neon tetra disease information

Neon tetra disease (NTD) is a parasitic type of infection that causes neon tetras to loose their color and often results in death.  Because the parasite spreads via spores that are passed in the fish's fecal matter, it is important to treat it early to prevent the spread to your entire collection of neons.  The parasite Sporozoan; Pleistophora hyphessobryconis can be introduced from foods or by introducing new neons without proper quarantine procedures.  I suggest quarantining all new purchases of neon tetras as often they'll have the disease when purchased.

You can quarantine new neons by housing them in a 10 gallon tank for 2 weeks and doing a mild bath of 10ml of Methylene Blue and changing the water twice a week for a total of 4 water changes during their 2 week quarantine.   Only after proper quarantine should you move the new purchases to your display tank.

Neon Tetra Disease is often mistaken as another type of parasitic disease and often the symptoms are very similar.  Regardless of whether your fish are infected with  Pleistophora hyphessobryconis or another type of parasitic infection, the treatment is the same.  Symptoms often include:

• Loss of color or white tissue in fecal matter
• swimming alone or apart from the school
• skittish behavior (darting from other fish or when you approach the tank)
• difficulty swimming
• not eating
• physical deformities (including spine and a lumpy appearance)

Remove the infected or thought to be infected fish (treating a fish that isn't sick is ok!) to a hospital tank or even a rubber made tub.  Prior to moving the fish, syphon out 10 gallons of display tank water to fill the hospital tank.  Make sure the hospital tank has a heater and if it has a filter, remove all carbon.  If no filter is involved, be sure to change the water daily.

Essentially, you are going to give them a bath of Methylene blue daily.  Use approx 1tsp per 10 gallons of water and change the water daily.  A 24 hour treatment may be enough, but I would suggest a 72 hour treatment.  While you're treating the fish in a hospital tank, treat the display tank with PARAGUARD.  Just follow the directions on the bottle for preventative treatment.

I have found that keeping your display tank water on the more acidic side will often prevent NTD from taking hold in the first place.  Besides, your neons will love it!

check out http://fish-connection.com for tips on using peat moss to get your water in amazon style conditions!

Enjoy your healthy fish!

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