Sick Tetra ?

[im4god2]

Hi,

I have two Columbia Red/Blue Tetra's. They're both been very similar, with one of them just a little larger. I sat down and watched them for awhile yesterday, and noticed one of them has grown much larger, in some strange proportions.

The "normal" one has a pretty smooth curvature from its mouth all the way back to its tail. The "sick" one is the same, back to its eye. Then the outline makes an abrupt 45 degree down turn. It appears its belly is at least 50% larger (distended) when viewing from the side. When it turns to face me, it's at least twice as thick as the other one. It has a small bubble (or scale ?) hanging from its side. It appears white on the inside. It primarily just stays in one spot, breathing rapidly.

Water spec's are all in the usual range, tank cycled several months ago, other fish seem fine.

If anybody can tell me how to post a 450kb picture, I will. The only legible ones I have are about that big.

Thanks,

Lannie

[elmj]

does it have a milky underbelly? if it does, it could be the neon tetra disease. thought its name says neon tetra, it could easily happen to other tetras too.

Pleistophora (a.k.a. Neon Tetra Disease)

Symptoms:

Pleistophora is also called Neon Tetra Disease because of its high prevalence among Neon Tetras, although it has also been reported to infect most Characins, Cichlids, Cyprinids (i.e., danios), and all the carp-like fishes. It is characterized by a loss of coloration and pale, white patches of skin, particularly the strip of skin beneath the dorsal fin. Other symptoms may include spinal curvature, emaciation, fin deterioration and erratic swimming behavior.

Cause:

The microsporidian parasite Pleistophora hyphessobryconis. Pleistophora live in the muscle tissue of infected fish and cause degeneration and wasting of the muscle. The parasites travel through the fish’s blood, quickly spreading to all areas of the body. Pleistophora not only affect the fish’s muscles but all its internal organs.

Treatment:

There is no effective cure for this illness, partly due to the fact that by the time diagnosis is confirmed the fish is too weak to be saved. If more than one fish in your aquarium succumbs to this parasite, the entire aquarium should be emptied and dissinfected. Some aquarists suggest the use of a diatom filter to trap the spores of the parasite and thus clear them from the tank.

Pleistophora can easily be mistaken for False Neon Disease, which is a bacterial infection and presents with the exact same symptoms. For this reason, it would be wise to remove the infected fish to a hospital tank (while disinfecting the main tank) and treat them with a broad spectrum antibiotic.

hope that helps!

[im4god2]

Thanks for the info.

I setup a one gallon hospital tank, and have him in isolation now. I'm using something called "Rid-Ich+", which claims to help with ich and "other parasitic conditions". He seemed a little better this morning. :p

Lannie

[im4god2]

Well, my sick tetra didn't make it. His abdomen stayed about the same size, but got redder, and redder, and redder. After about a week of treating with the Rid-Ich+, he was just sitting on the bottom, breathing rapidly.

I probably shouldn't have, but I thought I'd put him back in the main tank, and see if he revived. He did a little, but couldn't stay upright. He was like a balloon with no up or down. I finally put him out of his misery.

My other Tetra and fish all seem fine. Not sure what happened to this one. :confused: