EMERGENCY! Strange growth on neon tetra

[Jspigs]

Yesterday one of my neon tetras died of unknown causes, today I noticed a strange red growth on one of my neon tetras and I have no idea what it is.

Tank size: 10 gallon

Water parameters: I just did a water change before I noticed the growth so current parameters are not the same as they were when this neon developed the growth. I am very far behind on water changes but today was the first day of daily water changes.

Freshwater or brackish:Freshwater.

How long has the tank been set up:The tank has been set up since October and has been cycled for about two months give or take a week.

Were the fish quarantined:The neons were the first and only fish to be put in the tank so I did not feel the need to quarantine them.


What is the temperature of the water:The current water temp is 81* Fahrenheit. I am currently in the process of stopping an ich treatment (salt and heat method) so I am slowly bringing the heat down to 78* Fahrenheit.


Are there live plants in the aquarium currently:Yes but they were not treated prior to being placed in the tank.


What filter are you using? State brand, maintenance routine, and power capacity:Marineland Penguin 150B Bio-wheel power filter, cleaned whenever needed (not often), unsure what "power capacity" means in this context.


Any other equipment used:What is basically a store bought DIY co2 generator, and an air powered DIY carbon aquarium filter.


Lighting:I have very effective blinds on my windows that keep most of the sunlight out but some still reaches the tank, lights are on for varying amounts of time depending on when I wake up and go to bed (I know it should be better regulated).


Water changes:last water change was earlier today the amount was less than 20 percent but more than 5 percent. I was very far behind on water changes when I did it but I am going to try to do daily small water changes for a while to make up for going so long (a month+ or in other words way to long)without a water change. I do not vacuum the substrate as the substrate is very dirt-like and whenever I try to vacuum it a bunch of substrate ends up in the dirty water bucket (pinching the vacuum tube only helps a little).

Feeding:I feed the neons Tetramin Tropical Flakes, I feed them a pinch in the morning and a pinch at nigh fasting all my fish (not just the neons) once a week.

Symptoms: The most noticeable symptom is the strange growth on one of my neons, this neon is also breathing rapidly and might have protruding eyes(I can't tell about the eyes for sure).


Have you treated your fish ahead of diagnosis? If so, what treatments did you use? State your reasons for planning ahead of proper diagnosis:I did not treat this current issue (the growth) yet but as I stated before I am slowly ending an ich treatment (salt and heat method), a couple of weeks ago I also treated using maracyn and maracyn2 (safe to be combined according to the directions) in case what the neons had was columnaris (some of the ich spots appeared on the neons mouths but were not all furry/fuzzy/cottony) but I removed the maracyn combo using activated carbon in the filter and also the DIY carbon filter mentioned above.


The neon with the growth is still schooling.

Here are some pics:






Please help I.D. this and if there is a treatment for it let me know:help2:.

 

[Stargazer53]

That looks like some sort of cyst or tumor. Have you isolated the fish from the general population?

 

[Jspigs]

Not yet but I can set up a hospital tank if needed.

Should I set up a hospital tank for the little neon?

 

[Stargazer53]

I would separate him/her just to be on the safe side. I can't say for sure what the issue is positively (I keep neons and cardinals and have never seen a growth such as this) but I do think it would be wise to atleast isolate the fish untill you have a positive identification of the issue.

 

[Jspigs]

Okay I have already started to set up my hospital tank so I will be able to isolate the neon shortly.

 

[Cerianthus]

use the water from main tank for HT!

 

[Jspigs]

use the water from main tank for HT!

I am afraid I read your post too late. But I did acclimate the neon for a long time (including adding water from the hospital tank into the neons bag).

 

[mel_20_20]

Did you complete the number of days recommended by Mardel Labs on the Maracyn combo, five days?

Is this neon the only one displaying signs/symptoms of illness?

 

[mel_20_20]

This could certainly be a cyst or tumor, but I'm thinking if there is a bulge to the eyes this could be an internal bacterial infection. Possibly Aeromonas or Psuedomonas. Does the cyst-like lesion look like it could be a pimple or boil type of lesion?

Water quality problems can contribute to a weakened immune system and open the way to illness from bacterial or parasitic infection.

You mentioned that you will be doing daily water changes, so that will be helpful whatever the problem is. Your fish will be able to fight this better in pristine water.

Keep the params at; ammonia 0ppm, nitrite 0ppm and nitrate at 20 or less. I'm sure you remember to use temperature matched, conditioned water in your water changes.

Prime is a good conditioner that not only removes chlorine and chloramines, but it detoxifies ammonia and nitrite. In fact, you can dose Prime at 5X the normal dose in an emergency, when you find a spike in your parameters, to detoxify ammonia, nitrite, and the company says nitrates, too.

This can help you do water changes at a convenient time, and not in panic mode, when you find a spike in your parameters, but within 24 hours of the dose because Prime detoxifies for about 24 hours, then you have to remove those toxic compounds by water changes.

It's vital to keep the water pristine in both the main tank and the hospital tank at all times, and especially when there may be an illness.

Do you have a good liquid test kit? Strips are very unreliable and give false readings most of the time. API Master liquid test kit will give you accurate readings, so you'll know what's going on in the tank. It's way cheaper in the long run, too.

I would monitor the water daily or more often, and if you find detectable traces of ammonia or nitrites I would do water changes as necessary to bring the water to pristine condition with 0 ammonia, and 0 nitrite.

You did maybe 20% today, so not knowing what the parameters where at the time of the change, and not what they were after the change is a bit of a handicap, but I'm guessing they may have had some faily high levels of ammonia, and/or nitrite. Get a good test kit ASAP.

When you siphon off water, gently swirl the tube just at the surface of the substrate, not digging in, but gently moving the tube so you suck up some of the surgace mulm and debris. This will help improve the water quality. Also, in addition to causing ammonia spikes, uneaten food that sinks to the bottom and is left to decay can be eaten by the fish, which can contribute to intestinal problems and infection, so gently sucking up that stuff is important.

If this looks like it could be a bacterial infection then antibiotics are needed, but first lets go with clean water, you've isolated the fish, watch the others for any signs of problems.

If you can provide more photos that may be helpful.

I hope your little guy will be OK. Keep us posted, please.

 

[Jspigs]

I do use API liquid tests.

I do use prime.

I completed the five day dosing for the maracyn combo.

The growth looks like some kind of large pimple or boil.

This neon seems to be the only one affected.

I will try to get more pics shortly.

Thank you for your help.