Dark patches in X Ray Tetra 10/6/16
Dear WWM,
<Hey Dev>
Hope you all are doing fine. Thank you for the excellent site. My tank is in
its 6th year and it owes a lot to your site and things I learnt (and still
learning) from it.
<Ahh; deeply satisfying to realize we have helped>
Question: The attached images are of one of my 8 X Ray Tetras
(*Pristella maxillaris*). They have been in this 29 gallon for a
little over 2 years.
It is schooling, active, eating but I am worried about the dark patches.
Are they signs of NTD?
<Mmm; perhaps something else... but not good. This looks to me (signs wise)
like some sort of Sporozoan.... as far as I'm aware, still not treat-able...
You can/could sacrifice the animal, cut it up (sectioning, embedding and
staining as in histological study would be even better) and look under a
medium power 'scope.... but.... I would NOW remove and destroy (see Neale's
coverage re euthanasia on WWM) this specimen. There IS a chance of whatever
the problem here spreading to your other fishes>
Still no classical pale discoloration or deformation but one of my
Black Neons showed similar patches in the past and on your suggestion (and
my decision) I euthanized it.
Tank mates are other tetras, Cory cats, pair of Bristle Nose Plecos, a
Whiptail L010, a Pearl Gourami. No fish added in months, nor diseases or
deaths. Tank is heavily planted. Filtered by three 500 lph HOB filters
packed with sponge, bioballs, ceramic rings and Seachem Denitrate. No
Ammonia and Nitrite. NO3 40, 35% weekly water change, pH 6.9, TDS about 200
ppm, temp avg 27C. Fed Ocean Nutrition, Hikari and Tetra flakes and pellets,
occasionally freeze dried Blood, Tubifex worms and parboiled kitchen veggie
cuts.
Request you for some guidance on the possible course/s of action.
Isolating is bit difficult as my other tank has a leak and I would need to
keep in plastic tub.
Thanks again. You people are too good.
Devakalpa
<Am going to share w/ Neale here for his separate input. Bob Fenner>
--
*quis custodiet ipsos custodes?*
<Who indeed>
Re: Dark patches in X Ray Tetra /Back to Bob
10/7/16
Dear Bob,
<Yes Dev>
Thank you for the clarifying reply. I shall await Neale's input as well.
Two more questions if you don't mind:
Is this fish a threat to others even when alive?
<Mmm; much less so. It's thought that micro-Sporidean/sporozoans pass through
the consumption of flesh of an infested specimen... >
I mean can the infection spread to others or is it usually passed on when other
fishes consume the remains of an infected fish?
<Ahh; the latter>
If it can be helped I would like to delay the euthanizing till the fish is more
affected, as it is a depressing thought and it is so difficult to catch one in a
heavily planted tank. I shall employ the 2 net method.
<You're spot on here>
Secondly how did the protozoa, assuming it is so, get into the system?
<Through another fish likely>
No other fish is seemingly affected, I have not introduced any fishes, esp.
Characids in months (only a pair of Apistogramma agassizii few months back)
and do not feed live foods. Can plants or snails carry them?
<I don't think so; but the imported fishes... do act as long/er term carriers
for sure>
Or can it lay latent as I had to 'put out' a Black Neon with suspected NTD more
than a year ago?
<I do think you're correct here>
I am just trying to understand the issue better.
<A pleasure to communicate w/ a sharp, curious mind>
Have a great day.
Regards
Devakalpa
<And you, BobF>
Dark patches in X Ray Tetra /Neale
10/7/16
Dear WWM,
Hope you all are doing fine. Thank you for the excellent site. My tank
is in its 6th year and it owes a lot to your site and things I learnt
(and still learning) from it.
<Thanks for the kind words.>
Question: The attached images are of one of my 8 X Ray Tetras
(*Pristella maxillaris*). They have been in this 29 gallon for a little
over 2 years.
It is schooling, active, eating but I am worried about the dark patches.
Are they signs of NTD?
<Possibly; but there's some discussion that many examples of Neon Tetra
Disease are actually "False" Neon Tetra Disease, a catch-all name for
bacterial infections of various kinds. Sometimes sick Neon Tetras
recover when treated with antibiotics, which supports the idea that
some, though not all, examples of Neon Tetra Disease are bacterial
rather than caused by the protozoan parasite Pleistophora. I've written
about NTD for FishChannel, and rather than going through it all again
there, let me direct you to this article:
http://www.fishchannel.com/fish-health/freshwater-conditions/neon-tetra-disease.aspx
Most aquarium healthcare books cover it too, and yes, the prognosis is
usually poor.>
Still no classical pale discoloration or deformation but one of my Black
Neons showed similar patches in the past and on your suggestion (and my
decision) I euthanized it.
<Agreed; doesn't look like classic NTD, but certainly a sick fish of
some sort. Worth treating with a general purpose antibiotic or
antibacterial, for example Kanaplex, to see if that helps. Costia is
another disease worth considering. It is fairly common, and typical
symptoms include stress colouration (often oddly dark or pale compared
to normal) and patches of white or grey (excess mucous) on the body.
Also known as Ichthyobodo and Slime Disease.
http://www.fishchannel.com/fish-health/freshwater-conditions/slime-disease.aspx
Difficult to treat, but I've had fairly reliable success over the years
using eSHa 2000. Other products targeting Costia, such as Sera Costapur,
are out there too.>
Tank mates are other tetras, Cory cats, pair of Bristle Nose Plecos, a
Whiptail L010, a Pearl Gourami. No fish added in months, nor diseases or
deaths. Tank is heavily planted. Filtered by three 500 lph HOB filters
packed with sponge, bioballs, ceramic rings and Seachem Denitrate. No
Ammonia and Nitrite. NO3 40, 35% weekly water change, pH 6.9, TDS about
200 ppm, temp avg 27C. Fed Ocean Nutrition, Hikari and Tetra flakes and
pellets, occasionally freeze dried Blood, Tubifex worms and parboiled
kitchen veggie cuts.
<All sounds fine.>
Request you for some guidance on the possible course/s of action.
Isolating is bit difficult as my other tank has a leak and I would need
to keep in plastic tub.
Thanks again. You people are too good.
Devakalpa
<Most welcome, Neale.>
Re: Dark patches in X Ray Tetra /Back to
Neale 10/8/16
Dear Neale,
Thank you so much for the detailed response.
<Most welcome, Devakalpa.>
After inputs from experts like Bob and you I have a much clearer idea of the
road ahead. I plan to observe for a couple of more days and keep offering
optimized conditions as the fish is otherwise very normal in sense of activity,
shoaling and feeding. Then with indications of worsening if any, shall isolate,
treat with Kanaplex and hope for the best.
<Sounds good; personally, I might actually treat the whole tank. If it is Neon
Tetra Disease, you may as well prevent cross-infection. I've not used Kanaplex
myself (it isn't sold in the UK) but Seachem state it won't affect the filter
bacteria, and being an antibiotic, it shouldn't irritate or harm sensitive fish.
Isolating characins for treatment is always a bit risky because they don't like
being alone, but if you do have a small, mature tank, then X-Ray Tetras are
pretty tough little fish, and for a few days a singleton should be fine. So
treating the tank or just the one fish should be okay!>
By the way though the links didn't work in Google Chrome, I could navigate to
the said pages at the FishChannel site and read them.
<I wonder if the e-mail "snapped" the links in two, so they were on two separate
lines. Indeed, the links were merely typed in as URLs, not active links.>
Lucid, informative and helpful articles as always.
<Ah, glad to know you enjoyed them.>
Regards
Devakalpa
<Cheers, Neale.>
