Neon tetra sick, flashing on gravel?

Tank

What is the water volume of the tank? Approx 8ga
How long has the tank been running? 1.5 months
Does it have a filter? Yes
Does it have a heater? No
What is the entire stocking of this tank?
10 neon tetras
1 honey gourami
1 bronze cory
I know its overstocked

Maintenance
How often do you change the water? Once a week
How much of the water do you change? 8 litre
What do you use to treat your water? Gex chlorine off brand (name is in japanese)
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? Just the water

*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish?
No, put in 10 neon tetras to cycle when i started
What do you use to test the water? 6 in 1 test strip (my fish shop is only selling this)
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.

Nitrite: safe zone
Nitrate: safe zone
pH: safe zone
Using test strips

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? Once a day
How much do you feed your fish? 2 to 3 pinches
What brand of food do you feed your fish? Tetra
Do you feed frozen or freeze-dried foods? No

Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? 1.5 months
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? Few days ago
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? Notice a few tetras been flashing and rubbing against the gravel
Have you started any treatment for the illness? No, but did a 50percent water change yesterday and today after feeding
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase?
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? Not that ive noticed, 1 of the tetra color seemd off

Explain your emergency situation in detail.
Is my tetra sick or have lck or lice? I have medicine for anchor worm and lice on hand but not sure if i can use them on the fishes

 

Long time I have seen such healthy looking neon tetras. Could be anything in the water.
Keep an eye on ammonia and nitrites.

I wouldn't treat for.something invisible.

 

These neons look very healthy. Sometimes fish just scratch but if they are doing it constantly then there may be a problem. I doubt its fish lice, it may be ich. Monitor the fish a little more closely this week and if white spots develop then that's your culprit.

 

Thank you for your replies, i was monitoring the tetras and noticed white spots on some of them. I dun wanna lose them! Attached some more pictures of the fishes with the white spots

 

Thank you for your replies, i was monitoring the tetras and noticed white spots on some of them. I dun wanna lose them! Attached some more pictures of the fishes with the white spots

Then it's ich more than likely. Don't worry this is the most mild disease and is very easy to treat. Turn the temperature on your heater to around 86 degrees Fahrenheit, and look for ich medicine that is safe for scaleless fish (neon tetras are scaleless). Follow the instructions on the medicine and do a gravel vaccum every day. Some people cure ich without meds only heat so you could try that first. Read up on ich by searching it on Google

 

I do not have a heater now but i will get it tomorrow as the shops has closed now. Its better get adjustable heater and not a fixed temperature heater? I have on hand a Gex brand medicine for white spot disease, its a blue colour liquid medicine and instructions is 25ml for my tank size.

 

I do not have a heater now but i will get it tomorrow as the shops has closed now. Its better get adjustable heater and not a fixed temperature heater? I have on hand a Gex brand medicine for white spot disease, its a blue colour liquid medicine and instructions is 25ml for my tank size.

I would get an adjustable one. That medicine should be good I'm not to sure though, never heard of it.

 

Thank you for the advice, ill get a heater for them tomorrow. Because im living in japan, the shops here dont carry the brands that i read on the forums. Gex is their big brand that specializes in fishes related things and aquarium equipments. I hope ick doesn't spread fast as i will have to wait till tomorrow to get the heater n read up on how to administer the medicine

 

Just an update on my tetras, i went out and got an adjustable heater the next day. Got a heater for 60cm instead of 50cm (my current tank size) because i may upgrade in future. Hope this is okay in the long term if i didnt go for the upgrade eventually.

After putting in the heater, i slowly up the temperature each day till it reached around 88 degrees Fahrenheit and maintain the temperature till now. I also vacuum the sand gravel daily a dew hours after feeding, and changing around 30% water at the same time. After a few days, i noticed the white spots are gone but then 2 other tetras got it instead. I observed daily and the white spots are always moving around fishes but it never stayed for long or got more serious (its always 2 to 3 small white spots on the tetras). I have not administered medicine yet and wanted to do heat treatment first. Thinking that more heat equals faster treatment, i always leave the lights on till bedtime, until a few days earlier, i watched on youtube saying that lights must be off when treating lck. I did what the video advised and the 2 days later which is today, i did not noticed white spots on them anymore. I will continue to maintain the daily maintenance for another few days and see how the situation is and decide if ill stop.

