Urgent! Neon Tetra Problem!

[bettafish15]

So a few minutes ago I looked into my tank and I noticed that one of my neons was near the bottom of the tank, looking to be breathing heavily, tilted downward, attempting to chase away any other neon that came near, losing its color (its not like the other neons anymore, its more white-ish and losing its red, the blue stripe is more green than blue it seems) and staying away from the other neons. It's stomach is also rather large evenly on both sides. It'll move places every now and then, going to the middle of the tank and such, but staying in one place generally. Could it be bloated? Should I not feed for a day or two?

*Edit:
Now a line of scales are portruding it looks like in the middle of the big stomach! Should I quarantine my neon? Please answer!

*Edit #2: Now it looks discolored from the rest, so I took it out of the tank in a clear tupperware container filled with tank water. Is this okay? The neon is still breathing hard and facing downward. I added a smidge of water conditioner too. It's eyes seem a tad bulgy to me.

 

[KittyKat]

How long has the tank been set up?
Water parameters? (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, hardness, temperature)
Set-up? (planted/not, tankmate species and numbers, etc)

How much do you feed? How often?

If it is in a tub, how are you making sure that there is enough air for it? Add a small airstone, at least. Are you floating it in the tank to keep the water warm?

 

[bettafish15]

The tanks been set-up since August. I dont have a test kit, and i live in a small town with the nearest mall being two hours away Although the tank temp is 80F, and I've been told the water pH here is 7.0. Not live planted, only a bunch of fake plants. The fish in my tank are 1 betta and 6 neon tetras in a 14 gallon. I feed twice a day with tropical fish flakes and a bit of freeze dried bloodworms since they dont eat much of the flakes. The betta gets his own pellets and freeze dried bloodworms every now and then. I dont have an airstone in my tank because my filter that is built with the tank does that job very well. The tupperware container water is same temp as the tank because I just added the neon into it not 10 minutes ago. I think i'll put the neon back into the tank, because the last thing I need is for it to do without the aeration... I was just so worried it would spread to my other fish >.<

Cancel adding the neon back into the the tank! It's scale are now sticking out a bit! What can I do?!?

 

[KittyKat]

Next time you're in town, get a liquid test kit. Take your water for testing tomorrow if you can. You might be overfeeding which can pollute the water, feed only as much as the fish can completely finish in 60 seconds. If they don't eat the food, they're not hungry or are waiting for the treat. Feed "live" foods only once or twice per week, not every day.

Sounds like it might have dropsy, which is usually caused by poor water quality. I advise you to vacuum the gravel and do a 20% water change now, then treat with a general anti-bacterial medication. I would repeat again tomorrow.

It is always best to quarantine, but I take it you don't have a quarantine tank, nor spare equipment. Something to think about in the future..

 

[bettafish15]

The water change I can do, but I dont have any of that anti-bacterial medication. There is no pet store here. I can only keep the neon in a clean plastic container. If I put the neon back in the tank (Its floating in its container in the tank now) will this spread to my other fish?

 

[KittyKat]

It might, or it might not: there is no way of telling if it contagious. If it is caused by bad water quality, others might start getting it soon too, even if it isn't contagious. You will have to go to the LFS tomorrow and get the medication.

Do do another water change in the morning (it is evening here now, for reference), so in about 12 hours from now.

Did you get any new fish recently?

 

[bettafish15]

Unfortunately, I cant just "go to the LFS" tomorrow because I am 15 and my mom cant just drop work and drive me 2 hours to get there and the 2 hours back I'll just have to try fixing this with clean water. No, I havent gotten any new fish since I first set up my tank.

 

[KittyKat]

Can you order it on-line and have it delivered quickly? Can you walk down the road knocking on peoples' doors till you find someone who keeps fish? I know sounds crazy, but it might be your best chance. Bed time for me, good luck with everything..

 

[fluffycabbage]

Oh no. hard considering the circumstances. the neon is quite obviously sick, and may well be dying, and if you havent added any fish recently then it could be down to water quality. trouble with putting it into a tub is thsat there is no oxygen getting into the tub, but if you put it into the main tank you risk the other fish getting whatever this one has (if its contagious).

it certainly goes to show that you need an emergency kit at home when its difficult to get to a pet shop quickly.

would you be able to get to a shop some point over the weekend? personally i'd keep it in the tank until you can figure out an emergency measure.

 

[bettafish15]

Okay, it sounds like I should have the neon in the tank. I did a massive water change, so hopefully thats all good there. And nope, no chance going to a pet store over the weekend, I have to take an all-day course tomorrow, and my mom isnt ready to go to the city 2 hours away yet because she has to work and stuff... So next time we're there, I'll be sure to stock up on fish medications and an airstone and whatnot.. I sure learned my lesson about keeping the water clean! I normally do it every week, but i havent been able to lately because I do online schooling and im really behind >.< I'm gonna put the neon back in the tank now, and hope for the best... Thanks for your guys' help!

 

[mrs biffster]

You sound like your new to fishkeeping. And this is your first problem. A big majority of the time it's down to water quality. Don't overfeed your fish, once a day is enough. When you do water changes 25% with a water dechlorinator ever couple of weeks.
I always find that people get stressed out if anything happens and my rule is don't panic you will always get losses and you learn from it.

 

[bettafish15]

I'm new to fishkeeping yes, but I did a hell of a alot of research before I even got my tank! One of the first things I knew was to always use water conditioner. ^^

 

[KittyKat]

Morning, how is it today?