EMERGENCY- tetra having a white patch on side???

[Navfish]

I think I see signs of the issue on the other neon as well. If so I'd put it back.

Normally I'd say to seperate sick fish btw but think morr neons have the same thing.

Okay got it. I will put him back in tmrw and add Kanaplex to treat them. Just wondering, what signs did you see in my other tetras to figure out that they look like they have columnaris? Thanks.

 

[Navfish]

The nitrate level is too high for these fish. They also need more protection from plants than you are currently giving them. These guys are just stressed.

Thanks for the advice. I’ve come a conclusion from all the advice everyone has given me that either my tetra is sick because of stress, columnaris, or NTD. I will put the tetra back in and add medication for the whole tank and listen to your advice. I just did a 40% water change on the tank to lower nitrates and will be adding more floating plants and live plants to add cover. Also I will dim the lights so they will feel more comfortable.

 

[itiwhetu]

Thanks for the advice. I’ve come a conclusion from all the advice everyone has given me that either my tetra is sick because of stress, columnaris, or NTD. I will put the tetra back in and add medication for the whole tank and listen to your advice. I just did a 40% water change on the tank to lower nitrates and will be adding more floating plants and live plants to add cover. Also I will dim the lights so they will feel more comfortable.

Good stuff

 

[DoubleDutch]

Okay got it. I will put him back in tmrw and add Kanaplex to treat them. Just wondering, what signs did you see in my other tetras to figure out that they look like they have columnaris? Thanks.

I think to see whitish "flakes" / "spots" in their finnage.

 

[Navfish]

my main tank is barely 4 months in. I've learned a ton and like all others here I'm glad to help if I can. when my tetras had this I had no idea of what it was, you already had found it could be NTD, and then you found the medication that's often indicated for it, so kudos to you for doing the homework. Keep us posted, it's good when a thread has an ending and one can learn from it.

Update on the tetra: I quarantined him for a couple of days but then I put him back in the main tank when I got medication yesterday (I should of ordered sooner) but so far, none of them have died and the bump on his side has disappeared. He is eating normally with the others and his color in that spot has come back a little. This is only the 2nd day on medication but so far, it's been going good.

 

[Navfish]

my main tank is barely 4 months in. I've learned a ton and like all others here I'm glad to help if I can. when my tetras had this I had no idea of what it was, you already had found it could be NTD, and then you found the medication that's often indicated for it, so kudos to you for doing the homework. Keep us posted, it's good when a thread has an ending and one can learn from it.

idk if im allowed to still reply because its been 2 months but here's a little update:

he's still alive and doing fish things.
He behaves normal but he looks rough...progressively worse Idek how he has made it to this point

 

[Colin_T]

idk if im allowed to still reply because its been 2 months but here's a little update:

he's still alive and doing fish things.
He behaves normal but he looks rough...progressively worse Idek how he has made it to this point

Of course you are allowed to add or update your threads. It's nice when people do because it gives us some feedback on what is happening. And if there's a disease or cure involved, it lets other people know this does or doesn't work.

Have you got more pictures of the fish?

 

[Navfish]

Of course you are allowed to add or update your threads. It's nice when people do because it gives us some feedback on what is happening. And if there's a disease or cure involved, it lets other people know this does or doesn't work.

Have you got more pictures of the fish?

Okay thanks for clarifying. I was just confused because I’ve seem on other fish forums that u aren’t suppose to respond after a while.

Anyway, here is some pictures of the fish. Im still not sure what he has but a couple months ago, I put him in quarentine and treated him with maracyn but didn’t work to curing it so After a week, I put him back since he was in a tiny little glass jar with no heater… and so far, he looks terrible as you can see but his behaviors are normal. He eats everyday, isn’t lethargic, swims normally and doesn’t isolate from other tetras. I haven’t rlly thought about it in a while but got reminded that other people might be going through the same thing, so I wanted to update.

Someone told me it was because i don’t have enough hides so I added some…so i don’t think that’s the issue anymore.

Sorry it seems as if the tetra doesn’t want his photo to be taken

 

[outofwater]

Sorry it seems as if the tetra doesn’t want his photo to be taken

They never seem to want that

While the "patch" is still there, if he's eating and behaving normally, I'd say he's OK. If all water params are whwre they need to be and he shows no signs of stress or disease, maybe this is some sort of "scar" at this point. I love tetras, it seems so hard to get them in a good rhythm, but once you get a stable situation for them they're pretty hardy.

 

[Colin_T]

It could be a microsporidian infection. The symptoms fit, white muscle tissue, slowly wasting away. Try salt for 2 weeks and if no improvement, try deworming the fish.

-------------------
SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt) or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria but the higher dose rate (4 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will affect some plants and some snails. The lower dose rate (1-2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will not affect fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

If you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.

When you first add salt, add the salt to a small bucket of tank water and dissolve the salt. Then slowly pour the salt water into the tank near the filter outlet. Add the salt over a couple of minutes.

-------------------
Section 3 of the following link has information about deworming fish.

What to do if your fish has Stringy White Poop.

Fish do a stringy white poop for several reasons. 1) Internal Bacterial Infections causes the fish to stop eating, swell up like a balloon, breath heavily at the surface or near a filter outlet, do stringy white poop, and die within 24-48 hours of showing these symptoms. This cannot normally be...

www.fishforums.net

 

[Navfish]

It could be a microsporidian infection. The symptoms fit, white muscle tissue, slowly wasting away. Try salt for 2 weeks and if no improvement, try deworming the fish.

-------------------
SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt) or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria but the higher dose rate (4 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will affect some plants and some snails. The lower dose rate (1-2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will not affect fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

If you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.

When you first add salt, add the salt to a small bucket of tank water and dissolve the salt. Then slowly pour the salt water into the tank near the filter outlet. Add the salt over a couple of minutes.

-------------------
Section 3 of the following link has information about deworming fish.

What to do if your fish has Stringy White Poop.

Fish do a stringy white poop for several reasons. 1) Internal Bacterial Infections causes the fish to stop eating, swell up like a balloon, breath heavily at the surface or near a filter outlet, do stringy white poop, and die within 24-48 hours of showing these symptoms. This cannot normally be...

www.fishforums.net

Should I isolate the fish and do this or do it in the main tank?

 

[Colin_T]

Treat the entire tank because if one fish has a disease, then they can all have it. At the very least the disease will be in the water even if the other fish don't have it yet. So always treat the tank to kill any disease in the tank.

 

[Navfish]

They never seem to want that

While the "patch" is still there, if he's eating and behaving normally, I'd say he's OK. If all water params are whwre they need to be and he shows no signs of stress or disease, maybe this is some sort of "scar" at this point. I love tetras, it seems so hard to get them in a good rhythm, but once you get a stable situation for them they're pretty hardy.

I totally agree! At first, I heard that they are sensitive fish and I was scared since they were my 3rd kind of fish I kept. But it's now been around 5 months and they are pretty hardy as you said! I have only lost 1 since (thats bc he was a baby tetra and he got sucked into the filter )