Sick Fish

[huberb]

Hi,
I have a well-established 55 gallon tank with a variety of tetras mostly. 25% of water is changed monthly, currently in third week. All fish healthy with exception of one neon. This fishes gills are open wide, and it is struggling to maintain its balance. It is generally pointing towards the top of the tank though it is near the bottom. It can't seem to right itself, shows no other symtoms, and none of the other fish appear to be in any sort of distress. I can't seem to find anything that mentions specifically a problem where the tail is down. Any ideas? Thanks in advance!
Bill

 

[finatic]

Welcome to the forum. I don't know why your neon is doing that. I have had a tough time with neons. I had 15, now have 6 that have been fine for about 8 weeks now. Have them in a 10 gal. with 5 brass tetras, 2 corys, a beautiful blue male betta and an african dwarf frog I have had for a year and a half. Mr.Blue loves swimming with the little fishies. He use to live in a bowl. Hope someone has some more ideas for you.

Finatic

 

[gadazobe]

How old is he? The life span of a neon isn't that long and could be Father Time has caught up with him. Failing that, how is his colour? He might have neon tetra disease (if all water paras are ok and none of the other fish are affected) If so, unfortunately, there's no cure for it and it might be best to put him out of his misery before the others get infected.

 

[bigfish]

Sounds like a disfunction of the swim bladder according to my disease book. Has he been bullied around lately with his other tank mates?

 

[huberb]

Thanks one and all for the input. I have thought about the swim bladder, it seems most like that, though most references suggest the head would be down rather than up as this one is displaying. Also, his gills being so exposed doesn't really fit. He is one of five that were purchased perhaps 3 months ago. One expired shortly thereafter, the rest have been fine ever since. I haven't introduced anything new in the tank for weeks, and there seems to be no bullying. I have looked at him closely and can see no evidence externally of any pest. His color is good, bright and distinct. Since it has been 24 hours since I noticed it, and the fish has to exert a fair amount of energy, I'm surprised he hasn't worn out already. I'm going to wait until tomorrow, if there's no improvement I think I'll spare him further distress. Thanks again for the help. I'll be back to visit more in the future. It's nice to know help is so close.
Bill

 

[BigRed948]

I picked up 3 neon tetras this afternoon and added them too my tank. and one of them is displaying similar signs. It has been acting this way even when it was in the bag from the LFS. I noticed it as I was equaling out the water temps.

it seems to never close it's mouth, and it's gills are always open. it also looks like it's shaking like it's taking short little "breaths". It rarely moves, it has found a small covered spot between the heater and some plants and will not move from that spot, unless I put my hand near the glass, but then it ultimately floats back to the same spot.

is this something that can spread to the rest of the fish? is it something it will get over?

as of now I will be returning the fish tomorrow after work.

Please advise.

Thanks,

Greg

 

[Angel Lady]

they may have some kind of a parasite since thier gills are open or mabey gill diease if I were you guys I would get them out of the tank with the other tank mates. are they pointed towards the air filter with thier heads sticking up I will try to check this out for you guys and I will post when I find out something. and welcome to the forum.

 

[Jesse]

Huh...sounds like a mix of a parasite and swim bladder disease. I had a blue paradise gourami that did the same thing. I quarrentined him and medicated him, but he never recovered. It just seemed to get worse. Good luck, though!

 

[huberb]

I waited until the next day as I said in my previous post, to see if the fish showed any improvement. Since it did not, I removed it and took it out of its misery, at least as I perceived it. That is over a week ago. I have had no other problems with other neons or any of the other fish in the tank. I don't believe it is a parasite. My best guess is that it had become distressed somehow, perhaps by a bully that I wasn't seeing, and it just couldn't come back from it.
As for the fish that appeared sick in the bag, you probably should have taken them back straight-away, and not introduced them into your tank. Were they distressed in any way during the trip home, too long in the bag, got too cold or hot? If not, I wouldn't accept any fish from the same place as replacements, nor would I purchase any others from them in the future.

 

[jumpman]

A neon of mine showed the exact same symptoms you describe. Couldn't do anything and read somewhere that it was swim bladder related.

Mine did last quite a few weeks and was just about able to feed, but then would sink back down and have to fight to get up again for half an hour!

In the end he passed away one night, and none of the others showed any signs of this. I have not lost one since, but they have been much more active since I doubled the amount of plants in my tank.
he also went a bit pale by the end too. Most of the neons I have lost have been male, the females seem much tougher!!

 

[BigRed948]

I took him back to the store and got a replacement.. it's only been 1 day, but I haven't seen any other problems with anyone else yet. I'll keep my fingers crossed