NTD Question.

[Paranoid]

Background
I purchased 6 juvenile neon tetra’s about 3-4 weeks ago and quarantined them for two weeks before moving them to my main tank (55Gal). Well, I noticed last night that one of them was keeping itself separated form the others and took a good look at it. It had a patch of white on both sides of it’s body that ran from the dorsal fin down to the blue band. A little internet research later and I found several photo’s that looked exactly like my neon’s white patches and was identified as one of the first signs of neon tetra disease (along with keeping apart from the others). I also read that this is incurable and highly contagious to many other tetra’s not just regular neon’s. I have already euthanized the sick fish, but now I have a tank full of Tetra’s, Cory cats and a Pleco that are in danger of catching NTD.
My question is should I euthanize all the regular neon’s that I purchased from what must have been a sick tank at the LFS? Should I just keep a close eye on them and delay the decision? There are 16 various Tetra’s, 4 Cory cats and a common Pleco in the tank, so even if the catfish turn out to be immune I am looking at the possible loss of 16 fish if I make the wrong call.
To compound the problem both my hospital tank and my main tank are being treated for ICH (Main tank with salt and heat. The 10Gal QT is planted so it is being treated with meds). So I can’t even move the newest neon’s.

Any help/advice is appreciated, Wayne

PS: ICH came from same LFS!!! I won’t be buying fish there again!!

 

[Holly9937]

I would just keep an eye on them, I'm having the same problem, but I've had the fish for a while so I am really . I have lost 2 so far, but my other 8 look ok so I guess I am waiting to see what happens. But from what I have heard, your other fish are not too likely to get it, but water changes can't hurt!! sorry I couldn't be more helpful, its the one thing I haven't got many replies about either

 

[Paranoid]

Thanks Holly,
I understand folks not answering my question. Who wants to tell someone to kill thier fish?? I expect that the smart fish keeper would cut thier losses and euthanize all the regular neon’s before the rest of the tetra's get infected!! I just can't make myself do it without some sign that the disease is spreading. They are just babies, about 1/2" or so. I guess I will just keep a close eye on them and deal with whether to put them down when I see the disease spreading.

Wayne

BTW: What signs did you see in your fish that they were sick? Same as mine? I am not 100% sure it is NTD!! That is the one thing i wish someone would have commented on!! Is what i am seeing only consistant with NTD or could it be something else?????

 

[Holly9937]

I'm dealing with the same thing! They appear perfectly fine, but over the last few weeks I noticed that the red stripe was going very pale. Then I found one body doing a gravel vac. and a second floating a few days later. Other than that they are fine :thud: . My only un-ideal tank condition is very high nitrates, not sure if that could be the problem or not. However I haven't has any deaths in a long time, so I think my fish have somewhat adjusted (which doesn't make it good! I plan to do some water changing tomorrow to help things a bit). If you figure anything out let me know!
Good luck

 

[Paranoid]

I'm dealing with the same thing! They appear perfectly fine, but over the last few weeks I noticed that the red stripe was going very pale. Then I found one body doing a gravel vac. and a second floating a few days later.

HMMM, So it was a pretty slow progression! That explains why it didn't get caught during quarantine! Guess I will have to go to the 30day quarantine that everyone here keeps suggesting. I guess we both have a long road ahead of us before we can feel this thing has been cleared from our tanks. :sad

My tank test results are NH3=0 NO2=0 NO3=10. Last water change was 2 days ago with 25% replaced. So conditions are about as good as I can get them with my tapwater running 5-10ppm of NO3.

 

[Holly9937]

some of my neons are almost a year and a half old and the newest are 2-3 months I'm guessing. I got a QT tank, but haven't set it up yet, it wouldn't have doen me much good in this case b/c I would have never kept them in there for that long

 

[Paranoid]

WOW!!! 2-3 months!! I thought the diseases progression was much quicker than that. Everything I have read said it was pretty quick, not an overnight killer but I was assuming that "quick" meant 2-3 weeks not months. I am going to have to do somemore research tommorrow and see if I can find a timeline for for this. If I find anything new I will post it in this thread.

PS: I am not patient enough to do the 3 month quarantine either. Shoot, I wasn't even patient enough to do the 30 days!!

 

[Harlock]

PS: I am not patient enough to do the 3 month quarantine either. Shoot, I wasn't even patient enough to do the 30 days!!

Just so you know, 30 days should be the minimum quarantine time in order for it to be effective, in my opinion. It may take that long to get a clinical diagnosis on something as tricky as Ich or gill flukes. Also, and I cannot stress this enough, fish in quarantine have to be watched closely for anything out of the ordinary as well as for the fishkeeper to learn that particular fish's behaviors and mannerisms. Otherwise, how do you tell when he is behaving abnormally? Quarantine may seem boring, but whe you are dealing with a tank full of healthy fish and one or two newcomers, the choice is rather obvious.

 

[Holly9937]

I am assuming that the NTD (still, if that is even what is going on) came in on the new neons. I've had them for 2-3 months and only noticed a problem the last few weeks...I thought it would have happened sooner too, if it came with the new ones at least... I am also frustrated becuase none of the other symptoms of NTD apply, just the fading stripe

 

[Paranoid]

Just so you know, 30 days should be the minimum quarantine time in order for it to be effective, in my opinion.

I know your right Harlock. I had just done a fishy cycle on a new 55gal (I didn't know any better at the time!) and couldn't stand seeing it pretty much empty for months on end while I very slowy stocked it from my 10 Gal quarantine tank. Now I am paying for my impatience. Of course, had I known about fishless and done one I would still be in the same boat as I would have fully stocked it after the cycle without quarantining the fish. However, next time I cycle a tank it will be fishless! I will also make myself be more patient with the quarantine next time.

Gonna go and see if I can't find a timeline for NTD progression. There doesn't seem to be much info out there on the net about NTD. It makes being even reasonably sure thats what it is almost impossible!!!