Colour fading fast in neon tetras!

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jb_lyndon

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Dec 29, 2003
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Saskatchewan, Canada
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Late last night I noticed that 1 of 11 neon tetras looked a bit faded... it's tail lost most of the red and the rest of body was quite pale (almost white). A couple of weeks ago this same colour loss appeared in a neon accompanied by a weird transparent blister and he died soon after. This morning all 11 neons are now exhibiting the same colour fading (I don't expect them to last long and plan to remove them tonight). These neons were (unfortunately) used to cycle the tank which completed 3-4 weeks ago. The water parameters are still perfect as I did another full test last night. I'm thinking that it's most likely Neon Tetra Disease but was wondering if anybody knows of a possible alternative diagnosis? Will this problem likely fatally effect our other fish??? 2 Dwarf Gouramis, 1 Weather Loach, 3 Amano Shrimp, 2 African Dwarf Frogs, 1 Mystery Snail. I've also read that once a tank is infected with NTD it will always be infected, is this true?!?!? If so what the h3LL can do we do besides cleaning it out and starting over? unfortunately we don't have a quarantine tank :( Are ALL our fish doomed? We are pretty upset and stressing that our aquarium is now screwed just as we are getting really happy with it. Please if anybody can help with advice and/or reasurance that it is not over for our 25g and it's inhabitants, we would be soooo grateful.
Again PLEASE PLEASE help if you can.
 
When was the last time you did water change. Maybe it's in order, 40% change or so. Don't forget to use water treatments - dechlorinator/chloraminator. I know you said your water specs are fine. Worth a try...you can try and do 40% water change every 3 days for a couple of weeks and see what happens. It won't hurt them.
 
I can share your frustration.

I have a similar, undiagnosed problem...
- red colour is lost on a single tetra
- great water parameters
- clear blister/s near the tail
- fish still eating
- affected fish still schooling
- etc.

I don't believe that it is neon tetra disease. I haven't been able to find a picture of an infected fish to prove me otherwise though but nor have any other fish infected (except that two started with the symptoms at the same time).

In your case, I would suggest taking the precaution of quarantining the infected little guy for a bit if you can. If he is still alive after around 3 weeks, without change, I wouldn't hesitate to add him back into the tank.

But then again, this is only my opinion and what has worked for me. My two affected neon tetras are still alive 3 months after the problem surfaced.
 
Thanks...
the weird thing is that last night all but one looked perfectly normal with bright colouration. The next morning they were all dull and faded. By 5pm (10 hours with aquarium light on) my girlfriend reports that they're all back to normal! What the Heck? Somebody said that it's regular for them to look colourless first thing in the morning after a dark night and plenty of sleep?!? Is this true? I'm still worried about them though as we already lost one a few weeks ago of similar symptoms. Unfortunately we don't have and can't quite afford a quarantine tank :(
 
Originally posted by jb_lyndon
Thanks...
the weird thing is that last night all but one looked perfectly normal with bright colouration. The next morning they were all dull and faded. By 5pm (10 hours with aquarium light on) my girlfriend reports that they're all back to normal! What the Heck? Somebody said that it's regular for them to look colourless first thing in the morning after a dark night and plenty of sleep?!? Is this true? I'm still worried about them though as we already lost one a few weeks ago of similar symptoms. Unfortunately we don't have and can't quite afford a quarantine tank :(
Click to expand...

I'm wondering about this too....just now ~6am my neons appear to be pale. I have a brand new tank (since 2/7 with bio-spira) and the water tested fine for everything on Monday. I'll probably test the water again today.
I have all six of my neons in a bucket with tank water...it's the best I can do for a quarantine.

Do I just keep them in the bucket? What happens if their color comes back? I fed them and they seem to be eating and moving normally. Paleness is the only thing that I can notice.
 
ok, what the heck....one of the neons was pale...went to normal color....and now it's pale again :confused: :confused:


edit: okaaayyyy....now they're all back to normal color. Strangeness...I put them all back in the tank since I don't have a quarantine tank.

So the question is: Are neon tetras more pale when sleeping and in the dark for several hours?
 
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My neons change colour all the time. Well, not so much ALL the time, but, I have a regular light schedule, and if I turn on the light after its been off for sometime, the neons look pale, sometimes they even look MORE bright, glowing maybe, lol. But, when the light turns on in the morning on schedule, they are almost already schooling and have all the colours bright.
So, are you randomly flicking the light on and seeing the result? cause if so, its just like someone turning your bedroom light on at 3am, you aint the most gorgeous creature at that time either, lol:D
 
neons colors fade in and out do to stress etc - ame as any otehr fish - great ex - angel fish - their stripes fade in and out with their mood - same with neons - thats why your seeing full colors come n go
 
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