Glowlight tetras with constipation?   8/9/08 Dear crew, <Evan> I was looking at my aquarium tonight when I noticed 3 of my Glowlight Tetras (Hemigrammus erythrozonus) were displaying the same symptom. All three had some sort of stringy clear/white excretion hanging from their anuses. I'm thinking it could be constipation but worried it could be internal infection/parasites. <or just...> I have never had this problem with my Tetras before. There are 7 in a 10G tank (parameters NH3=0, N02=0, NO3<5, pH=8.0, <Mmm, this is too high... I'd "fix" in the change-out water ahead of use> GH ~ 6, KH ~ 6, I change 30% water every 5-7 days). <Great> I feed TetraMin tropical flakes, freeze-dried bloodworms, occasionally sushi Nori. 6 days ago I added 5 Red Cherry Shrimp to the tank. 2 days ago I added some blanched cabbage to the tank for the shrimp to munch on. Last night I put some pantyhose (stockings) material around the intake of my power filter so any baby shrimp wouldn't get sucked into the filter. Could chemicals from the pantyhose cause this sort of reaction? <Mmm, not likely> Could the cabbage have done something to their bowels? <Yes> All of the fish have good color and energy, they have been eating well and otherwise show no symptoms of disease. Should I take any action or just wait and see? <Definitely the latter... Very easy in such a small volume, with the shrimp present, to induce troubles> I have included a couple pictures that tries to show the problem, they are a little blurry. <These are excellent images!> Thank you for your help. Evan <Bob Fenner, would just be patient here>

Tetras (Neons & cardinals) dying one by one in the dark in a planted aq.  8/7/08
I hope you can help. Please forgive the length, but I wanted to give you all the info I could think of.
<OK.>
30g L, been up for about 8 weeks (cycled with seed filter from friends established tank), custom hood with AHsupply 96w CF bulb (3.2W/gal), eco-complete substrate mixed with fine gravel. Fluval 205 filter. Stealth 100W heater.
<All sounds good.>
Tank has the following plants (most of which are thriving): Cabomba (2 bunches of 5 stems each), Moneywort (4 bunches of 3 stems each), Melon Sword, Chain sword (just a baby), Microsword (2sq in patch), Ruffle plant, Wisteria (just finally establishing its fine submerged leaves - 1 bunch of 3-4 stems), Broad Ludwigia (1 bunch of 3-4 stems), small Java fern, small Anubias nana, and a large bunch (about 15-20 long stems) of Anacharis (from a friends established tank). Sounds crowded, but you'd be surprised how open it really still is.
<At least some get pretty big -- Echinodorus osiris for example will quickly take over a 30 gallon tank if it thrives; mature plants can be 50 cm tall and 30 cm across! Echinodorus martii likewise.>
To this there's the following fish: 5 spotted Corys, 6 otos, 3 "mystery" snails, 6 zebra danios, and originally 8 each Neons and cardinal tetras.
<Right, well one issue here will be temperature. To wit, Neons prefer cool water, 20-24 degrees C; Cardinals need warm water, 25-28 C. There's no "happy medium" at which both can be expected to do perfectly well. Corydoras, Otocinclus and Danios are also cool-tropical fish, and will thrive at 20-24 C (I'd go for 22 C). But that's too low for the Cardinals. So one way or another, at least some fish are going to be heat or cold stressed.>
The light is on a timer to cycle 6 hours on in the morning, followed by a 3 hour off break mid afternoon, then another 6 hrs on in the evening. Then off for the remaining 9hrs overnight.
<OK.>
All was well, the plants are thriving, the fish too.
<Good.>
Then I added the anacharis about 2 weeks ago. Suddenly I'm missing cardinals and Neons overnight, just 1 or 2. at a time. Never noticed any trouble with the actions/attitudes of the tank mates, everyone pretty much sticks to their schools. But the losses continued. Everyone looked fine when the lights are on... healthy, active, feeding. It was great. Well it's a great mystery alright.
<Well, Neons and to a lesser extent Cardinals can be plagued with "Neon Tetra Disease" and will drop off one by one until the cycle of infection is broken. But it is also possible the new plants brought in a predator, such as a Dragonfly nymph.>
I finally started watching closer at night and I found that after the lights been off for about 90 minutes (+/- 15 minutes) I notice a gradual and frightening change. Both the cardinals and Neons lose nearly all coloration going nearly white/clear.
<Quite normal.>
Then one or two of them start going bonkers and lose their equilibrium swimming upside down, backwards and on their sides, barrel-rolls, tumbling end-over-end, etc., then death.
<That is odd.>
Turn the lights back on and gradually (within 20-40 minutes) all coloration has returned and activity resumes normally.
