NTD

Question

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Followup To

Question -
Hello, I have a 10 gallon tank with 5 neons, and 3 white tetra's in it.  I last week noticed ick on my fish, mostly on one of the whites and one of the neons.  I went to the pet store and the guy recommended coppersafe to me.  I have been using it for a while, the white who was doing pretty bad, breathing rapidly and staying still, seems to be doing a little bit better, and the ick is coming off of him.  My neon is doing the same or maybe even worse, he is breathing very rapidly and the ick is still on him, he still eats a bit though.  Any recommendations?  The levels of PH and ammonia are normal, and I am keeping the tank aerated more than normal, and around 78 to 80 degrees.

Answer -
Hi Drew;

You might try using aquarium salt and raising the temperature even farther, to 85. Ich hates heat and salt. Add the salt at a rate of 1/2 teaspoon per gallon. You might want to make a 25% water change first though. It may help them all feel better.

How long has the tank been set up? If it has been less than 8 weeks there might be nitrite building up. Nitrite poisoning causes the fishes' blood to lose the ability to carry oxygen. Salt helps the fish tolerate that better. The water change will lower it too.  

I hope they get better soon.....

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins

Thank you for your response on the question concerning the Ick, most of the affected fish did recover.  I am having a problem with one of my neons again, and I'm afraid it's neon tetra disease.  He looks like his body is crooked and part of the very back fin on his body has been chewed off, he is eating fine and his swimming still appears normal.  Is there anything I can do?

Answer
Hi Drew;

Neon Tetra Disease usually shows as a color change in a section of the red portion of the fish. It is an organism that erodes tissue so part of the red color becomes white. As the disease progresses it can cause popeye and/or bloating and weight loss.

A crooked spine is usually either from toxin exposure (such as during new tank syndrome), muscle spams, vitamin deficiency or fish tuberculosis. There really isn't much you can do for these problems once they occur. It's possible to treat tuberculosis by separating him to another tank and using meds, but the spinal deformity is permanent. The only two possible medicines are Kanamycin and "Maracyn 2". Kanamycin is the preffered treatment. Fish TB lives intercellularly so other medicines can't penetrate to treat it. You could also feed a medicated food containing tetracycline. They are available at most fish stores. You could leave him in the tank and feed the rest of the fish medicated food too. You just don't want to add medicine capsules or tablets to the main tank. It makes a horrible mess. Foamy and sometimes even brown-foamy water. Yuck.

I have a neon that has looked funky like that for two years. He has a tumor on his lip, a sunken belly and an upward curved spine. He eats, swims and acts normal otherwise. Just looks weird. Since whatever it is has exposed the fish in the tank already, I see no need to move him out. It really is up to you. It sounds like he is getting picked on. Fish do that to eliminate others that attract predators. A weak or "different" fish is a blatant target for a predator. Poor guy.

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins