Pet Information > ASK Experts > Pet Fish > Freshwater Aquarium > dying neon tetra?

dying neon tetra?

23 16:30:19

Question
I bought 5 neons for my tank just over a week ago. I have already lost 2 and 1 other looks sick. He? is constantly hiding under a rock and not coming out for food. He looks ok, but he looks like he is 'talking' and his fins are always twitching.

Answer
A few questions? What are your water quality levels, what other fish are in the tank, what's the water temp., do you have a hospital tank... Do you use aquarium salt? Is this a new tank? When you say he looks okay how okay is okay? Are his colors faded? He doesn't sound like he's very happy but there isn't a lot of information to go on?
A good place to start is always with a thorough cleaning. Remove as much water as you can and vacuum the rocks as good as possible. Tetra's don't care too much for salt, so if you're using it I would recommend stopping. You may find other opinions regarding using aquarium salt with neons. Sometimes a good cleaning will take care of a lot of issues.   He could have Gill Flukes. Usually fish with this will hang out at the top of the water, gasping for air. If he's hanging out on the bottom, hiding... he may not have the energy to stay at the top? Does he seem to be rubbing himself, or trying to... around the gill area? Treatment for that would be De-los. I'm not comfortable saying to treat him without more information, but that's what you do if you decide to go ahead with it. Symptoms are Rapid Breathing, One or both gill plates are open, and the fish rubs around the gills as well as hangs below the surface gulping for air.
My recommendation would be to change the water, test it... condition it with a good quality healing conditioner. If you could quarantine him that would really be the best option. Keep a really close eye on the fish until more symptoms appear. You want to watch for small things... any changes in the gill filaments, if they look cloudy, pale, like there's anything clinging to them. Cotton like threads growing on them, fuzzy stuff stuck to them... etc. As well as all of the regular stuff that comes on as secondary infections like velvet, ich...