<Ah, now, this is curious. Have you checked how pH is affected by photosynthesis? When plants photosynthesise they remove CO2 from the water, allowing the pH to rise. When they stop, CO2 accumulates and pH goes down. Alternatively, some (but only the minority) can perform "biogenic decalcification", and I believe Anacharis is one of them. What this means is that they remove carbonate and bicarbonate from the water as the source of carbon for photosynthesis instead of CO2. This is why these plants prefer hard water. Anyway, in the process the water loses its carbonate hardness and consequently its pH buffering capacity. The net result will be that pH will drop while these plants are photosynthesising, and the water pH will also become less stable with regard to other pH altering processes.>
My water parameters have been rock solid since the beginning: Nitrite 0; Ammonia 0; Nitrate "nearly" 0; kH 5deg; GH 12deg; pH 7.6; chlor. 0. I've even tested right before and after a light cycle and saw no appreciable difference. Temp stays between 78.5 and 80.5F.
<Do check the pH and carbonate hardness through the day to test my hypotheses above.>
My thought were CO2 poisoning - but the zero change to pH leads me to believe the CO2 isn't reaching toxic levels. Second thought - The plants are using up all the available O2 (I'm not aerating) at night thereby starving the smaller, more sensitive tetras. So I added a small airstone to the corner of the tank and set a small air pump to kick on when the lights go out (my timer has day/night outlets). It didn't seem to help.
<Leave CO2 off for a few days and see what happens. Won't harm the plants.>
Last Saturday night was the worst, within 2-1/2 hours three tetras gone (down to 6 now, 2 cardinals & 4 Neons left), and all the fish (except the 5 Corys, 2 largest danios, and 3 largest otos) were pale. Even with nighttime aeration.
<Hmm...>
So as a stopgap measure I retooled the timer to cycle the light and dark to 3 hrs light, 2 hrs dark ('round the clock). Two nights of success now with no casualties... but even though there is the requisite "amount" of light and dark I cannot imagine the rapid time cycles are any good for either the fish or plants long-term.
<It isn't good for the plants; they need a certain length of time simply too start photosynthesising, and 3 hours won't be enough.>
My next attempt will be to get a larger air pump and drive an 18" bubble wand across the back of the tank rather than the small airstone driven by the smaller air pump. I know this will drive out more CO2 to the detriment of the plants (though probably not too much), but it should eliminate the worry of CO2 poisoning, and should add O2 in the dark for the plants and fish to (hopefully) share. Also, I'll be raising the filter spout up closer to the surface to provide a little more surface agitation (currently its about 2in below with no agitation).
<Not sure this is the issue.>
Finally, since this all started after adding the fastest grower in the largest number/mass plant-wise (the anacharis). It's possible that plant addition might've pushed the balance over the edge with respect to CO2 and O2 respiration. So I'll be pulling that out and trimming it back to a more manageable (2-3 bunches of 4-5 "short" stems each) size.
<Hmm...>
Hopefully then I can gradually return to slowly extending the light/dark cycles to a more natural rhythm and keep my fish healthy and my plants growing.
Any thoughts? other suggestions? etc? Anything I missed?
Mark
<Cheers, Neale.>

Ick/Whitespot  7/22/08
Hi Guys,
I added five new baby neon tetra's to my tank recently - it seems the neon's have all developed Ick/Whitespot. I already had 6 Neon's 2 guppies and a Sailfin Molly - these all appear to be fine.
<So far at least...
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/mollies.htm
Do review the needs of Mollies, and also be warned Neons may nip the fins of fancy male Guppies.>
I have read your articles regarding ICK and just wanted to confirm your recommendation for best way to treat.
<Promptly!>
I was just going to buy meds and treat the tank with meds and regular water changes. However from reading through your site would you recommend increasing temperature and treating with Salt instead?
<Makes no odds either way. I tend to use commercial medications such as eSHa EXIT (a brand I find works well even with sensitive species like puffers) because it's easier. But if you want to use salt/temperature, go ahead.>
I have added salt before but never with the neon's only with mollies/guppies can my neon's tolerate salt? also my temp is at 80f already is it safe to increase the temp further?
<Neons should tolerate the very low salt concentration required, particularly if you build up the salinity across a few days. As for raising the temperature, I wouldn't. Temperature is about speeding up the life cycle of the parasite; in itself it isn't a "treatment" as such. The idea is that the salt only kills the free living parasite, so the sooner that phase begins, the better.>
Thanks in advance
Scott
<Cheers, Neale.>

How to keep bacteria alive in a fishless tank?
Pristella maxillaris; health (Bob, second opinion?) Mmm, nope. RMF    7/19/08
Hello Neale,
<Hello Giuseppe,>
hope all is well for you. One of my Pristella maxillaris is in distress showing a dark area in the intestines at the bladder level. I always noticed a small dark area in the same place in that fish, but now the dark area is bigger and the fish tends to hide in a cave during the day, swimming in circles almost horizontally. The Pristella doesn't eat almost anything at this point. When I turn the lights off it gets out of the cave and swims with the other fish.
