Is there a period of time where it is in a fish but not contagious to others? Can it manifest in just one fish? I guess what I'm asking is if a fish gets it is there a rough estimate of time where the sick fish can contain the illness to itself before any others are infected?
not to my knowledge. it's highly contagious and if one fish has it, i think you can pretty much assume they all have it, though in different time lines.
Thanks for the help everyone. My guppies gave birth to 19 fry yesterday, so I've been thinking about it, and maybe getting more fish for the 15 gallon would not be a good idea until I get the guppies sorted at least. It would probably still look good with only a bunch of guppies and the rest anyway.
But thanks once again for all you help, because I probably will get neon tetras one day in the future (more tanks!).
One last question, do you know if the fish have to pick on or consume bits of the sick fish to catch the disease, or is it passed on through the water so that everything that has been housed with the fish will get it eventually?
Considering fish, there probably isn't much difference. Fish are fish and they will pick.
From the help I got here, the general answer was yes, they tend to get it more easily from eating the dead diseased fish - which is why I did solitary confinement for my little guy.
It's been 3 or 4 months since I took that guy away from the others and I haven't lost any more Neons. But I keep a close eye on them daily too.
Congrats on the guppy fry. Maybe you can trade them for Neons at the pet store. LOL.
