Hi and Help! Neon Tetra Problems

Deborah L Bordelon

Registered Member
Feb 26, 2018
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Hello to all from your friendly new member. Is this ich or columnaris? Have had the fish for about 2 weeks. Only symptoms is a couple of spots on one fish, they go away and then another fish gets them. One died with rapid breathing and 2 spots. Treated with Kordon Rapid Cure but didn't helped. Now have temp at 86F. I have been told on another forum that it may be columnaris but no cottony mouth, ulcers, etc. Just tiny salt like spots with the exception of one that looked like his tail had been nipped and was cloudy on end. Please take a look at these pics and let me know what you think. Water parameters are all fine, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 10 nitrates. They are currently in a 10G tank. Thanks so much. Sorry, the pics are sideways but hope you can see spots. Notice 2nd pic the fish has an opaque spot on tail.Fish I.jpg

FIsh III.jpg

Fish V.jpg
 
Welcome to AC! I can't tell from your pics but salt like spots that come & go sounds exactly like ich.

Ich has 3 phases it goes through, basically on the fish, then it falls off to the substrate then becomes free swimming & reattaches to fish. The only time it's kill-able is in the free swimming stage.

The Kordon Rapid Cure sounds like methylene blue dye. It should work BUT not in 3 days, more like 2 weeks. I just scanned but it says to treat every day, then do a water change & repeat if needed. Retreatment IS needed to kill ALL of the ich.

Instead of just a water change every 3 days, try to vacuum the substrate to remove as much as you can. Continue treatment & WCs for 10 days or so after there are no visible spots on fish. There may be some hidden it the gills or just hard to see.

Heat will speed up the ich lifecycle & some people say it kills ich at 86F. I've also read there's a heat resistant strain or even higher temps are needed. That can be stressful for fish (neons like lower 70s). There's also less oxygen at higher temps. I'm old school, I like dyes, but I haven't had ich in many years.

Good luck! & let us know how you do.
 
Sounds and what I can see looks like ich. I treat with heat and salt. I've never used meds for ich but fishorama gave some give info for that.
 
Welcome. Sorry to hear of your issues with your neons. I'd follow the advice given above. Ick or other parasites are common with a new batch of neons given the stress they endure during shipping and display for sale.

Once you get ick sorted, like said, neons do best in cooler water temps, like 70F, so choose any other stock accordingly.
 
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