Red gills?

[Little Vicious]

Hello!

I have two neon black tetras that have bright red inflamed gills. They’re kinda sticking out a little and look like they won’t close. No other symptoms. They appear to be eating fine and swimming around actively for now. See attached pictures!
I initially suspected ammonia poisoning, but the ammonia is at 0 ppm and has been since I introduced the first fish. I did a water change and added stress coat.


Okay, the details…

It’s a 20 gallon tank. It was first set up May 21. I did a fishless cycle and waiting until ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates all reached 0 (used turbo start to boost this process). The first fish was added June 17 (3 hillstream loaches). Then I added the rest of the fish, spread out between June 17 to June 24, while testing the parameters each day. Ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates all stayed at 0.

So it’s a pretty new tank-little more than a month. There’s 4 celestial pearl danio (there was 6-two died of unknown causes), 6 black neon tetras, 2 dwarf gourami (one male, one female), 3 hillstream loaches, 5 amano shrimp, and some nerite snails…and a random baby guppy. The most recent addition were the shrimp (June 24). The neon tetras and the dwarf gourami were added June 23. All fish were acclimated by floating the bags on the water for ~30 minutes and slowly adding the tank water to their bags.

Current parameters:

pH: 6.8
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrites: 0 ppm
Nitrates: 10 ppm
kH: 1 degree
gH: 11 degrees

Other details…

- Filter: aqua clear 30 gal
- Substrate: fluorite
- Planted tank - I add flourish and excel every day
- It is a CO2 tank! Indicator has been green but I ran out of CO2 2 days ago so it hasn’t been running and now it’s blue…just added more today and it’ll be running again tomorrow.

Water changes:

Last water change was June 23 (5 gal). I just did a water change this evening - 5 gals again. I vacuum the gravel to the best of my ability whilst trying to grow a carpet of Monte Carlo…


Phew! Okay, I think that covers everything, haha. I keep a journal of every test I do or anytime I add anything or see any changes in the tank. I may have added all the fish too quickly and I can tell you I didn’t quarantine them!

 

[Aiken Drum]

While ammonia is the most likely cause of your symptoms, bacterial and parastic infection can also be a cause of red gills.

Just because you arent seeing any ammonia in your tank doesnt necessarily mean it isnt ammonia. It could be a hangover from the store or maybe ammonia build up in the bag while they where transported to your tank and you got them into your tank. How long did it take to get your fish home, acclimated and into their new home?

 

[Little Vicious]

Those are some interesting points! It’s about a 25 minute drive and I let them acclimate in the bag for 45 minutes. The tetras have been in my tank for 7 days now.

I woke up this morning and noticed that a third one is showing the same symptoms though.