Is there any medicine you would recommend?
<This isn't something I recognise, I'm afraid. X-ray Tetras are usually very robust but they are (I believe) wild caught, so it is possible this one has an intestinal parasite of some kind, and that's what you're seeing in these famously transparent little fish. Because internal parasites usually have very complex life cycles, the risk to your other fish is very small. (Normally the small fish is eaten by a predator, like a bird, and then the parasite leaves the bird to infest more fish somewhere else via the bird's droppings.) If the fish is showing no signs of getting better and all the signs of simply getting worse every day, I'd make a judgment on its quality of life. If it was having a bad life away from the school and generally not doing fun tetra things, I'd painlessly destroy it. Small fish are difficult to treat when infected with anything other than light cases of external parasites/infections.>
Thanks,
Giuseppe
<Cheers, Neale.>

Cardinal with blister/worm? -05/07/08 Hello WWM Crew! First, I have to thank you for the invaluable resource that you provide to all aquarists. Your website is brilliant: a veritable mine of information! That being said, I (of course) have a problem. <Thanks for the kind words.> One of my cardinal tetras has me stumped. At first, I thought he/she had mechanical damage from running into something in their habitat. Later, a sizable white spot developed inside of a large, clear blister. Additionally, on this individual only, a large swatch of black has developed beneath the eyes bilaterally, stretching from the mouth towards his/her gills. The black "stripe" lies beneath the iridescent blue scales that cover the cardinals body. For the time being (and since the "blister" started to develop some time ago) the cardinal is acting entirely normal, schooling with the 29 others, eating extremely well, full cardinal colour, no scratching or abnormal behaviour. A second cardinal has begun to show the lighter/clear patch of discolouration that preceded the "blister." <Ah, given the "syndrome" is spreading, I'm obviously thinking about Pleistophora as a possible cause. Whilst Cardinals do not seem quite as susceptible as Neons, they can still catch the so-called "Neon Tetra Disease". There's no known cure, beyond breaking the cycle of infection, which seems to be sick/dead fish releasing infective stages that get into healthy fish. Isolating symptomatic fish is the preferred first step.> Tank specs: ammonia, nitrite, 0. Nitrate, less than 5, more than 0. Soft water, pH 6.8, mixed treated tap and RO. Fluorite substrate, heavily planted. Tankmates: 30 cardinals (two symptomatic), four M. altispinosus (asymptomatic), one SAE (asymptomatic). The tank has been fully cycled for about 6 months (fishlessly, so much easier! Why doesn't everyone do it this way?). The tank is kept at 82 degrees F. Partial water changes are done at least weekly (often times more often…there is still sediment on all of the plants from the Fluorite!) and the gravel is vacuumed each time (around the plants). <All sounds ideal for tetras.> I found a reference on WWM to worms growing in blisters on a Raphael Cat. Is this one and the same? <Blisters can of course be caused by a variety of things. People get blisters from things as diverse as badly fitting shoes and Bubonic plague. So one should be very careful about assigning causes to just one symptom of this type. What's more specific to Pleistophora is changes in colouration, loss of appetite, shyness, and then eventually death. Infected fish, particularly species other than Neons, can last for many weeks even months before death.> I found the reference here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebindex/catfshdisfaqs.htm . However, the same individual got two different answers from two different experts (you guys really are): "This is likely some sort of "worm" parasite (more likely a digenean trematode/fluke but maybe a nematode)… The Paragon might help... there are other vermicides... Levamisole, Fenbendazole, Piperazine... that might be tried" and "The blisters are really bacterial infections eating away the flesh of the fish. Treat with Nitrofuranace after you do a 30% water change and serviced the filter." <Blisters can indeed be caused by both these things. Unless you're a microbiologist, it is really impossible to know what the problem is. So the best you can do is run through the likely causes one at a time, trying different treatments.> There was also a reference to Dieter Untergasser's "Handbook of Fish Diseases": "There is one treatment method suggested in there that sounds like it should work (method C6)." I am afraid that I do not have this book, as I have never had any trouble with disease in any of my tanks (well, I rehomed African Cichlids for someone else that had been horribly abused, but that required nothing more than better husbandry and a larger tank). I checked local libraries with no success. I will purchase it now, but I'm afraid it will be a couple weeks to arrive. May I enquire as to this "method C6"? <No idea I'm afraid. In any case, with very small fish, the fish often doesn't last long enough for the treatment to work. It's simply a size issue. So while I'd certainly consider isolating and treating infected fish as best as I could, in this case if it *does* seem to be "catchy", I'd perhaps painlessly destroy both fish to stop the problem spreading.