FishProfiles.com Message Forums

neon tetra diesease is pretty rare, but it can spread bad.

See the messages from "Longhairedgit" and myself on the "Story of 10 Cardinal Tetras" thread. NTD is an EXTREMELY serious problem, but I've just heard about a combination of two medicines that may perhaps prevent it from spreading any further from already-sick fish in your tank (which you must always euthanize immediately).

Last night i just got 10 more neons to make 16 and 2 died i was getting worried but everything looks to be fine now. I dont like reading this when i just bought them lol

Has anyone seen a definite list of the fish groups that it can affect yet? This kind of information seems a bit thin on the ground. It does seem to affect a number of barbs perches and so on, but beyond this there doesnt seem to be a lot of info published. It might be handy to know just in case folks want to do a few longer quarantines than normal for any fish that could have the potential to infect their tetra tanks to be sure.

Im focusing on the quarantine of new fish though, obviously if its already in a tank its too damn late.While the ingestion of a dead fish will be the most efficient way possible to transmit the disease, in about two weeks from initial contact the microscopic cysts will be in the water and everywhere in a tank, so there may indeed be no point in individual quarantines from an already infested tank. Depends how early on you think youve caught it I guess.

I suppose if you think that you are willing to try saving every last fish you have its worth a go with individual quarantines from an infected tank, but youd be lucky if it worked.No harm in trying though.No need to euthanise fish that cant harbour the disease though obviously. Problem is im not quite sure precisely which these species are yet.


Last edited by longhairedgit at 29-Nov-2005 12:12

Quarantine won't help because even if only one fish has obvious symptoms, others have probably already been infected.

You definitely want to move any infected fish to quarantine or dispose of them immediately. The main way NTD is transmitted is by ingestion. The only good way to help save your remaining fish is to remove dead bodies before they become dead and get eaten or torn up in the tank and to lessen the population of the organism as much as possible. If you don't remove fish you even suspect of being ill you will probably lose your whole tank. Then again you'll probably lose majority of your tank anyway.

This article may prove useful to some ...


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Neon tetra disease can be very fast to spread through and kill a population of fish. It is not limited to just neon tetras, but can hit other types of fish. I have seen it myself in other tetras, and have heard anecdotal accounts of it occuring in danios and rasboras. It is not rare, though as stated above it gets blamed for more deaths than it actually accounts for.

Quarantine won't help because even if only one fish has obvious symptoms, others have probably already been infected.

---

And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

i heard NTD spreads bad but it takes it along time to actualy kill the fish but its rarely seen and if it is seen the put the neon in a quarintine (spelled wrong)tank

I suspect neon tetra disease is blamed for a lot of beginners mistakes and general failures since the classic signs are general debilitation and wasting, which frankly , could have quite literally several hundreds of other causes. When it hits it wipes out fish quickly in entire batches, usually within a few weeks, the incubation period of the disease is short, so good quarantining should effectively stop its spread. If you dont quarantine new fish youve got no-one to blame but yourself.

Neon tetra disease is like a lot of other diseases in that its so deadly - its self limiting as a pandemic.It wipes out fish on contact in locales so quickly that it doesnt always have a chance to become more widespread.Its also a species or group specific disease, which again limits its ability to spread. This is in contrast with other bacteria and viruses or even protozoa that require concentrations to build up before the disease becomes noticeable, hence such other diseases are almost omnipresent.

The real problems would be if it got into an ecosystem containing a limited group of rare fish and could wipe them out, but I dont think it will ever be more than a periodical threat to the hobby.

Last edited by longhairedgit at 12-Nov-2005 01:05

Last edited by longhairedgit at 12-Nov-2005 01:07

Just reading all the forums and random articles on the internet.. really, how bad is the Neon Tetra Disease becoming? And is there any hope in the future for these little creatures? Will there ever be a comeback, these fish are beautiful and one of the first i ever owned waaay back in the day. Is there any hope?

72 gallon bowfront:Tanganyikan Lake set up
75 gallon: A. Baenschi trio,Cyanotilapia Afra Cobwe(4), copadichromis trewavase, protomelas sp. tangerine tiger(breeding pair)

Ok, what has gotten out of hand is people classifying ALL Neon Tetra death as NTD. NTD is not just a neon tetra disease, it was just discovered in neons. Neons can die from every other disease that fish can get.

At work, any time we get sick neons, half of my co-workers (oddly enough, the half I tend to not like) say, "They have Neon Tetra Disease." If they would just take about 5 seconds to look, they would see the fish have a bacterial infection, or fungal infection, a parasite, whatever. Sometimes its deadly obvious what they have. Other times a couple have to die off and THEN we see the problem.

NTD is a specific disease, just like the flu. We could say that whenever people get sick, that they have the flu, just like saying whenever a neon tetra gets sick, saying it has NTD. Its just not the case.

Also, we are not going to loose all the neon tetras in the world to any disease. Besides, we have about 100 heathy ones in my store right now.

~Jorge

I've had a couple cases of NTD. They happened in neon's, I caught it fairly early on, and the tetras were all from a chain store. I went to a LFS to get some new ones and they never ended up with it, so I think what we have is a classic case of good breeding and care vs. a poor job doing it.

I tried doing a search but couldn't find much. Is there any good links on this disease?

Thanks

man you guys make me giggle...well...nough said!

72 gallon bowfront:Tanganyikan Lake set up
75 gallon: A. Baenschi trio,Cyanotilapia Afra Cobwe(4), copadichromis trewavase, protomelas sp. tangerine tiger(breeding pair)

what?! pirahna arnt violant killers?! ( looks at Mbuna cichlid tank ) nooosaaaaah...what about all them teeth !? ( snickers )

ive bred raised n sold over 40-50000 neons n ive never had it when id buy a bunch from the store id buy 11 at a time 7 wood live more then a month after that they became part of my massive school
i supplied 3 stores n sold 1000s to a guy from toronto n never had a complaint
NTD is real but over played jsut as piranhas are said to b violent killers

buy them healthy and they should stay healthy. make sure you get them from a store you trust. not petco and petsmart and the others liek it. walmart absolutly not. you wanna get it from a true dealer not a chain.

i have 9 in my 75g tank now with thoughts of 30 total. its not worth going without because of a silly disease. even if one fish catches it get it out of the tank as soon as you susoect it and it shouldnt spread.

In fact its really kinda stupid. I really think people are taking the neon tetra disease to far i've kept neons forever and have never gotten it. And If your tank is clean and healthy it shouldnt get neon tetra disease. I would never not buy a neon just cause someone says neons can get them because the truth is not just neons can get it.

==fish1