# Neon Tetra stomach is swollen and undulating/moving?? WEIRD



## eat6298 (Sep 10, 2012)

Hi all, new here. I have one Neon Tetra in a school of five with a strange symptom. The tetra's stomach area is swollen (it seems really swollen sometimes, and maybe almost normal at other times). The very strange thing is that the stomach area is constantly moving. It seems to undulate. It will be evenly swollen across the stomach area, then it will poke out sharply in one part, like a small bead (or piece of gravel?) is in there, then the bump will move, sort of even out, then two bumps will appear (like two lumps on the back a camel), then maybe there will just be a bump towards the back, then all even out again, etc. The tetra acts perfectly healthy (eating/swimming/breathing normally) and its color is good, as are all the others. It will occasionally swim away from the rest, but each of them seem to do this occasionally. It does have more red visible in the gills than the other tetras, but I'm not sure if this is a new development or it was always like that. I did read one or two other accounts of this elsewhere on the internet but no legitimate info on the problem. I bought some general cure that is supposed to treat parasites, which was just a random guess of mine (only because it reminded me of some icky scifi parasite thing, not because i know anything about fish disease or parasites), but i haven't used it yet. First i thought eggs, but after researching it seems that's not the case. Maybe just constipation of some sort, maybe a strange symptom for neon tetra disease? I have no idea, just my thoughts from internet searching, but this seems like a very specific, though perhaps unusual, symptom so i'm hoping someone can help me out here. I don't have a reasonable sized hospital tank with filter and heater (sadly it's just not worth the cost to have a whole other tank set aside for these fish) but i can setup a little reptile carrier thing as a quarantine/treatment tank. Not sure if this is better than nothing or not. I'd rather not treat the whole tank because of the different animals with different sensitivities to medicines, but certainly an option if i can find something safe for everyone. It might not even be worth it and I should just put him down now so nothing spreads to the other animals. Oh also, it's been this way for at least a week, maybe closer to two weeks, without any change in symptoms. Er, the swelling might be increasing but only very very slightly if so.

1. Size of tank? 10 gal

2. Water parameters
a. Ammonia? 0
b. Nitrite? 0
c. Nitrate? 20 or less (having trouble getting this to zero)
d. pH, KH and GH? 6.9, ~80, ~75
e. Test kit? Tetra easy strips (i know i need to get something better, going to soon)

3. Temperature? 80

4. FW (fresh water) or BW (brackish)? FW

5. How long the aquarium has been set up? 2.5 months

6. What fish do you have? How many are in your tank? How big are they? How long have you had them? I've had all animals since the beginning (after tank cycling of course). 3 neon tetras, 2 cardinal tetras (is this ok? fish store guy said it was fine and they would school together and be happy, obviously i trust you guys more. a few neon tetras died when i put them in my tank, went back for more and he convinced me to get a few cardinals instead b/c look they're pretty and on sale! stupid, i know), two purple bridgesii snails, two african dwarf frogs, and around 15-20 red cherry shrimp.

7. Were the fish placed under quarantine period (minus the first batch from the point wherein the tank is ready to accommodate the inhabitants)? no, all pretty much in the same batch.

8. a. Any live plants? Fake plants? anubias, banana plant, bunch of anacharis, bunch christmas moss
b. Sand, gravel, barebottom? gravel
c. Rocks, woods, fancy decors? Any hollow decors? little (plastic) stone building decoration, rocks to which moss is attached, driftwood which i found and sanitized

9. a. Filtration? marineland penguin 100 with biowheel, no special media, all came with the 10 gallon setup
b. Heater? not sure the exact brand, it came with the setup

10. a. Lighting schedule? What lights are used? 9 or 10 hours
b. Any sunlight exposure? How long? not really

11. a. Water change schedule? once a week
b. Volume of water changed? about 25%, more if needs extra cleaning
c. Well water, tap water, RO water? well water
d. Water conditioner used? prime
e. Frequency of gravel/sand (if any) vacuumed? once a week, usually vacuum REALLY well (take out decorations/plants in the way, try to get all the nooks and crannies) once every two weeks, only hit the easier spots the other times

12. Foods? tropical flakes for the fish, frozen blood worms for the frogs, occasionally algae tablet for the shrimp and snails.
How often are they fed? fish and frogs once a day, usualy a fast once a week

13. a. Any abnormal signs/symptoms? swollen and moving stomach
b. Appearance of poop? normal
c. Appearance of gills? slightly red

14. a. Have you treated your fish ahead of diagnosis? no
b. What meds were used? none yet

15. Insert photos of fish in question and full tank shot if necessary.

I included a few pics so you can get an idea of how it changes, though these really seem more alike than not. As I said, it really goes from smooth, to one extreme bump, it undulates down, smooths out some, turns in to two obvious bumps, gets lumpy, smooths out, etc. I also think it gets a bit more swollen than these pictures seem. I wish i could get a clear video, it's a pretty crazy sight. 




















 
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