> If this is what is mal-affecting my cardinal(s), how should I treat? Should I treat everyone in situ or should I remove the affected individuals to the hospital tank? Do I need to tear down the tank to stop everyone getting infected if this is a parasite? Would they best be treated orally or as a bath? If I have to treat in situ, is there a medication that is plant safe, or do I have to remove the plants? I have attached a photograph of the cardinal (and learned that cardinals are camera shy, and move fast!) that shows the blister, white spot, and black under his/her eyes. I just noticed that the photo makes the cardinal look like it has popeye, but I can assure you that it is only a trick of the light. <Isolate the infected fish for sure; perhaps maintain them for 2-3 weeks simply by providing good food and water and see what happens. Treat with an antibiotic or antibacterial if you want. It is possible the blister is nothing worse than a secondary infection caused by (for example) fighting. In this case, you should see some signs of improvement. But if the fish continue to deteriorate, get back in touch. At worst, you've isolated the potential source of infection and your other tetras should be fine. I have long since given up keeping Neons because of the plethora of mystery diseases they seem to come supplied with. Cardinals, though more expensive, are tougher and better value in my experience. But even so, you might be unlucky.> Sorry for the novel of an email, but I wanted to provide you with all of the information I could. Thank you for all of your help, and the excellent resource you have compiled for all of us (it is becoming harder and harder to resist that reef tank…). <So they tell me.> To you and yours, a wonderful day and weekend. Thanks, Tianna <Cheers, Neale.>

Re: FW Cardinal with blister/worm? 05/08/08 Hello Neale, Thank you for your advice on my cardinal issue. I have isolated him/her in a separate tank, and am working on catching the second. I hadn't even thought of NTD! Urg! The possibility didn't even cross my mind, since the fish is just as active as the rest of the school, and still the first to food. <Which all sounds positive, so fingers crossed the blisters heal by themselves.> There is also no white necrotic tissue present- only a clear blister (still with regular, bright colouration beneath, despite how the picture appears…), with an ich like spot inside. <Odd.> But...alarm bells ringing! When I took the cardinal out of the tank, I noticed that it does have a "lumpy" appearance. I hadn't noticed, because it is so subtle that you can't see it except when looking at the cardinal from above. <Well, keep an eye on things. Do provide the isolated fish with shade and good clean water so it isn't too unhappy.> As far as an anti-parasitic, do you have a recommendation that may work? <Wish there was. So far as I know, nothing works reliably, or even half the time.> I figure that if it is NTD, an anti-parasitic won't do any more harm. I would rather not sacrifice the fish if I do not have to, but in the event that they do begin to suffer, I will certainly break out the microscope. <I certainly hope the boffins at the "fish medication" labs come up with something for Pleistophora; it's a real plague and so depressing to watch. But breaking the cycle of infection/re-infection is essential, which is what you've done.> Thanks again, Tianna <Good luck, and keep us posted. Neale.> Re: Cardinal with blister/worm?  5/10/08 Hello again Neale, I hope you are enjoying your weekend! <Indeed I am! A lovely summery sort of day here in England.> I think the mystery of the white-sphere-filled-blisters on the cardinals has been solved. I went to perform a water change on the hospital tank, and ARGH! What appeared to be nematodes, of all different lengths, free swimming in the tank. The white spot (which, I guess, is a mass of subcutaneous parasites) in one of the cardinals had shrunk considerably. <Never seen this, or even heard of it. Sounds quite nasty. In any case, I'd immediately use some sort of antibacterial/antibiotic to prevent secondary infections caused by the burst cyst. An anti-helminth drug such as Prazi Pro should deal with the nematodes. But that said, most worms have complex life cycles that can't be completed under aquarium conditions (for example, they need to go through a bird or snail before they can back into a fish). So provided there were no secondary infections and the Cardinal otherwise recovers, I'd actually be cautiously optimistic.> This brings up another question that I will beg your help with. <Indeed?> Since removing the two symptomatic cardinals from the display tank, the "mystery illness" had gone wild. Nearly half of the cardinals are now showing symptoms. Clearly, there are nematodes in the tank that I can neither see, nor remove. Would it be more beneficial to just treat the entire display tank, and stop torturing the poor fish in a "naked", uncycled hospital tank (especially if there are parasites living in the display that will simply reinfect the fish again)? <In an uncycled tank, you can use Zeolite to remove the ammonia directly, and that's cost effective and reliable with very small fish like Cardinals.> As my hospital tank is only 10 gal, I cannot realistically move all 30 cardinals plus the other inhabitants to tear down the display to disinfect. I could be wrong, but I think this would do more harm than good. <Agreed.> Before the "big break" in this mystery, I had purchased some of Seachem's Cupramine as a shot in the dark. Would this be effective against the subcutaneous nematodes, or would I be better served by exchanging it for something like Praziquantel (if I can find it)? <Cupramine is certainly worth a shot before trying anything else.> I always quarantine new livestock, so seeing this now, after several months in the tank and having been quarantined for a month prior to moving to this display is mind numbing. I guess nothing is fool-proof! <Quite. As I say, this disease is something I've never encountered. Possibly Bob Fenner can offer more advice.><<Sorry to say, RMF is out traveling and without sufficient internet access. -S.M.>> Thank you so very much for all of your help (both on this mystery, and the rest of this website!) <We appreciate your kind words.> Have a great weekend, Tianna <Enjoy your weekend, too. Cheers, Neale.>

