Faded Neon Tetras

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sciencegirl

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Nov 2, 2004
Messages
70
Location
Ontario, Canada
I've got a 10 gal planted with 3 neons, 3 glolights, and 3 otocinclus. Two of the neons have strange faded areas - one has a faded blotch, the other has a pale line from tail to his middle. I've also noticed that he doesn't close his mouth completely - he looks like he has an underbite. I'm not sure if this is related to his fading colour.
My parameters are constant, and I'm just bringing down the temp and slowly reducing the salt with partial water changes after trying (not sure if I was successful or not) to eliminate ich. Temp is steady now at about 26 degrees C.
Is it possible that the fish are just old, or are they really ill? They are eating ok and seem normal behaviourally.
 
I would get those neons out of that tank if you can. They sound like they may be ill. I have a sneaky suspicion if you keep them in there, the other fish will end up getting sick too.
 
It may be neon tetra disease, in which case you definitely have to take the neons out of the main tank, because it is contagious. I don't believe there is a cure for NTD... however, it may just be some fungus or bacteria, in which case it could be cured with an anti-bacterial solutions. I would put the fish in quarantine, try treating them for fungus/bacteria and keep an eye on the main tank in case another fish shows similar symptoms. Here are a few websites that may help you diagnose:
http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/disease/p/neondisease.htm
http://www.fishpalace.org/Disease.html#NTD
http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/hdntd.htm
HTH!
 
ScienceGirl, you live in Ontario, I could almost bet and win where you bought them from. My sister had 3 die from a "grey patch" on the side, faded, but looked like a popped blister (not fluid filled) and I couldn't find exactly what it was, but I know it wasn't NTD, NTD is actually pretty uncommon but can be noticed immediately by it only affecting the red in the Neon).

As for treatment, I know some will yell at me for this, but I used Coppersafe (Mardel) on her tank, it killed 1 plant, but her neons started to recover, would mean it's parasitic) the only thing I could go on was an occasional flash on ornaments, and the skin looked almost as if it was deprived of something..

I can't guarantee it will help with your Neons, but in her case, she still has 6 left and no Neons died after that.

A warning about copper, you can never truely get it out of your tank, tho I used it in my 75 for ick (I know, heat/salt) and the readings i get for copper now are 0 (but I bet there is some in the substrate)
 
Probably dropped about 1 degree every day - I think the fading started before that. I think they look worse - I can't decide if I need to use coppersafe - I really dont' want to euthanize them, but I'm really concerned that my otos will be affected, either by treatment or disease.
 
If I'm not too late on this post, try using Nalagram to treat the fish. If it is Neon tetra disease, I have found this medication to be quite effective in at least keeping others from coming down with it. The faded areas sound very familiar to neon tetra disease. If it's not neon tetra disease, then it's most likely another type and the Nalagram is effective for other diseases.
 
Thanks
I couldn't find it but I'm going to search further tomorrow. I thought that NTD was caused by a protozoan though - I guess they're pretty hard to kill.
I hope my guys will last long enough for me to treat them. They are still eating heartily, which must be a good sign?
Wish me luck - any other suggestions are welcome...
 
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