Hi All,

One of my neon tetras isn't doing well. He's lying by himself towards the bottom of the aquarium, slightly pointed down, panting heavily, and slightly bloated. His colors are good and I don't see any scales sticking out, but I see the red outline of his gills (doesn't look particularly bad). I haven't fed the fish in 24 hrs, in case this is a digestion system issue. Water parameters are ammonia and nitrite at 0ppm and nitrates <10ppm. 10G tank with 5 neons, 3 platys, betta, and 1 otocinclus.

Edit: GH=75ppm (soft), KH=40-80ppm (relatively low), pH=7.6, Temp=80F, weekly water changes=50% with Tetra AquaSafe Plus.

Any help would be appreciated.

Your tetra might have neon tetra disease, you should Google it to find out for sure. Other than that, I'm afraid I can't offer much advice. I know NTD has a 50% survival rate and no known cure, so just keep your water pristine and he might make it through. Good luck!

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Officially fishless until after the move....tune in later for details!

Thanks Gizmo! I've read about NTD and I'm not sure this is what I'm dealing with yet (I hope not at least). I don't see any faded spots on the affected fish's body, no sign of tumors, etc. Maybe it's the early stages of the disease. It's mouth is almost completely open and it's also trying to pant really hard. I was hoping that it's just over-eating or constipation, but it's taking a while... Today, I fed the fish some freeze-dried daphnia that has lots of fiber, hoping to help with digestion problems, but the affected fish didn't get any. It's a sad sight and my son who tries to take care of and observe the fish every day is quite upset. I'll keep you all posted.

drzoom: Don't know if this will be of any help or consolation but I had the exact same thing happen. Unfortunately the little neon in question went to fishy heaven but here is one thought I had. I had recently cleaned the tank (vacuumed) and done a 25% water change which dropped the ph a good deal. I understand neons are a little sensitive in that area. I had 6 neons and the other 5 seem fine. One thing I did notice was the sick neon wasn't eating for several days before he passed away. His color was great and otherwise he seemed healthy. (I think he is a "he" as he is smaller and the blue stripe was straight rather than curved.)
It has been a couple of weeks since this happened and (cross my fingers) everyone else is doing fine.

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AVATAR: Wallace's Flying Frog: a moss frog found from the Malay Peninsula into western Indonesia.
Their webbed feet are their "wings"!

Thanks frogwings. I checked the pH yesterday and it was in the 7.6 range. Unfortunately, I found him/her dead this morning and attached to the filter inlet. The only sign of a problem was a big hole in the belly, as if it had exploded. Or, it could be that the other fish in the tank munched on it. Everyone else in the tank appears very healthy and active. RIP my poor tetra... I just hope that this isn't a contagious disease.