Question about spot on neon's mouth  3/26/08 Hi folks, I have a 10-gallon tank with a male Betta, two neon tetras, a frog, and two algae eaters (the kind that stay little, not sure of the name). They have all lived together for several months. I clean the tank every other week, this usually keeps the nitrates under 10. <Neons need to be in groups of 6 or more; in smaller groups they are stressed and unhappy. Please note that fish couldn't care less about cute names. But what they want is that you work around their biological needs. In the case of Neons, that means company! Keeping them in too-small a group is animal cruelty, however you choose to rationalise it.> One of the Neons (Zippity) has a dark spot on his lower lip. I recently had a problem with stringy algae and thought he may have gotten some stuck on his mouth, but it hasn't come off in a couple of days. He is able to eat. Should I put him in the hospital tank in case he is sick and could pass it along to the others? <No. It may simply be physical damage, in which case it will heal. But do also be aware that things like Mouth Fungus and Finrot can start as small blisters or sores. So as ever, check your nitrite level before you do anything else.> Also, should I be adding aquarium salt to the tank? <No. Almost all fish diseases come down to water quality issues. Almost none come down to not using salt!> I don't now because I thought I read that Neons don't like salt, but did read that it's good for disease prevention. <They don't and it isn't.> Thank you! Alice <Cheers, Neale.> Re: question about spot on neon's mouth Thank you for the advice. I will keep a close eye on the spot. The two Neons are the last two from a school - I will make sure they find a new home with other Neons as soon as he recovers. <Very good. Good luck, Neale.>

Black Skirt Tetra Infection? Help! 2/29/08
Hi, I have a 75 gallon well-established planted aquarium. The water parameters are good and all the fish have been healthy for about 5 years now. Today I noticed that a black-skirt tetra is ill. It is swimming abnormally - it's tail keeps falling and it makes brief jolts forward to right himself. It looks stressed and on closer inspection, it's torso area behind the operculum is red and swollen. I will try to catch him and put him in a quarantine tank tomorrow (not so easy in a planted aquarium) but what is wrong with him? An infection? What is the best way to treat him? Are the other fish in danger? Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance. Kim
<Hello Kim. Difficult to say precisely what's happening here, but it is certainly possible it has a bacterial infection of some sort. I'd try something like Maracyn and see how things go. Do remember to remove carbon from the filter, if you're using it. There are some parasitic infections that cause the gills to inflame, most notably Velvet, so do check for that (typically an off-white powder on the body). But parasites don't normally get into tanks unless you've added new fish. A photo might help pin things down. Cheers, Neale.>

Dying Tetras  2/10/08
I have been reading through your site and couldn't get a definite answer about my dying neon tetras. So I was wondering about my neon tetras. I recently added 12 neon tetras to my old school of 5. So my school of 17 looked awesome, but then I lost half of my school in a few days.
<This seems to happen quite often with Neons, and is one reason I have stopped keeping them and don't recommend them. The quality of the mass produced stock is fairly poor, and I suspect depends a lot on the use of antibiotics. As soon as the fish arrive at the retailer, the antibiotics wear off and the fish become increasingly sensitive to opportunistic infections. This may be aggravated by the fact most people keep Neons far too warm; in the wild their preferred temperature range is 22-25 C, so compared with most other tropical fish, they need something a little cooler. Failing in this regard may be stressing them, leading to greater sensitivity to infections. Pleistophora ("Neon Tetra Disease") may also be prevalent. Although more expensive, Cardinal tetras strike me as being better value.>
The aquarium is 55 gallons and my water parameters are fine except for pH which may be a little high (7.6).
<Well within their tolerances; if acclimated, Neons have been know to do well at up to pH 8, 30 degrees dH! Water quality and temperature are probably much more significant issues.>
Ammonia is 0ppm, nitrites are 0ppm, and nitrates are about 10-20ppm. My other fish in the aquarium are 1 dwarf Gourami, 2 blue gouramis, 1 gold Gourami, 4 rainbow sharks. I also have 4 crayfish in my tank, biggest on is about 3 inches long max. I am thinking maybe they are catching my Neons and eating them.
