NetMax wrote:
"Altum" wrote in message
t...

Gill Passman wrote:

I bought 12 Neons for my new tank at the beginning of the month (just
over 3 weeks ago). The tank did a mini-cycle which I fixed by seeding it
(nitrites got to 0.1 so not massive). All settled down so I added 6 Panda
Cories - 2 didn't make it but I got credit as the LFS believed that there
might have been a problem with the stock. I added 4 more and these are
all doing great. I also now have 3 Boesman rainbows in there along with
my two mystery fry....and 3 Amano shrimps...

The tank is approx 130 gall - 6 foot and has plants. Nitrite and Ammonia
are 0. pH is high(around 7.5) and the water here is hard.

Over the last week I have been losing the Neons - at a rate of approx one
a day. I am now down to 4 or 5 (it was 5 this morning but right now I can
only see 4). What I have noticed is that they seem to get white blister
like patches on their backs/sides. They then start swimming erractically
and then it is over within hours. No fluffy stuff or white spots of any
type. The majority I have found stuck to the inlet valve...

Just wondering if anyone has any idea what might be happening to these
tetras...all the other fish are doing just fine....the tetras themselves
were from the tank marked "larger Neon Tetras" so I'm guessing that they
are older than the more usual ones stocked but would be suprised if they
are dying of old age so soon after purchase and all within days/hours of
one another....

TIA
Gill

I agree with Koi-Lo. It sounds like Plistophora, although it's happening
kind of fast. Remove the remaining tetras to quarantine. There is no cure
for Plistophora and fish other than tetras can become infected. The
disease spreads when other fish pick at the corpse of an infected one. If
you can't quarantine the tetras, remove them and euthanize as soon as you
can tell that they're infected.

The other possibility is Flavobacterium, presenting as "saddleback
disease". If your neons were stressed or damaged in shipping, they may be
susceptible to it. The rapid deaths are typical of Flavobacterium
septicemia. You can treat Flavobacterium in quarantine with acriflavine &
salt if the disease has not gone internal. Potassium permanganate is
supposed to work too. I doubt that neons would survive a salt dip.
Internal Flavobacterium requires an antibiotic.

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Saddleback, very quick. I used to treat with Kanamycine (or Neomycine) and
(climbs into asbestos overalls) MelaFix (one of the few practical uses I
found for the stuff). This was the primary reason I kept more than one Neon
tank going.

I read the link that Koi-Lo provided and it certainly does sound as if
it is Neon Tetra Disease....one thing I guess is I know have one of the
biggest QT tanks in the hobby :-( - all the fish in the tank have been
exposed and there will be no additions until the thing settles. The fish
had been in the LFS for some weeks so injury through shipping is
possibly not an option although I will take them to task about this -
going there on Thursday....

We can't get anti-biotics over here off the shelf so maybe I will give
the Melafix a try....the bottle is on my desk following recent
discussions....

On a positive note I do still have 5 Neons...the missing one turned up
for his dinner...the remaining ones are feeding well. I have managed to
get the majority of the bodies out - maybe missed 1 or 2 max....I'm a
little worried about the Pandas and the Rainbows but hopefully from my
reading they are not quite as susceptible to this as other fish can be...

Thanks guys....a little depressed about all this....

Gill