Neon deaths!

[holyherbiness]

Okay, recently I added half a dozen neon tetras to my established 110 gallon tank.

I guess I did'nt acclimatize them properly (I floated the bag on water for 20 minutes and released) because two of them are dead.

The first one I found nudged between the corner of my multibreeder and the tank wall. it appeared to have been crushed
In addition, some white fuzzy stuff and spots (Ich?) were sticking out

I found the second one an hour later, which had about 2 spots on the caudal fin and had a small cottony patch growing above it's eye.

I moved it into an quarantine tank and tried to feed it (I doubted I could save it at this point). It died sometime during the night here.

When I removed the dead fish this morning, at least a dozen white specks came off the fish.


Now here is my question: There are no more fish in my quarantine tank, and I am trying to rid the tank of disease. Is there like a quick fix? like is it viable to raise the temperature to like 90+ to kill it off?

oh, by the way, none of my other tetras or other tank inhabitants in my main tank are exhibiting any symptoms.

[TKOS]

As I understand it raising the temp will drastically speed up the life cycle of the parasites. And without a fish host they will soon die. This could still take up to 3 weeks though. Adding salt to the tank might help speed things up. But I would probably strip it down if it wasn't too much work or run some bleach through the system.

[Ozark Joe]

I know that salt kills ich, but I don't know about fungus, and what you described "white fuzzy stuff coming out of it" sounds like fungus. For that, you should medicate with something that is for fungal infections. Ich is white spots, but not fuzzy.

If your quarantine tank is empty, it would be best, as the previous post suggests, to strip it down, clean it with bleach (including plastic plants, gravel, etc.) and rinse it well, then set it up again. That way you KNOW it's not going to spread any unwanted disease or parasites. For live plants, use one part bleach to 20 parts water, and dip for 2-3 minutes at most, to kill anything on the plant. Again, rinse well!!!

Good luck to you, and keep us posted, OK?

[Peter99]

Maybe you bought tetras from a tank that was already diseased. It happens a lot at some LFS.

[holyherbiness]

Possibly so.

LFS here in New York City are not very secure, we're all trying to make a buck, so I understand.

I bought half a dozen from a 15 gallon tank that had lots of plants and about 2 dozen tetras.

Anyway, one of my original tetras (the only large male) disappeared. I suspect he died.

[Peter99]

I've learned to take some tank and look at the tank carefully, most of the LFS I've been to have at least 1 tank that's filled with some sort of disease.

The closest LFS had a 10 gallon tank with about 50-60 neon tetras clustered in it. When I saw it I was horrorified. Not was it way over-packed, but all of them had ick and there were about 10 of them showing neon tetra disease.

[Ozark Joe]

It is ALWAYS good practice to not only notice the overall health of the fish in the fish store at which you shop, but to look especially close to the fish you intend to purchase.

I've been in stores where almost every tank has dead fish in them, in various stages of rotting and/or being eaten. I won't buy fish there.

I only buy clown loaches when they look healthy and active and are in a large school; I only purchase semi-shy fish that are swimming in the front of the tank during the daytime; I only buy cardinal tetras from a large school of very young (small) fish that are actively schooling.

If you think getting a sick fish - because it's the only place you could find it, or whatever - and nurse it back to health, you're kidding yourself. First, it's weakened by the disease it has and the poor conditions that caused it, and many times the stress of being moved is enough to kill it. It's best to be aware of the health of the fish, in general, and specifically the fish you want, before buying. Also, look for stores that offer guarantees, it's some measure of protection.

Good luck!

[Ken]

Here is what I do, and it seems to work well:

Leave everything in the tank, but unplug the heater.

Add a teaspoon of bleach for each gallon of water.

Let it circulate for an hour or so.

Remove all the water from the tank you can, replace with fresh water.

Add declhorinator, and let circulate for another hour.

Remove this water, then replace with fresh water, conditioned as needed.

[holyherbiness]

Thanks for the feedback guys
Aside from losing two of the new half dozen neons and the one original male, the rest of my fish seem to be doing fine now.
I'll keep you updated if any more fish suddenly die!

By the way, is it natural for my siamese flying fox to jump into the multibreeder to eat algae on the insides?