Tropical Fish Keeping banner

Neon Tetra Disease?

10K views 19 replies 7 participants last post by  Tyyrlym 
#1 ·
So I bought about 20 Neon Tetra... all were shoaling like normal, except this one that stuck around the top. It was swimming, but seemed to be carried around by the current. Wondering if anyone can tell if it has Neon Tetra Disease. Quarantined it just in case.

Here are some images:


 
See less See more
3
#3 ·
Well as said, he was swimming far away from the rest of the school, if I'm using the correct terminology.

He died earlier today. I hope it was from a pre-purchase condition (bought him two days ago, on Saturday) rather than from my isolating him in quarantine.
 
#4 ·
Sorry to hear that.

I can't really say what it looks like. In one picture his spine appears to be deformed but in the other two rather fine. Sitting at the surface gasping and getting blown around in the current aren't normal so he was definitely sick. The good thing is he was removed prior to death which prevented the other fish from consuming the remains.
 
#5 ·
How long have you had the neons for? I wouldn't jump to the conclusion about it being neon tetra disease just yet (there are many possibilites), but do you have them all in quarantine?

If you have the means, I'd always recommend quarantining new fish for at least 28 days prior to adding to an established tank.
 
#10 ·
Well, according to the source. But it's protozoa after all. I'm not sure if other species are just immune or if the protozoa doesn't target them or whatnot.

I'm really not the master on this... not sure if those lumps are natural or not. Guess you'll have to wait for the other guys.

EDIT: In restrospect, I probably should've posted in the diseases forum.
 
#11 ·
When I've gotten new neons I've noticed some kind of angular bumps. They have gone away once the fish have been feed enough and beef up a little. There must be a lot of competition for food in some of those tanks. I've seen literally hundreds of little neons in a lfs tank. Survival of the fittest.

I've also noticed that my females (formerly fat w/eggs) have looked a bit emaciated for a short time after they must have laid eggs (I only noticed because the male was protecting the spawn area and chasing the other neons away.) This went away quickly too.

When I first set up my tank and was ready for fish I went and purchased 20 neon tetras. I thought that they were so small that the bio load wouldn't be a problem. Well it was. They got ick and fungus and all of them died taking 5 of my previous 6 healthy ones with them. I learned a big bad lesson. If only the lfs didn't promote special offers like 20 for $10 and the like. Ethically, they knew better and should've told me not to put more than 3 or 4 little fish into a tank at a time. So I lived and learned a lesson there. It is possible that what you're seeing isn't neon tetra disease, but their immune systems breaking down because of the amount of fish introduced to the tank at one time. Check your ammonia levels frequently until all are healthy again. You may need to do some water changes until your tank parameters come back into balance.
 
#13 ·
My thoughts on this are that it used to be,, fish were bred here in the US by breeders that started with quality stock and thus quality fish were readily available. More and more fish these days are imported and due to poor fish keeping by some breeders, heavy use of anti- biotics, hormone treatments, and dyes used to enhance coloring,,, many of the fish are sick when they arrive. Add to this the travel time and acclimation from shipping water to dealers tanks and then to hobbyists tanks and many fish do not survive. I might be tempted were it me, (and it ain't) to look on places such as aqua bid for breeders here in the US that offer the same fishes but perhaps of better quality assuming that the people who raise them take proper care to produce quality stock. It would seem that they might ,if they wished to make any money doing so. Fish farms in the east or here for that matter are more interested in turning out volume rather than quality. IMHO
 
#14 ·
Neon tetra disease is not that common. The problem is that any time a neon dies it is immediately blamed on NTD, sort of the curse of having that disease named after them.

I have a dozen neons right now in a well maintained tank. I've had this group from a start of just four and built it up. They've been going strong for almost seven months now with nary a death.

Neons are small fish, and like any small fish small changes in the habitat will affect them more seriously than a larger fish. Most "delicate" fish aren't really that delicate, they're just intolerant of poor living conditions. Given a well maintained tank, a good diet, and an owner who actively looks after their health they're no more delicate than any other fish. A delicate fish to me is a dwarf gourami, who even if well looked after is still always in danger of infection.
 
#15 ·
Despite proper care, fish that are sick from the outset do poorly. It then ceases to be a hobby from which pleasure or joy can be realized and quickly tuns into a stressful,time consuming, and often expensive exercise in medicating which more often as not yields mediocre results.We need to learn how when purchasing fish,, to identify those that are possibly sick. Of the fish I have kept, The Discus and otocinclus ,have been hands down, the most sensitive followed by neons and cardinals.
 
#17 ·
I would watch them for other symptoms and unhealthy appearing behaviors (listlessness, isolation, swimming problems, etc.) and keep a close eye on your water parameters. Feed them well maybe two smaller meals a day instead of one for awhile, but don't overfeed.

If you find other symptoms (fungus, ich, whatever) isolate them immediately and treat. If it were me I would start off with them in a quarantine tank and then isolate any that appear sick. But as far as the bumps go, I've seen them on mine when I purchased them. Now that they have a little flesh, they appear smooth. The only time I see anything like them (flesh that is bumpy, etc.) anymore is after the females have dropped their eggs until they beef up again.
 
#20 ·
Yeah, that is definitely not a neon in good health. He's lost a great deal of fin for some reason and his body is... well not right. I don't know what it is but isolation from everyone else in a QT tank at a minimum.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top