What ails my fish?

Hi,

Lately, one of my neon tetras swims in a jittery fashion with his head end tipped up maybe 60 degrees from horizontal. He no longer eats, too. What could be going on?

Thanks,

Unfortunately, your guy probably has Neon Tetra Disease, an infection whose late stages are muscle degeneration, spinal degeneration and color fading. Moreover, it is contagious and AFAIK, incurable.

For more information, take a look at: http://www.fishpalace.org/Disease.html#NTD

Sorry for the bad news.

-coelacanth

Oh, no. How sad. Thank you for the pointer.

David

Most likely something is off with your water parameters. Do a 20 to 25% water change with a good gravel vac, cleaning filter media, etc. and see if that don't cure things up..... Small tetras are good warnning fish, especially neons, being so delicate, they will be amoung the first to show signs/symptoms when something is off with the water parameters. ....... Frank

Thank you for the tips, Frank.

David

Beyond what was already said, it could be a swim bladder infection. It can be treated, but I believe antibiotic fish food is the best medication (somebody correct me here?) and it's been removed from the market in Canada for some idiotic reason. You can also help out by improving your water quality if you've neglected it a bit more than you ought to. The lack of eating, however, isn't promising.

Being that swimbladder infections are bacterial origin, your right, an antibiotic food would be the best treatment. Tetra has a medicated food (for parasites) that works great on swimbladder infections. A real good antibiotic food can be made by desolving 200mg Erythromycin in a tablespoon of fish or shrimp cooking oil and mixing it into 4oz. can of flake food. The oil keeps the antibiotic on the food, and fish seem to like it better than just the flake

Good to know, Frank, I'm going to save that post. The Tetra Medica (i believe it was) food has been banned in Canada for a year or two now.. I'm sure it wouldn't even be an issue if someone wanted to mailorder it from the US, but nonetheless it isn't obtainable in stores 'round there parts... legally, anyways.

and tetra recently stopped making it too... I got several of the last cans

Hmmm, figures - wounder why they would stop making something that worked so good (?) . . . . One of the gals in this news group told me same thing a few months ago - something to do with the 'mad cow' thing.........Frank