<Crayfish will indeed eat small fish. Under no circumstances can crayfish be considered safe additions to the community tank. While it is true crayfish are mostly herbivores in the wild, in aquaria they can easily catch small fish. Because Neons sleep close to the bottom of the tank, crayfishes could easily catch and eat them.>
I actually saw one snacking on a tetra but not sure if he caught him. It might also explain why I only actually see a few of my Neons dead while the other ones are just not there.
<Do check for signs of Pleistophora: Infected Neons lose their colour, become shy, stay away from the group, and often hide under plants. A few days later they're dead. Pleistophora is highly contagious once the fish is moribund or dead because opening the body cavity (e.g., as other fish eat the corpse) allows the parasites to swim into the water. The only way to effective stop Pleistophora is to remove infected fish on sight. They should be painlessly destroyed, as there is no reliable cure, and certainly not once the disease because sufficiently entrenched that you can tell the fish actually has it.>
They didn't jump out of the tank because I have a very tight fitting canopy and there's no dried up tetras on the carpet. One more thing too, if my pH is to high I was thinking about using water from a local spring in which the pH is about 6.4, and no ammonia, nitrite or nitrates. I would also run it through my deionization filter to make sure any harmful things would be removed. I would greatly appreciate your help and advise.
<Mixing soft water with hard water out the tap is fine. I do this by mixing rainwater with tap water to good effect. Filtering the spring water or rainwater through carbon will remove any nasties, but generally such water sources are at least as safe for fish as tap water, perhaps more so. In any case, do always remember to make water chemistry changes slowly, perhaps doing 25% water changes each week until you reach the desired level of hardness and acidity. Now, the crayfishes will not like soft water. They need to be removed anyway, but just as a heads-up, in common with all crustaceans, "the harder the better" in terms of healthcare. Also remember that as hardness drops, so does pH stability, and many is the aquarist who's softened the water in their tank only to discover the pH suddenly drops between water changes. I'd not take the hardness below 10 degrees dH. Remember: fish don't care about pH, so long as its stable; what matters is *hardness*, as that directly influences osmoregulation. Cheers, Neale.>

Black Tetra, hlth.    12/5/07
Hello,
In my mothers aquarium is a Black Tetra that has a small black growth below his lower lip, he is listless and has a very faint red hue on it's body every where except in the center. The fins are not red that I can see. He has not eaten in a week that I have seen and he has a little bit of a clear feces. I put in some furan 2 for 2 days,
<... for what purpose?>
did a water change and added some more for 2 days and I see no improvement. Can you help me. Thanks for any advice. thanks Sherri
<Could you send along a photo? I suspect this may be a genetic issue... Many Gymnocorymbus have such difficulties nowadays... Do you have other individuals of this species? What other livestock is present? What re your water quality tests? Bob Fenner>
 

Tetra illness question Oct 22, 2007 Crew, <David> As I was feeding my son's fish yesterday, I noticed one of his day Glo tetras was missing from the action. I found it in the back of the tank and it looked awful. It was bloated, opaque, had white spots on its sides, its face was yellowish, and its tail fin was looking ragged. Any idea what is wrong. <Mmm, yes... Likely the protozoan called "Ich"... though could be some other... e.g. Chilodonella...> Tank specifics 10 gallon tank 4 day Glo tetras 2 swordtails 1 male guppy The tank has fully cycled and has been running for 5 months. The guppy and one tetra were recently added (2 weeks ago), <Likely the vector/s here> but had gone through a full 28 day quarantine with no signs of disease. <Oh! Good for you> Tank also has a 15watt compact fluorescent bulb and 3 plants as well as some algae eating shrimp who like spectrum fish food and freeze-dried Tubifex worms a lot more than algae. Water parameters Ammonia = 0 Nitrite = 0 Nitrate = ??? (can't find my kit....grrrrrr) <Maybe a factor, but not a definitive one. That is, the infesting agent had to be borne from somewhere> Temp = 80C General Hardness = 13 pH => 7.6 (top of scale) Any ideas as to what might be happening? Thanks for you help! David <I would treat as if this were ich... unfortunately the temperature cannot be manipulated upward... as the livebearers don't tolerate this well. Please read: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwich.htm and the linked files above. Bob Fenner>

