NTD and now I'm so paranoid I want to just get them all out of my tank.

I know that I am probably being silly and I really wish I had a QT, so much so that after work I plan on going out and buying a 5 gallon tomorrow.

Is there any information you can give me so that I stop worrying, possibly for nothing? Should I take the one dull one out? I have a breeder box he can float in but that doesn't stop water exchange....

I wouldn't worry just yet. I've found It's typical for most fish to look a bit dull due to the stress of being moved to a new tank, they'll colour up after settling in. As you have only 4 neons I'd suspect that is why they aren't schooling, I believe most think groups of at least 6 or more are best for showing natural schooling behaviour. IMO unless they're showing any other signs of illness then there's probably nothing wrong with them other than the stress of the move. check for other signs of illness and test your water parameters, if all is well then nothing to worry about I'd say

 

[Luna09]

Water is marvelous. A little alkaline but 0-0-5 I think. I'm not at home so can't double check. This is reassuring thank you I only got 4 because I was hoping to get some green neons asap and I figure they would school together. I know they are really common fish but with my little honey gourami they add a nice splash of colour to the tank and love all the plants!!

I just hate being worried and have a tendency to maybe over worry. I really appreciate all the help and I will let you know if he perks up or is sick. If you have any immune boosting tips they would be awesome. I dose my tank the first few days after I get a new fish with melafix to be safe. But any other tricks for keeping sickness down are MUCH appreciated !!

 

[killrsheep]

i just saw one of my tetras with a weird looking rash along his belly and mid secion, its actually "erased" part of the "neon" line on my little fishie

i do have a tank that i could set for QT but if its NTD then im just making my fish suffer more.

i added a pic, can anyone id this sickness?

 

[siva]

Water is marvelous. A little alkaline but 0-0-5 I think. I'm not at home so can't double check. This is reassuring thank you I only got 4 because I was hoping to get some green neons asap and I figure they would school together. I know they are really common fish but with my little honey gourami they add a nice splash of colour to the tank and love all the plants!!

I just hate being worried and have a tendency to maybe over worry. I really appreciate all the help and I will let you know if he perks up or is sick. If you have any immune boosting tips they would be awesome. I dose my tank the first few days after I get a new fish with melafix to be safe. But any other tricks for keeping sickness down are MUCH appreciated !!

Green neons are actually a different species so I wouldn't expect them to school together. They are smaller than regular neons. Sometimes similar types of tetras will hang out together a lot though, when I kept glowlights and neons together they did, so you may still like the result. I just love neons, even though they are so common. My school is half regular half gold, which is just a color morph of the regular neon, so if you want to add variety that will school together that's one way you can do it.

You never know, it may actually be that melafix that's bothering them, so you might want to cut that out. I'd have to say it's not a great treatment for much of anything besides damaged fins, and personally I wouldn't try to use it as a preventative.

 

[siva]

i just saw one of my tetras with a weird looking rash along his belly and mid secion, its actually "erased" part of the "neon" line on my little fishie

i do have a tank that i could set for QT but if its NTD then im just making my fish suffer more.

i added a pic, can anyone id this sickness?

Is the fin on that side damaged? It kinda looks like it was attacked.

 

[killrsheep]

No, the fins look Ok, not bitten or missing, but the anomally does look like a bruise, its pink with red specs on it, i remember reading ntd looks white and this looks far from white, also it is shoaling fine with the others and none seems to be attacking it now, what should i do? I'm clueless

 

[siva]

Hmm, so it doesn't look like scales are missing there?

 

[killrsheep]

By the way, the rash is on both sides symetrical, also i noticed just now that the 2 fins that are right in the middle bottom aren't moving (maybe it hurts ) the fins at the bottom front and back move ok

Sorry i don't know fin terminology

 

[siva]

Weird. You should start a new thread asking for help ID'ing it. I really don't know.

 

[killrsheep]

Hmm, so it doesn't look like scales are missing there?

I can't tell but it can't see its silver belly anymore, i just see pink. .. oh wait when the Sun strikes its body its scales do shimmer (a bit less on the pink part but it does)

 

[siva]

Have you checked your water parameters..ammo, nitrite, etc? I've never seen anything quite like that..on both sides.

 

[killrsheep]

Have you checked your water parameters..ammo, nitrite, etc? I've never seen anything quite like that..on both sides.

Not recently, i just ran out of tests

 

[Luna09]

Green neons are actually a different species so I wouldn't expect them to school together. They are smaller than regular neons. Sometimes similar types of tetras will hang out together a lot though, when I kept glowlights and neons together they did, so you may still like the result. I just love neons, even though they are so common. My school is half regular half gold, which is just a color morph of the regular neon, so if you want to add variety that will school together that's one way you can do it.

You never know, it may actually be that melafix that's bothering them, so you might want to cut that out. I'd have to say it's not a great treatment for much of anything besides damaged fins, and personally I wouldn't try to use it as a preventative.

Thank you!! I put my carbon back in, hopefully we will see if it is the melafix by morning

I guess I need to do more reading, I thought the greens were a morph like the gold. Thanks

 

[Luna09]

i just saw one of my tetras with a weird looking rash along his belly and mid secion, its actually "erased" part of the "neon" line on my little fishie

i do have a tank that i could set for QT but if its NTD then im just making my fish suffer more.

i added a pic, can anyone id this sickness?

Did you find out what the problem is? I would suggest qt and maybe a salt treatment if you don't have a clue. Won't do damage if it is a weak solution and salt fixes a surprising of problems.

 

[killrsheep]

Did you find out what the problem is? I would suggest qt and maybe a salt treatment if you don't have a clue. Won't do damage if it is a weak solution and salt fixes a surprising of problems.

Not yet, i have a 2g hex tank and a small pump with mechanical filter that i can use for QT i also have aquarium salt at hand wich i have never used, how much should i use? (I have filled my QT tank with aquarium water)

...i just got back from the movies an my fishies are sleeping (may sound irresponsible but it thought moving my fish w/o knowing squat, would be even worse)

I also have some old methylene blue lying around, I'm pretty sure salt is not a substance that expires but how about methylene blue... should i even use it?

I'm waiting till my fish are awake before i move him/her i don't want to overstress the poor guy/girl

 

[Rach88]

I wouldn't use any actual medications until you've identified exactly what the problem is. Salt is good for a number of things so if you use anything use that. I'm unsure of the amount you'd need so wait until someone with more experience chimes in with dosage amounts. Have you googled other various fish illnesses and disease like velvet? I'd check those out and look at the pictures, may help you to identify possibilities

 

[Luna09]

Definitely don't medicate with anything other than salt till you are sure. As far as the salt goes, on most boxes it gives instructions depending on what you are using it for. Mine says 1 level tbsp for every 5 gallons if you are treating a sick fish.

If you have never used salt before and because your aquarium is smaller, I would start off by using half a tsp. raise temperature to 80-82•F (about 27-28•C) and maintain for 36 hours. It helps if aeration is high because the warmer the water, the less oxygen there is in the water.

******make sure you take a cup with some aquarium water, mix the salt into it and then add the cup of saltwater to a high flow area of your tank. Just adding it without it being dissolved could burn the little guy and/or won't dissolve properly and won't help him out.******