# Ugh. Neon Tetra fungus



## tf1265

I just got a new school of neon tetras to replace one that had been wiped out by improper ich treatment. 

I discovered last night that one of them has some kind of fungus. It's a small white slightly furry patch on one side of his body at the base and just below the dorsal fin. 

What's the best way to treat this? I've seen some advice saying methylene blue and some saying antibiotics. Not sure what to get. 

I've already isolated the fish, but are fungi like these usually contagious, or are the rest of my fish probably safe?

Tank Info:
10 gallon, cycled, filtered (aquaclear 20), heated to 78 degrees. Water parameters all test normal (pH between 7.4-7.6 normally). I have 2 sunburst mollies in with the neons. Gravel substrate, live plants, small airstone. Fed tropical flake food and brine shrimp 1 x daily. 25% water changes 2 x week. 

I think that covers it. Please let me know what to do, i've not dealt with any type of fungus before. I'm torn between spending the money to treat it or taking it back to the pet store as i've only had it about a week, but I'm sure they'll euthanize it if I take it back.


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## kitten_penang

trust me on this if it is fungus get intrepet fungus away...
mb kills plants and makes everything look messy and is toxic to invertabrates.
the sigle thing that i find 100% effective non messy,plants safe and efficiently fast in healing is the intrepet
don't get melafix!!!! it agrevates the fungus and the fish might get killed in the process.

i've used intrepet on tetras before and the fungus dissapears in a day or 2.to get rid of the med just use active carbon and a simple wc.
make sure you read the directions..calculate the amount needed,use warm water and make sure it's fully diluted, spread over the tank,add aeration if the fishes look like theres not enough o2 and watch as the fungus disapear in a day or 2 ;-)


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## tf1265

So I should treat the whole tank, not isolate and treat the tetra with the fungus?

Thanks!


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## kitten_penang

fish get fungus from dirty water... keep the water clean in the main tank and if they don't show signs of fungus theres no need to dose.. add some hiding place in the qt for the single little one and make sure the waters clean before adding the meds. once it heals you can add it back to the main tank :-D


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## tf1265

OK. The water in this tank is actually almost new ( I kept the filter and gravel but did a 100% water change after my last mass fish-death 2 weeks ago because of the parasites) so I think the fungus probably came from the pet store. I'll keep a close eye on them though. Thanks!


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## kitten_penang

becareful.. check the water params..new water can cause a tank to re-start the cycle since you most probally switched off the pump and cleaned the gravel as well.amonia burns can look like fungus and most fish get it if the tank is in the start of a cycle and theres and overload of fishes all at once in the tank.


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## Romad

It could also be a wound that is slightly infected and not an actual fungus. I've seen wounds on a few of my fish that looked just how you're describing it. 

I removed the individual fish to a hospital tank, treated with half doses of Melafix, and changed at least 50% of the water every day. Within a week or so, it was gone completely. 

Your dilemma is that the fish are new and it could very well be a true fungus. Can you post a picture or Google image a picture that matches the symptoms of your fish?


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## tf1265

I'm at work right now so I won't be able to do anything until the evening when I get home. I looked for an image on google that I thought looked right but I couldn't find anything. I will take a closer look at try again when I am home later. 

So if I think it's a fungus I should get Intrepet, and if I think it's an infected would I should get Melafix? 

Hopefully with your input I should be able to make the call when I get home and can take another close look at the fish (and make sure none of the others have developed anything). 

I'll be back later tonight with more information. Thanks!


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## tf1265

So...I got home from work and went to examine the fish, and...there is no sign of anything being wrong. I couldn't see any evidence of fungus or anything else out of the ordinary. 

Explanations? It's possible it was just something from the tank that had temporarily gotten stuck on him, but that seems like I would've been able to tell the difference....


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## Romad

That seems unlikely. Look closely where you saw the fuzz and see if there are any abnormalities in the skin/scales. 

And do you have a liquid test kit to test for ammonia, nitrAte, nitrIte?


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## kitten_penang

my feeders get that some time.just keep an eye on it and make sure the waters clean


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## tf1265

So, they all died. It took a few days, but as of this morning all 5 of them are dead. It was definitely a fungus. I put them in a QT tank and started to treat it with rid-ich, since it claims to work on most parasites and fungi. On some of them it did appear to be working on the fungus but they died anyway. On some of them it didn't seem to work on the fungus at all, and they died.

It doesn't appear to have spread to the other fish in the tank. Could this have been neon tetra disease? Is that contagious? It looked like the fish's scales were just slowly turning white. On some of them it had spread significantly.


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## kitten_penang

omg poor fish... you'll need to read up on neon tetra disease coz i dont know much about it


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## tf1265

Yeah, I felt pretty terrible. Most of them didn't seem to suffer too much at least, although a few of them I was thinking of euthanizing as for the last few hours they were breathing but not moving. 

I think i'm taking a break from neon tetras for a while. They are so sensitive and so small that it seems to take no time at all for an entire school to be wiped out. I can't take more any fish deaths under my watch!


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## BarbH

The following is taken from the thread on freshwater and saltwater diseases

*Neon Tetra** Disease (Pleistophora hyphessobryconis)
Symptoms:*
Restlessness especially at night (a weird behavior can be distinguished when the afflicted fish seems to be swimming on its own while the rest are "asleep"), loss of coloration on its body usually starting on the midsection, secondary infections brought by finrot and dropsy, curved spine, erratic behavior

*Causes:*
This is caused sporozoan parasites and is very contagious.

*Treatment:*
There is no known cure up to this date as the sporozoan parasites have proven themselves very resistant to several medications. Any fish suspected to be afflicted or afflicted must be isolated immediately and eventually euthanized if no improvement in its health has been observed in the next few days. Transmission is done mostly by fish picking on the afflicted and spores infecting new hosts as the current host dies.

*Notes:*
This disease has been confused with Columnaris. Note that the NTD is usually associated with a creamy colored patch which appears to "delete" the actual coloration of the fish. Columnaris is associated with white patches, a case very different from NTD.

Neons are very vulnerable to NTD but this is also found among cichlids, danios, rasboras and other species. There have been several reports that so far only the cardinal tetras are immune to this disease. 

Read more: http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/...hwater-saltwater-diseases-8179/#ixzz1VIU1YgwD


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## kitten_penang

well good luck =) i find black neons tougher then the normal neons


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