HELP!!!! Massive Tetra deaths, need help tonight!  10/23/07 Hey guys, <Hello,> sorry, I'm not gonna spell check this, hopefully you can get back to me tonight, and don't worry, i wont be offended if you don't post this on the FAQ's.... <Hmm... not sure it works this way.> I came home today to find 11 out of my school of 23 glowlight tetras floating. they were all alive and fine as of 8 am this morning, and when i got home at 7 they were floating with bulging bellies (some were gutted with their entrails hanging out...) am at the north end of the san Diego fires right now (not in the path, but we might be evacuated tonight) I'm not sure, but ive heard of power outages in the area, so the tank could have been un powered for quite some time... i did a 1/3 water change yesterday, the same way i always do, with the same water treatments. I'm not sure what caused this, and i might be evacuated tonight and unable to return for a day or so. please let me know if there is anything i can do to protect the rest of the tank residents when/if i am gone I'd appreciate it! <Massive sudden deaths of fish can be caused by two different things. The first is a crash in water quality. While filtration is certainly one thing to check, the other is pH; tanks lacking carbonate hardness are intrinsically "unstable". On top of this, all tanks have a tendency to become acidic. So without a carbonate hardness "reserve" in the water to mop up those acidifying chemicals, it doesn't take much to tip a tank over the edge into a sudden pH drop. I've seen tanks go from pH 7 to below pH 6 within a couple of days. There's a bit of a positive feedback too -- acid-hating plants, like Vallisneria, will die off when the water becomes acidic, and as they die, they decay and produce more organic acids, and that speeds up the acidification process even further. This is why I consider hard water a "blessing in disguise" despite the fact it isn't ideal for many aquarium fish: for all its shortcomings, hard, alkaline water is stable and resists water chemistry changes. In the meantime, check for possible sources of acidification: dead animals, rotting plants, etc. The second thing that causes sudden fish deaths is toxins. Insecticide, paint fumes, even tobacco fumes can cause real problems. Adding non-aquarium safe objects to a tank, such as wood that's been treated with pesticide, is also dangerous.> thanks, and be safe Bob, i know you're right in the middle of this too. <Anyway, if you are worried about possibly doing without power for periods of time, then invest in some large lidded buckets. I have 5 gallon buckets for this. Into each, put small groups of fish. Partially fill with water, and replace the lids loosely so air can get in. You can then move these to a warm part of the house. Changing water in the buckets on a daily basis is essential. Why do things this way? There reasons: water changes will compensate for filtration; and secondly deaths of fish in one bucket won't place any of the other buckets at risk, so you can "micromanage" fatalities; and finally you don't have to deal with dead/dying plants, snails or whatever. You can easily replace those if you want, but should the fish be in there when they die, the decay mops up oxygen and stresses the fish. I've safely looked after fish this way for days on end. Good luck, Neale> Re: HELP!!!! Massive Tetra deaths, need help tonight! 10/23/07 Hmmm, so it probably has something to do with the peat i added to the filter about a week and a half ago to help soften my very hard tap water. and then changing 12 gallons out of 36 with water not treated with peat? it looks like i will have to just stick with stable, hard water. is it best to just pull all of the peat out immediately or gradually? <This sounds very likely to be the cause of the problem. Sudden changes in hardness and pH, even from "bad" to "good" values, can be lethal. I don't personally like adding peat to aquaria as a softener. Peat is very unpredictable, and once the water starts to soften, the pH can drop precipitously. Much better to have the aquarium filled with chemically inert materials (silica sand, gravel, etc) and then adjust the water outside the tank, e.g., by mixing hard water with a certain amount of rainwater or Reverse Osmosis (RO) softened water. (Note: not water from a domestic water softener; while lacking in carbonate, this has high levels of chloride, and simply isn't "soft water" as aquarists mean it.) Once you have the water you want, you can add this treated water to the tank in increments, allowing the fish to slowly adjust to the new conditions over a few days. Since there's no peat actually in the tank, the pH and hardness in the tank should be basically stable. For a standard community aquarium, you only need to slightly soften hard water for good results. A pH around 7 and hardness of 10 degrees dH and 5 degrees KH is just about perfect for most community fish. There's no real benefit to softer, more acidic conditions unless you're spawning exceptionally sensitive fish such as Cardinal tetras, wild-caught Discus, Chocolate gouramis, Rasboras, etc. For simple maintenance, the above conditions are just fine. Indeed, some degree of (carbonate) hardness is desirable because it inhibits the background acidification that happens in all aquaria over time. In the meantime, if your fish are alive and feeding, assume they've adjusted, and make adjustments back up to your hard water conditions by doing no more than 20% water changes per day. Slowly but surely is the way to win the water chemistry game. Either that, or don't play at all, and stick with your baseline tap water conditions. Hope this helps, Neale.>

Tetra buoyancy  10/20/07
Dear Crew,
<Hello there! Andrea with you this afternoon.>
Today after feeding my Tetras I noticed that 1 of my Neons is floating toward the surface and actively swimming to stay lower in the aquarium. I
feed them tropical flake food with the occasional freeze-dried bloodworms.
<Sounds delicious...>
I hadn't noticed this behavior before today so my theory is that he sucked in some air while eating. My water parameters are as follows: Ammonia,
Nitrite and Nitrate all 0, pH 7.8.
