Best way to deal with NTD?

CajunCC

CajunCC

I take pictures
Sep 10, 2004
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Harrisburg, PA
www.photobizarre.com
I've got a small school (7 fish) of neon tetras. Unfortunately, that's after already losing 3 of them to Neon Tetra Disease. I think they were already infected when I got them. One of the seven is definitely dying. The whole back half of his body is white and he can barely swim. That's just how the other three were before they died too. I think when I'm done posting this, I'm going to take him out of the tank and put an end to his suffering.

The problem is I think the other neons will just end up getting sick and dying also. I know NTD isn't curable or treatable, so what should I do with the fish? For the most part, they act healthy. The thing that has me worried is that they pick on each other and chase each other around. I've never seen neons do that, except to another sick neon. So do I just let them go and see what happens? Or should I seperate them or what? I don't want them to suffer. :(
 
You will find a lot of info on NTD. Just do a Google search. Did they show any sign of disease before you bought them? Did you quarantine them before putting into your tank? Hope the others survive.
HTH.
 
Remove the fish that appear affected. NTD is contagious and will spread--and since it's untreatable, this means a full loss. Personally, I would remove and euthanize the ailing fish--they will not get better, and you do not want to allow the disease to spread. It can and will infect fish other than neon tetras, as well.
 
I've been removing fish as soon as they show definite signs of the disease, trying to keep it from spreading. I'm just trying to figure out if they've all been infected. I guess there's no real way to tell until they seperate from the school and start swimming poorly?

I actually had my eyes on cardinal tetras when I bought the neons. Unfortunately the employee told me they had been dying lately, so I opted for the neons instead. When I looked at them in the store, I didn't see any dead or ill fish. But when I got them home, the next day one was showing definite signs. I can only assume they were sick to start with.

I googled plenty before posting this and learned a lot, but kinda wanted some personal advice on it. From what I've read, the disease won't affect the dwarf gouramis or the pleco, so I'm not terribly worried about them. I just don't know how to deal with the neons, other than simply removing and euthanizing the fish when they start showing positive signs.
 
Removing the sick ones to try to save the others is really all you can do that I'm aware of. From what I understand, NTD is spread when an infected fish dies in the tank. It's possible that one died at the pet store and was left in the tank after it was dead and infected all the other fish in the tank and you'll end up losing them all. Then again, it's also possible that removing the obviously infected ones will eventually stop the spread of the disease and you'll still have some fish left.

Seems to me that you're doing all you can do. You'll just have to keep an eye on them and wait it out to see what happens.
 
Wow... I just got home from work. Two more neons are dead, as is my dwarf gourami. I think this tank is cursed. I've never been able to keep fish in it. My other tank is great. No problems at all. But this one just... ugh...

:sad
 
When you hae NTD, it is suggested that you euthinize your fish, and clean the tank out with weither bleach, or vinegar, and clean it very good.

It is contageous, and will kill any fish in the tank.
 
No... :( That was the last thing I wanted to hear... But I guess it makes sense. If it's just gonna keep killing fish, I'll never be able to put any others in there... I just got it all set up too. I thought I was slick for running the filter in my other tank for a few weeks so I wouldn't have problems cycling. So depressing.
 
I recently had a battle with NTD which claimed the lives of 6 neons and a betta. This happened at my tank at work so I was hesitant to tear it apart and start over. Amazingly, 2 neons survived so I let them live for a week by themselves before adding a school of cardinal tetras. The neons immediately schooled with the cardinals and I haven't had a single death since. There might be some truth to the claim that cardinals may be immune to NTD afterall.
 
I'm still not sure if I have NTD in my angel tank or not. I already euthanized one neon that showed a definate fade. I have one other that shows a fade, but it's behavior is normal... Unfortunately this means I can't catch the SOB. I should probaly remove all the plants from the tank so I can remove the fish, but it's condition is not deteriorating.,..

By the way, what does this deseise look like on fish other than neons?

Edit: I just caught the neon, despite it's normal behaviour it has all the appearance of NTD. Only two of my neons showed any fade; all the rest of the fish in that tank appear to be normal. I do have one neon unaccounted for, so hopefully this just fell victim to a ravenous catfish instead of NTD...
 
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