But one thing ive noticed is all my fishes seems to be more active than usual after i increased the temperature. Is this normal?

I wanted to thank RomanNoodles96 and DoubleDutch for the advice here

 

Keep the heat at least 10 days at 86F.
The spots are the result of a certain stage in the lifespan of the parasite. Most are invisible free swimming in the wateecolumn.

Indeed don't use both methods at the same time. Aerationn can be a good idea (in both cases).

Roman : Neons are not scaleless.

Neons normally live in cooler water, heath speeds up their metabolism, but I'd expect them to get sluggish instead of more active hahaha. I think it is a good sign they are more active.

Greetings Aad

 

I would add that in my experience my Neon Tetras have become more active with increasing temperature resulting in territorial behaviour by males and fighting among males which can be severe enough to dislodge scales and get me worried.

I believe breeding behaviour is stimulated by the increase in temperature over 75F and think that 70 to 74F is a better range to aim for. The reason for this given in the literature is that Neons come from shaded jungle streams where the temperature is often cooler than out in the sun.

Cardinal Tetras do not exhibit this territorial behaviour as they are group spawners but Neon Tetra males select a suitable spawning site e.g. a bunch of plants. They then defend it vigorously against other males, enticing in females to spawn with them.

The normal ingredients in ich medicine are formalin, quinine and malachite green. Most will contain these in varying quantities.

 

Keep the heat at least 10 days at 86F.
The spots are the result of a certain stage in the lifespan of the parasite. Most are invisible free swimming in the wateecolumn.

Indeed don't use both methods at the same time. Aerationn can be a good idea (in both cases).

Roman : Neons are not scaleless.

Neons normally live in cooler water, heath speeds up their metabolism, but I'd expect them to get sluggish instead of more active hahaha. I think it is a good sign they are more active.

Greetings Aad

You're right they aren't scaleless. I've been told on here many times that they are and I just looked it up to see that they aren't.

 

I would add that in my experience my Neon Tetras have become more active with increasing temperature resulting in territorial behaviour by males and fighting among males which can be severe enough to dislodge scales and get me worried.

I believe breeding behaviour is stimulated by the increase in temperature over 75F and think that 70 to 74F is a better range to aim for. The reason for this given in the literature is that Neons come from shaded jungle streams where the temperature is often cooler than out in the sun.

Cardinal Tetras do not exhibit this territorial behaviour as they are group spawners but Neon Tetra males select a suitable spawning site e.g. a bunch of plants. They then defend it vigorously against other males, enticing in females to spawn with them.

The normal ingredients in ich medicine are formalin, quinine and malachite green. Most will contain these in varying quantities.

Could it be that they spawn at the end of the dry season when the watertemperature has gone up (just like for instance gouramis). That would explain the " territorial " behaviour of the males as well.

 

Another update to my tetras. I continued with the heat treatment till today which is more than the 10days recommended. And the tetras are without white spots for at least the past 10 days.
Thank you everyone who gave me tips and advice here.
I have attached my fishes here. Other than the tetras, theres also a gourami and a cory in there.

Will there be any issues if I stick with the temperature currently instead of adjusting back to 80F? Because my fishes seem more active in the current temperature.

Another thing I like to ask is Ive noticed some white spot on the rubber suctions of my heater recently. Is that harmful? Should I take out the heater and clean the suction rubber?

 

Another update to my tetras. I continued with the heat treatment till today which is more than the 10days recommended. And the tetras are without white spots for at least the past 10 days.
Thank you everyone who gave me tips and advice here.
I have attached my fishes here. Other than the tetras, theres also a gourami and a cory in there.

Will there be any issues if I stick with the temperature currently instead of adjusting back to 80F? Because my fishes seem more active in the current temperature.

Another thing I like to ask is Ive noticed some white spot on the rubber suctions of my heater recently. Is that harmful? Should I take out the heater and clean the suction rubber?

Well here's the thing. The gourami and tetras should be fine at 80 degrees, but the cory catfish need to be in groups of at least 4-5 preferably 6. Your tank is too small for 6 cories so I recommend rehoming the one you have now or upgrade tank size. The cory will feel stressed by itself and may end up with a disease again.

Also just wanted to say good job on getting rid of the ich, and the white stuff on the heater should be fine. If it doesn't go away on its own in a week or so, then I would take it out and clean it off.