Sick Serpae Tetra?

[follicle]

I had to work late tonight, but my wife got home and fed the fish and noticed that one of our three Serpae Tetra was floating alone behind a rock. He wasn't moving at all (just floating) and appeared to be gasping rapidly. He's also lost almost all of his orange color and you can see right through him. I don't think it's ick, because I think the "grains of salt" would definitely be visible. No other fish are sick (I don't think).

I tested the water tonight. pH of 7.6 (a tad high for Serpaes, but it's always been very stable), no ammonia or nitrites, and very low nitrates.

He moving a bit more now and swimming along with the pack. I posted a topic a few days ago about my Black Ghost Knife missing a portion of his front fin. I don't think it's fin rot, but someone recommended Melafix medication. Would something like that work for a fish like this?

 

[missileman]

Melafix can be used as a profolactic (spelling?) to prevent bacterial infection in an injured fish but I hate to say it would help in your situation. Your fish is obviously stressed by something.

 

[follicle]

He could be stressed, but I'm not sure what would be causing it. Everyone else in the tank is doing great and I've always been careful not to put the fish through any stress.

I've waited through the end of the week and then the weekend and the little guy is still white as a ghost and just keeps gasping for air. He keeps hiding behind the wood and rocks and simply won't eat anything so I went ahead and quarantined the fish.

I suppose the next step would be to look into some medication. What kind of medication would I look into for a situation like this?

Thanks!

 

[follicle]

Update...

When I got home tonight, the fish had passed away and of course, now I'm kind of concerned about everyone else in the tank. Luckily, he passed away in the quarantine tank. I tested the water in my main tank and everything is good (pH is stable, no ammonia, no nitrites, very little nitrates). Everyone else seems to be fine and swimming around happily.

So here are all of the symptoms he had:

• Complete loss of appetite
• Hiding behind rocks almost all the time
• Appeared as if he was gasping for air rapidly
• Lost nearly all of his color (turned a grayish white)
• The disease(?) took the course of about a week but could have been a bit longer.

I'm still interested in finding out what he might have had and if it's possible that it could spread to my other fish. My water has always been really staple and the most stress I would cause would be when I did my weekly water changes – nothing out of the norm. I mean, everyone seems great right now. Swimming like crazy and eating as usual.

Any other insights? Anything I should to in the meantime?

Thanks!