Specis specific losses.

[Bad Raven]

Hi Guys, this one is puzzling me!

48x24x15 tank (one of three I have), Community of various types of Gourami (5) and various Tetra species, Panda Cory (10). Tank set up a decade plus ago.

About four months back had a rise in Algae, mostly black, so introduced Nerite snails, who charged around (!) and are doing a superb job of keeping it clear.

Last fish in were a re-stock through age losses of the Ember Tetra shoal, but that was six months plus ago.

Usual water changing, food, etc, etc, etc. Completely routine as per my process of 40 plus years.

Suddenly one by one the Tetras started dying, inevitably just as I'm going away for 8 days, typical! No other signs of distress, but every day a few more dead.

Cardinals, Lemon, Ember, Red Tail............ all slowly dying out. Gourami and Corys unaffected.

Returned to find one Lemon and one Ember left, looking completely happy.

All Gouramis and Corys still active and totally unaffected. Nerites still active, too, one loss out of 12, well within normal situation. All these fish active, feeding normally, no symptoms visible.

That was two weeks ago, nothing else untoward. (and no water change). No issues on other two tanks, one of which has a shoal of Hengeli Tetra and shrimps.

Been keeping tropicals since 1980, Corys have even bred in that tank. Never ever had anything like that happen. Puzzled!

 

[GaryE]

Gang fights?

I have seen this too, and also with tetras. When it happened here, all the people in the fish club I discussed it with (huge amounts of experience) said it could be viral, specific to the Characin group, but how the virus could have gotten in remained a mystery. They were guessing and offering a choice where they couldn't be proven wrong, but where they could well have been right.

This is weirder. I once had 2 groups of Micropoecilia branneri set up in their own tanks. It's an admittedly delicate Amazon livebearer. They were 3rd generation in my tanks, with nothing new added and no exchange. 30 plus fish, 6 days away from the last water change. They were breeding, and looked great at night. In the morning, all the fish in both tanks (on a rack with a lot of tanks between them) were dead. A 100% wipeout, with no warning signs, not even in the same tank.

Weird things happen.

 

[Bad Raven]

Well, they'd all been in there a while and not seen any aggression at any point.

Leaves me wondering about re-stocking, maybe I'll change tack and avoid Tetra for a while!!

Something simple from another family, and for a change more brightly coloured, not had Mollys, Platys, or Swords for more than 20 years, maybe some of the newer colourways?

 

[powerdyne6]

I can’t offer any advice but I had a similar situation with my Tetras about 2 or 3 weeks ago

Woke up 1 morning fed my Tetras… they ate, all seemed well. I went to work came home 1 had died. Then throughout the evening (3 hour span) 4 more died (1 by 1).

1 survived and is currently still doing well. I did have some measurable Nitrite in the tank for some reason (possibly from my move about 4 weeks prior) but that was the only thing I could attribute to the dead.

 

[Alice B]

Neon tetra disease affects more than neons. There isn't a cure and I tried every drug I have access to and picked some.pretry good minds. After all tetras gone, with a lot of water changes in 6 weeks you could try some tetras. I waited 18 months. It is heartbreaking

 

[Deleted member 149562]

Neon Tetras are a strange beast

So many times I have seen, read or heard about Neon Tetras being fine one day and dead the next and with little or no warning. I have yet to experience this problem myself despite having probably hundreds of Neon Tetras over the last few decades.......my soon to be rescaped 53 gallon will be having a community of 30 Neon tetras as part of the stock.

Maybe I am just lucky.....I get all of my fish from one supplier who I trust implicitly (I have not had a reason not to trust them), I use bottled water instead of tap water (so no added chemicals etc)....and when new fish are added to my aquariums they get their first week in the aquarium with the GKM 24w UV running (whether that makes any difference is totally debateable but I have yet to have any illness or disease in my aquariums)

I honestly think it is important to know where fish come from, their pre-sale habitat, maintenance and feeding routine along with any shipping to the seller information.....and, of course, how they have been bred, conditions where they were bred etc.

My supplier breeds their own stocks, if any problem arises with that stock they are immediately taken off the availability listings. They are very careful in which fish are chosen for their customers and so forth. They take their husbandry very seriously.

In 8 plus years, I have not received a dead, dying or sick fish from them (of any species)

I accept there are probably strains of illness or disease associated with specific fish but I feel that some of the problem comes from where the fish were bred and sold. One company I had previous dealings with knowingly sold and shipped underage, undersize and very sick fish that were either DOA or died soon after arriving. I reported them. Unfortunately from reading a thread here last week, things have not improved there and problematic fish are still being sold.

If the fish bloodline has been weakened, then it seems logical (to me at least) that they will be more prone to health issues leading to sudden and premature death that other stronger bloodlines would be unaffected by.

 

[Alice B]

Like most diseases, comes in the fish. I know what fish brought mine in. I changed pet stores. Do not move any fish out of the sick tank to healthy tanks. Clean equipment or use separate

 

[Alice B]

Guppies and bristlenose catfish are the only species I had that were fully immune

 

[Slaphppy7]

What types of gourami? How long have THEY been in the tank?

 

[Alice B]

Yes, because my moonlight gourami caught the NTD. Lived longer than the smaller fish, but she was sick. I moved her outdoors to a bucket when I tore my tanks down

 

[Bad Raven]

What types of gourami? How long have THEY been in the tank?

Pair of Pearls, in there a year plus.
Four Neon Blue Dwarf, six months.
Seven Panda Cory, some over a year, some nine months or so.

All quite happy today, no symptoms.

One surviving Lemon Tetra and one surviving Ember Tetra still looking OK (if lonely!!)

 

[Alice B]

If it were my tank I would set up a 10 for all tetras, new fresh no other fish, and observe for about 3 months. There is no way to see Neon tetra disease. It does get in the water and the gravel, I'd do a lot of water changes on the origin tank but the odds on those tetras carrying the disease are pretty close to 100% and the gouramis can eventually catch it. My clown pleco didn't, my albino bristle nose didn't and my guppies didn't, but everyone else seemed to be affected. I think the corydoras may be safe. In my experience this one is a monster to quarantine for. And why I have bought so few fish since I started setting my tanks back up.

It took about 2 to 3 months for any sign of disease to appear on mine, and a guy handed me a bag of neons, several of whom died within a month and like an idiot I trusted him and put those fish in my hex tank. Doomed almost everyone in it. Eventually trying to save some of my other fish I moved them into my occupied tanks and infected them.