Linwood
Aquarium Advice FINatic
I have a 45G planted community tank, with 5 longfin red serpae tetra, 2 angels, 1 BN pleco, 1 raphael catfish, numerous shrimp and snails. Previously I had 5 congo tetra in there but they were a bit too aggressive during feeding so they moved to a larger home. Cycled, good water.
One, and only one of the tetras is about half dead. For weeks now he has slowed and eventually stopped eating, swims nose up, lost a lot of color and weight. It came on gradually, he ate less and less (thinking intimidation was a role I moved the congos).
There are no other symptoms, no sign of parasites, he's half transparent so no large ones internally. No flashing, no deformity, no unusual swimming except he is about 20 degrees nose up most of the time (but still roams the tank, and still reacts quickly to the infrequent harassment of his mates). He now ignores food, all food (even bloodworms the others swarm for). I've reviewed lots of fish disease sites and nothing definitive seems to match.
My guess is he is just going to die, maybe it was his time.
So here's my question - given there's something undiagnosed going on, do such things generally get more contagious over time? It's way too late if it was particularly contagious now.
My wife would not like to see him disposed of pro-actively, but I am leaning in that direction. Please note I am not asking an ethical question, there's no "right" answer to such.
I am asking whether most fish diseases that might fit this description become more dangerous nearer death; is any protective purpose served by removing him pro-actively at this point?
One, and only one of the tetras is about half dead. For weeks now he has slowed and eventually stopped eating, swims nose up, lost a lot of color and weight. It came on gradually, he ate less and less (thinking intimidation was a role I moved the congos).
There are no other symptoms, no sign of parasites, he's half transparent so no large ones internally. No flashing, no deformity, no unusual swimming except he is about 20 degrees nose up most of the time (but still roams the tank, and still reacts quickly to the infrequent harassment of his mates). He now ignores food, all food (even bloodworms the others swarm for). I've reviewed lots of fish disease sites and nothing definitive seems to match.
My guess is he is just going to die, maybe it was his time.
So here's my question - given there's something undiagnosed going on, do such things generally get more contagious over time? It's way too late if it was particularly contagious now.
My wife would not like to see him disposed of pro-actively, but I am leaning in that direction. Please note I am not asking an ethical question, there's no "right" answer to such.
I am asking whether most fish diseases that might fit this description become more dangerous nearer death; is any protective purpose served by removing him pro-actively at this point?