<pH is a little on the high side for Neons, but I wouldn't worry much. You might add some driftwood as a decoration to the aquarium to soften the water and bring it down. What does concern me is that the NitrAte is at 0. How long has the aquarium been up? Generally speaking, in the FW world, we want to see a little nitrate, as it lets us know that the tank isn't cycling. You should have something of a reading...5, 10, 15 ppm at least. What kind of test kits are you using? You might take a sample to the local fish store and have them test it. Having zeros across the board usually tells me that either the tank is brand spanking new, or the test kits have gone bad.>
I do a 40% water change every 5 days.
<Excellent regimen. Keep it up!>
I don't feel that it is a water quality issue, he's not listing around or floating head up or down, but when he stops swimming he floats to the surface.
<Could be swim bladder dysfunction. It's not fatal, just looks funny. Do a search on WWM for Swim Bladder for more information.>
Is there anything I can do or is this just a "wait and see" type of thing?
<If he is otherwise acting healthy, stool looks normal, eating well, I'd just let him be. Could be needing a good burp, could be the food is too fibrous, could be swim bladder, could be something else. You might also try giving him some mushed up blanched peas, in case he has a mild case of constipation.>
If it is air and he can't expel it, is that a fatal condition?
<No, the air will find a way out, one way or another ;-). They are kind of like us in that way.>
Also, how long could it take for him to recover from this?
<It really depends what it is. If it is swim bladder damage, he might always be that way, and it is just a quirk. If it is something else, it may pass, or it may not. Worst case scenario is he has some problem that is affecting him neurologically, such as a bacterial infection or parasite, but I'd say the chances of that are relatively slim if he is eating and otherwise well. Unless he shows other symptoms, I'd just call him "Bobby" or "Floaty" or "Bouncy" or something cute.>
Thanks for your help,
<Anytime!>
Evan
<Andrea>

Re: Tetra buoyancy 10/29/07
Andrea, et al:
<Hi Evan, sorry for the delay. I have been out of town.>
Thank you for your help earlier. <Most welcome.> I wanted to update you on the situation.
After about 5 hours "Bob" seems to be back to normal.
<Glad to hear it.>
I've only been keeping fish for 3 months, so when I saw his behavior I was surprised and alarmed.
<It happens to all of us. I've been keeping fish for years and years, and still panic often. The same with my cats, frogs, lizards, toads, nieces, nephews....call it human care instinct. =). It does ease up a bit though.>
And on the water tests: I'm using Jungle 5-in-1 and Ammonia quick dip tests so the readings aren't super precise and some of the tests have a large gap between values. On the Nitrate the scale is 0 then 20 and it was definitely not 20.
<The test strips are good for getting a general feel of water conditions, but since you are new to the hobby, I really suggest you get better test kits, with liquid reagents. They really are an invaluable tool, especially early in the hobby when you are just learning. The accuracy will help you both learn and get a better feel for the conditions in your tank. API makes good kits for freshwater that are reasonably priced and readily available. You will want to have Ammonia, NitrIte, NitrAte, pH, kH, and possibly Phosphate on hand. Salifert are also excellent, but more expensive. It will serve you and your fish well to buy these and familiarize yourself with them and their properties.>
Again, thank you all for your continuing help to all of us fish keeping
novices and experts.
<Our pleasure.>
-Evan

Mysterious repeated hatchet fish death II – 10/18/07
Hi,
I hope you can have an answer.
<We'll try.>
We have a 10 gallon tank with live plants, 3 platys and 3 hatchet fish.
two day after we introduced the hatchets, we found one of them dead.
Went to the store bought another one, next day dead.
<Hatchets aren't the easiest of fish. Which species are we talking about here? There are two common types, Marble hatchets and Silver hatchets. The Marble hatchet is Carnegiella strigata and it is small, mottled brown, and quite delicate. It needs to be in groups of 6 or more to have any chance of surviving. In ones and twos they just die. Not recommended for your tank simply because they will feel trapped and get stressed. When stressed, they jump at the glass lid or lamps, and damage themselves. The Silver hatchet is Gasteropelecus sternicula. It is larger, silver, with a blue horizontal band on the flanks. It is basically hardy once settled in, but mortality during the first few weeks can be very high. Given its adult size and high activity level, not really an option for a 10 gallon tank.>
The water is fine, Ph between 7 and 7.2 temperature around 76-78. The community is fine and the plant are thriving.
We are feeding them with Spectrum the small fish formula.
We thought they might be jumping and hurting themselves on the hood.
<Happens.>
The deaths happened during the day.
Thanks a lot
Emanuela
<Give up with Hatchets. Your tank is not really suited to hatchets. While lovely fish (I keep Silver hatchets) they are far from easy fish and best suited to expert fishkeepers or aquarists prepared to set aside a large, quiet, thickly planted tank where they can be kept in large numbers. If you want a surface dweller of some type, look at something like Sparkling gouramis (Trichopsis pumila) which are hardy, colourful, and do well in small tanks. Cheers, Neale.>