rfletch
- #1
Hello Friendly Folk at Fishlore
We're new to the aquarium hobby and have really enjoyed keeping and looking after our fish. (Or trying to!) We like to think we took it fairly seriously reading up on all the info and following it by the book.
We have had our 60L aquarium (~15 Gallon) for a number of weeks, the tank was cycled for around 3-4 weeks when we initially bought it and introduced 6 Neon Tetras (First mistake purchasing them from a high street pet store..) They were fine and happy for around 2 weeks until we noticed a growth on the lip of a Tetra. It didn't look like cotton wool, more solid so after reading up on various forums decided to run a course of Melafix and Pimafix. We followed instructions and treated for 5 days before realising we were running carbon in the filter. (Amateur mistake!) So on next water change we took carbon out and restarted treatment.
We continued the treatment with no change and soon noticed a second tetra had a similar growth so took another trip to a pet store who recommended an anti-fungal treatment (Interpet anti-fungus and fin rot). This was all fine until we noticed they were gasping for oxygen / coming to surface for air even though the water flow was at maximum (We quickly acted with an emergency water change and purchased an oxygen pump and airstone) and ran a second course of Interpet with no success.
Following both these methods not yielding results we did a water change and ran the tank with carbon in for around a week. In this time the second tetra's growth increased rapidly covering their whole face and mouth. We have since euthanised him but left the original in for another week and saw no change in symptoms (didn't grow or reduce) so to bulk up our numbers we purchased another 3 Tetras to bring our total up to 8 neon tetras. (We can't believe the difference in behaviours these additional tetras brought, they look so much happier swimming, schooling, relaxing!)
Unfortunately today I noticed a few of our new seemingly healthier fish have started displaying similar very small growths even though we are still treating with Melafix (New fish precaution).
We're at a loss about our next course of action! Can anyone identify or recommend a course of action for us please?
Pictures here
Tank
What is the water volume of the tank? 60L / 15 Gallon
How long has the tank been running? 3 months
Does it have a filter? yes
Does it have a heater? yes
What is the water temperature? 27c / 80 F
What is the entire stocking of this tank? 8 neon tetras
Maintenance
How often do you change the water? every week
How much of the water do you change? 25%
What do you use to treat your water? TetraAquasafe plus, Tetra SafeStart
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? Yes vacuum
*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? 3 - 4 weeks
What do you use to test the water? API Master Test Kit
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.
tested earlier
Ammonia: 0-0.25ppm
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5ppm
pH: 7.2
Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? 2 times a day (Morning + evening)
How much do you feed your fish? Small Pinch
What brand of food do you feed your fish? Aquacare Tropical flakes
Do you feed frozen or freeze-dried foods? No
Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? ~2 months
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? 2 months
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? Multiple of our 8 tetras now have white solid growths around their mouths
Have you started any treatment for the illness? Melafix / Pimafix
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? Not to our knowledge but we were beginners
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? No, beyond the bump
Explain your emergency situation in detail. See essay above, the new Tetras seem to be displaying initial symptoms exhibited by the original tetra.
We're new to the aquarium hobby and have really enjoyed keeping and looking after our fish. (Or trying to!) We like to think we took it fairly seriously reading up on all the info and following it by the book.
We have had our 60L aquarium (~15 Gallon) for a number of weeks, the tank was cycled for around 3-4 weeks when we initially bought it and introduced 6 Neon Tetras (First mistake purchasing them from a high street pet store..) They were fine and happy for around 2 weeks until we noticed a growth on the lip of a Tetra. It didn't look like cotton wool, more solid so after reading up on various forums decided to run a course of Melafix and Pimafix. We followed instructions and treated for 5 days before realising we were running carbon in the filter. (Amateur mistake!) So on next water change we took carbon out and restarted treatment.
We continued the treatment with no change and soon noticed a second tetra had a similar growth so took another trip to a pet store who recommended an anti-fungal treatment (Interpet anti-fungus and fin rot). This was all fine until we noticed they were gasping for oxygen / coming to surface for air even though the water flow was at maximum (We quickly acted with an emergency water change and purchased an oxygen pump and airstone) and ran a second course of Interpet with no success.
Following both these methods not yielding results we did a water change and ran the tank with carbon in for around a week. In this time the second tetra's growth increased rapidly covering their whole face and mouth. We have since euthanised him but left the original in for another week and saw no change in symptoms (didn't grow or reduce) so to bulk up our numbers we purchased another 3 Tetras to bring our total up to 8 neon tetras. (We can't believe the difference in behaviours these additional tetras brought, they look so much happier swimming, schooling, relaxing!)
Unfortunately today I noticed a few of our new seemingly healthier fish have started displaying similar very small growths even though we are still treating with Melafix (New fish precaution).
We're at a loss about our next course of action! Can anyone identify or recommend a course of action for us please?
Pictures here
Tank
What is the water volume of the tank? 60L / 15 Gallon
How long has the tank been running? 3 months
Does it have a filter? yes
Does it have a heater? yes
What is the water temperature? 27c / 80 F
What is the entire stocking of this tank? 8 neon tetras
Maintenance
How often do you change the water? every week
How much of the water do you change? 25%
What do you use to treat your water? TetraAquasafe plus, Tetra SafeStart
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? Yes vacuum
*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? 3 - 4 weeks
What do you use to test the water? API Master Test Kit
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.
tested earlier
Ammonia: 0-0.25ppm
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5ppm
pH: 7.2
Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? 2 times a day (Morning + evening)
How much do you feed your fish? Small Pinch
What brand of food do you feed your fish? Aquacare Tropical flakes
Do you feed frozen or freeze-dried foods? No
Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? ~2 months
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? 2 months
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? Multiple of our 8 tetras now have white solid growths around their mouths
Have you started any treatment for the illness? Melafix / Pimafix
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? Not to our knowledge but we were beginners
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? No, beyond the bump
Explain your emergency situation in detail. See essay above, the new Tetras seem to be displaying initial symptoms exhibited by the original tetra.